Your network should meet your business needs
Bridge the gap between what your business needs and what your network delivers.
Contact Cisco
-
-
Call Sales:
- 1-800-553-6387
- US/CAN | 5am-5pm PT
What is intent-based networking (IBN)?
As users, devices, and distributed applications have grown in number, the networking environment has become exponentially more complex. IBN transforms a hardware-centric, manual network into a controller-led network that captures business intent and translates it into policies that can be automated and applied consistently across the network. The goal is for the network to continuously monitor and adjust network performance to help assure desired business outcomes.
How does it work?
IBN builds on software-defined networking (SDN), by using a network controller that acts as a central control point for network activity. Such controllers are crucial for network abstraction that lets IT treat the network as an integrated whole. Controller-led networks in all domains (including access, WAN, data center, and cloud) collaborate and extend their benefits throughout the enterprise and help make digital transformation a reality.
The closed-loop system of IBN operates with the following functional building blocks to deliver intent, or support for, the business or IT outcomes that your organization needs.
- Translation: The capture and translation of intent into policies the network can act on.
- Activation: Installation of these policies across the physical and virtual network infrastructure, using networkwide automation.
- Assurance: Use of analytics and machine learning to continuously monitor the network to verify that the desired intent has been applied and the business outcomes are being achieved.
Features and benefits
Learn what intent-based networking can do for you.
Simplified operations
Centralize and automate network policy for efficiency, agility and zero trust access.
Proactive management
Combine network analytics and machine learning to solve issues before they arise.
Security throughout
Detect and contain threats everywhere, in real time with integrated network security.
Investment for innovation
Realize continuous IT and business innovation, built on a suite of open networking platforms.
Cisco IT road to intent-based networking
See how our IT team transforms the Cisco network and gains insights and lessons across access, WAN, data center and cloud.
Explore solutions that are built on intent-based networking
Access
Cisco Software-Defined Access (SD-Access) automates one policy across the Cisco Catalyst wired and wireless infrastructure.
WAN
Cisco SD-WAN securely connects any user, any application, anywhere, with the power of the cloud.
Data center
Cisco Nexus Dashboard provides complete control from a single pane of glass. Cisco ACI solutions deliver automation. Cisco Secure Workload secures your data center.
Security
Enterprise network security aligns and optimizes the network with security to thousands of locations from one interface.
See what customers are saying
"Intent-based networking eliminates the wasted time and disruption."
David Maksim, Program Manager, Cisco
"We continue to support traditional data center applications while accommodating a rapidly expanding IoT footprint, with completely different infrastructure requirements and aggressive time-to-market goals. Intent-based networking and advanced automation are essential to this transition."
Jan Holzmann, Senior Manager for Central Network Services, Bosch
"Rolling out new VLANs takes minutes instead of hours, using repeatable code we know is safe. And we can implement changes or patches collectively instead of doing it manually, switch by switch. What used to take multiple days is now a hands-off, set-and-forget process."
Richard Lock, Principal Infrastructure Engineer, University of Derby
"To compete with the 'big four' banks in Australia, we need to deliver better, faster services to our customers. We've cut the amount of time it takes to receive a home loan in half, and a third of our customers' loan applications are being processed within two days. Cisco technologies have been a key enabler of these improvements, and we're just getting started."
Head of Enterprise Technology, Great Southern Bank
Drive results with a more secure, resilient network
Deploy faster with a strategic plan, migration strategy, and roadmap. Drive operational excellence with services to help improve security and visibility.
