Cisco Unified Access updates focus on addressing 'Internet of Things'

Cisco is continuing to focus heavily on bringing together wired and wireless networking infrastructures through the latest revamp of its Unified Access IT management platform.

It seems that every tech company is scrambling to address the "Internet of Things" concept, and this is another example of that.

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Unveiled amid Cisco Live in London this week, the networking giant is framing these releases as answers for bring your own device (BYOD), in particular.

For reference, Cisco's Unified Access platform is designed to converge wired, wireless, and virtual private networks onto a single platform with a single policy and management system on a single network.

Basically, it's supposed to reduce IT costs, conserve resources, and prevent headaches.

The latest updates center around software-defined networking with the unveiling of a new open architecture and developer toolkit, streamlining the path for data to travel from routers and switches to customized applications.

That's in tangent to the debut of the new Cisco Catalyst 3850 Switch, which is intended to provide one physical infrastructure for both wired and wireless networks with common support, visibility, and service on the same access layer.

Furthermore, Cisco is also rolling out a number of new appliances and policy-management solutions to wrap all of this together.

For BYOD enthusiasts, this includes updates to the Identity Services Engine (version 1.2), which consists of a single policy to manage multiple device types and privileges. Enhancements include support for more third-party services such as those from Good Technology and SAP.

Most of these introductions are available now, with a few of the services (such as ISE v1.2) to follow in March.