Network connections and cyber-attacks are actually born together. When end-users access a file in the cloud, the data travels through different network components and may experience hundreds or thousands of cyber-attacks. With IoT and remote working, the connections become even more distributed, thus facing more threats. In the current market, there are small vendors that specialize in a few aspects of network security, but managing these across multiple locations and platforms adds extra layers of complexity. *Source: Help Net Security

Cisco has been the industry leader in enterprise networking, yet there isn't a clear leader in cybersecurity that provides end-to-end protection. Given that network and security are inherently related, we saw an opportunity to leverage our strong networking background to offer integrated security solutions and become leaders in this emerging field. Looking at the market share, Cisco is the only big player in the network and security field, which gives us the chance to redefine the competition. In the future, users won't need to worry about connection and security separately. With our secure network solution, we will protect every one of their connections and every bit of data.

There are customers who want granular control over their network and security, while increasingly, small and medium-sized companies want to move quickly and get their business up and running. Beyond just the part we see on the UI, we are innovating across the entire product lifecycle. We can even pre-load these configurations onto devices during the manufacturing stage, which is more than just providing default configurations as templates. Customers can achieve secured connectivity simply by plugging in a Cisco device, or even without physical deployment if they choose to go virtual. As always, we will allow day-N modifications since network and security needs are always dynamic, depending on actual usage.

In the Day-0 configuration, my focus was on simplicity and visualization. In the design, we recommended a bundled solution that includes both router and firewall, ensuring that all connections are protected by default. Starting from an industry-based site template, we transformed our product into a real service, so that users don’t need to deal with the complexity of network infrastructures but can enjoy secured connectivity right away. The mini topology diagram not only serves functional needs to aid users with configuration but also serves as a marketing piece that showcases how Cisco treats security and connectivity as equally important.

Policy group - create policy based on business intent rather than each device.

In designing this Policy Manager, I aimed to create a solution that meets the needs of customers of all sizes while making it very relevant to individual customers. The idea is to always start from a default policy and provide a simple way for users to customize. This is based on our observation in the field: when our sales engineers present different types of policies, users always ask for examples. We started to build our library, and I proposed a design idea to make it available in the product and accessible to all users.

💡 Research Insights: We provided a default application policy but didn't explain it to users, so they could not trust it.

App policy - Simplification and visualization

💡 Research Insights: Users liked the conventional rule table for policies like security and routing.

Security policy - Unified rule builder

I designed this dashboard to present complex network security data in a user-friendly and accessible manner. It provides an overview of all threats and uses a timeline to allow for detailed analysis. I began with basic charts from our traditional firewall and then upgraded the dashboard with data from Cisco and third-party integrations. All information, from user authorization to file inspection, is integrated into this one dashboard, offering users a comprehensive overview. Thus, users can adopt a clear approach to managing their security and connectivity, instead of juggling many fragmented tasks.

We offer a premium experience to users who opt for the full-stack Cisco solution, achieved through deep integration and automation. Simultaneously, we ensure an optimized experience for integrating with third-party vendors. As highlighted in the market share chart and security journey diagram, the landscape is populated with numerous vendors and specialized security solutions. After designing a few integrations successfully, I identified recurring patterns. This led me to propose a strategy for centralizing and standardizing the integration experience. This approach not only streamlines operations but also showcases our comprehensive coverage in security, cloud, and analytics to our users. It demonstrates our commitment, as a market leader, to maintaining an open and extendable platform and seeking the best for our customers.