By advancing its plans to focus this aspect of security training on the new ASA technology, Azlan is giving partner and end-user organisations that make extensive use of Cisco technologies the earliest possible opportunity to get their skills up to speed in the new set of solutions, which delivers converged firewall, intrusion prevention, network anti-virus, and VPN services.
Nigel Pearson, Director of Azlan Training, says that while other Cisco Learning Solutions Partners (CLSPs), are still chiefly focused on the PIX firewall, Azlan has decided to make an investment in ASA now in order to protect the future investments of its customers. “Cisco is increasingly placing the emphasis on the superior ASA technology in its products and curricula and by making the switch now, Azlan Training is acting in the best interests of its customers. It is ASA that they will be configuring in the months ahead rather than PIX so it makes sense for them to start learning about the new technology now.”
There are only a handful of CLSPs in Western Europe and very few have the investment capability to deliver the complete set of ASA courses as quickly as Azlan Training, Pearson notes. “We are fortunate within Azlan Training to have access to the very best technical and training resources. Our Remote Security Labs operation is equipped with the latest Cisco technologies and all our key Cisco training staff are fully conversant in ASA already. Thanks to our continued and sustained investment, we are able to deliver these courses today while other organisations are still deciding how to proceed.”
Cisco has made it very clear in recent communications that its efforts will increasingly focus on ASA. While PIX will continue to be supported but will be de-emphasised in the Cisco curriculum. Many training organisations are continuing to offer PIX courses bit have not yet announced plans to run any ASA programmes.
Azlan already has some 32 ASA Appliances installed within its Remote Security Lab enabling customers to take courses in the new technologies from any suitable location with broadband connectivity. Azlan is also running courses in Cisco ASA at its head offices in Wokingham and in its locations in London, Wakefield, and Coventry
Cisco’s ASA 5500 Series adaptive security appliances are purpose-built solutions that combine best-of-breed security and VPN services with the innovative Cisco Adaptive Identification and Mitigation (AIM) architecture. Designed as a key component of the Cisco Self-Defending Network, the Cisco ASA 5500 Series provides proactive threat defence that stops attacks before they spread through the network, controls network activity and application traffic, and delivers flexible VPN connectivity. The result is a powerful multifunction network security appliance family that provides the security breadth and depth for protecting small and medium-sized business and enterprise networks while reducing the overall deployment and operations costs and complexities associated with providing this new level of security.