In collaboration with Christie Pinschmidt

“If it ain’t damaged, don’t repair it.”

This time-worn expression has been utilized to numerous conditions, by many organizations, over time – typically with unlucky outcomes.

The draw back of this method is very obvious in terms of managing community software program. Too typically, IT groups delay community software program upgrades as a result of they view the method as painful, tedious, and time-consuming. Consequently, they maintain off till a vital difficulty arises – sometimes a safety vulnerability that requires an all-hands-on-deck “hearth drill” to treatment.

Cisco IT has taken steps to determine a extra constant course of for managing community software program upgrades prescribed by the Cisco Product Incident Response Staff (PSIRT). PSIRT is a devoted, world group that receives, investigates, and publicly stories safety vulnerability data associated to Cisco merchandise and networks. Usually, resolving a reported incident requires upgrades to merchandise beneath energetic assist from Cisco.

Cisco IT not too long ago realized that it wanted to deal with two situations related to “chasing” PSIRT upgrades:

1. Having to implement these upgrades by working weekends – and typically by scrambling to deal with zero-day vulnerabilities.
2. Struggling to deal with an ever-increasing variety of lower- and medium-priority PSIRT upgrades.

The target was clear: allow quicker, simpler, and extra frequent upgrades of community components, whereas sustaining a safe surroundings. As a part of its mission, Cisco IT sought to scale back the variety of noncompliant/undefined community gadgets to zero, whereas additionally making the method as painless as upgrading a cell phone.

Harnessing a controller and automation to ship quicker, simpler SWIM upgrades – at scale

To realize these objectives, Cisco IT is harnessing the ability of Cisco DNA Middle and Cisco Enterprise Course of Automation (BPA) to carry out working system software program picture administration (SWIM) upgrades quicker and extra constantly than ever earlier than.

Cisco DNA Middle is a strong community controller that, amongst different issues, allows zero-touch machine provisioning and SWIM options that cut back machine set up or improve time from hours to minutes. Cisco BPA gives a scalable, microservices-based platform with an embedded workflow engine, digital consumer interface, and customary integration middleware that helps automate complicated community configuration modifications and related processes. BPA permits Cisco IT to enhance operational effectivity, cut back complicated labor-intensive duties and IT failures, and make sure that community modifications are validated to stick to organizational insurance policies.

Better of all, the dynamic duo of Cisco DNA Middle and Cisco BPA enable Cisco IT to ship SWIM upgrades at scale.

The power to conduct SWIM upgrades at scale is vital for Cisco IT, which has a purpose of upgrading each machine managed by the Cisco Community Service (NWS) group – about 35,000 components – no less than twice per year. These networks span Cisco’s campus LAN, WAN, knowledge facilities, and department places of work (about 400), together with companions and Cisco’s distant staff who’ve managed connections (CVO/MVO). The community gadgets comprise entry factors (about 14,000), work-at-home gadgets comparable to CVOs and MVOs (about 10,000-11,000), and “huge containers” comparable to switches, routers, and firewalls (about 9,000-10,000).

Cisco IT’s twice-yearly improve goal is designed to align with the community software program improve schedule set by Cisco’s Enterprise Networking and Meraki enterprise unit (BU), which releases PSIRT bundles (vital releases, main patches, and so forth.) each two quarters for every platform. As well as, the BU sprinkles smaller updates all year long.

Cisco IT shortly realized it may attain and maintain twice-yearly upgrades of 35,000+ gadgets solely by leveraging community controllers like Cisco DNA Middle – mixed with enterprise course of automation – to implement SWIM. Utilizing Cisco DNA Middle and Cisco BPA, Cisco IT’s engineers can carry out SWIM upgrades just by deciding on a picture, clicking a couple of buttons, and leveraging automation capabilities to improve gadgets robotically.

The answer presently utilized by Cisco IT is, admittedly, comparatively fundamental – it performs SWIM duties on a listing of gadgets through easy automation, then updates and pushes pre- and post-checks to the change file and closes the change. Sooner or later, nevertheless, Cisco IT sees the potential to completely automate the improve course of, in order that engineers don’t even want to the touch the system. Every machine kind would have its personal improve window, and the system would carry out the check-in and check-out steps solely by itself.

Driving important early-stage advantages

Though Cisco IT continues to be within the preliminary levels of implementing its twice-yearly SWIM upgrades throughout the corporate’s 35,000+ NWS-managed gadgets, early returns are promising:

• By attaining constant, twice-yearly upgrades at scale, Cisco IT is establishing an ordinary for purchasers to observe. Few, if any, Cisco prospects are presently upgrading community components twice per yr. In truth, some are presently not performing any upgrades over the lifetimes of their merchandise.
• Cisco IT’s resolution incorporates easy automation to speed up and easy community upgrades – with the potential for quicker and much more frequent upgrades sooner or later.
• The mix of Cisco DNA Middle and Cisco BPA improves Cisco IT staff’ productiveness and expertise by eliminating tedious handbook patching and upgrading.
• Most vital, the answer permits Cisco IT to deal with the BU’s vital improve bundles in a well timed style. This improves the corporate’s safety posture by figuring out vulnerabilities attributable to out of date variations of the O/S software program, or by having too many software program variations on the community.

Based mostly on Cisco IT’s early SWIM improve success, maybe it’s time for a brand new catchphrase: “Repair it earlier than it’s damaged.”

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