1. Cisco Compliance Management and Configuration Service
Excerpt

2. Market Drivers for CMCS
Complex and
Evolving Networks
Need for Internal Best Practices
Limited
Resources
Difficult to implement changes consistently across large, evolving networks
Ability to create and implement customized best practices
Limited compliance and security expertise, lack of human capital
Compliance and the change management that supports it go hand-in-hand. But both can be hard to manage in complex, evolving networks. Changes that must be managed include software updates, modifications to configurations, and any internal best practices that an organization adopts. Manual processes are prone to human error, and many organizations simply don’t have the internal resources they need.
CMCS performs change management and provides you with the visibility and awareness to identify compliance gaps, so your organization can meet regulatory and industry standards and organizational policies. It supports business continuity by controlling, maintaining, or resolving these compliance issues in your network.

3. Challenges with Compliance and Change Management
Compliance Management
Configuration Management
Workflow
Management
Software Image
Management
Usually poorly understood
Most configuration changes are manual
Poor overall control results in extreme control measures
Process is often limited to paper-based flow diagrams
Measurement is often a “snapshot”
~ 70% of network downtime due to human error
Change activity occurring by non-entitled individuals
Even small errors will cause large issues
Poor visibility into corporate configuration policy
Majority of problems detected after deployment
Limited audit trail for changes made
Manpower-intensive
Poor visibility into industry best practices
Managing changes and compliance requires a focus on four areas: compliance, configuration, workflow, and software images.
Compliance management is often hindered by a lack of visibility into corporate configuration policies and poor understanding of them. In addition, compliance usually reflects a “snapshot” in time, rather than an ongoing management process, meaning at one point, everything was brought into compliance – such as the date of the last regulatory audit – but then things continued to change
Configuration management is made harder because changes are usually made manually, leaving them open to human errors that can cause network downtime. In addition, many companies don’t have access to industry best practices. Workflow management issues include poor control over who is able to make these changes and a limited audit trail.
And successful management of software images for thousands of devices can be derailed by small errors. The process is often ruled by paper-based flow diagrams and can be labor-intensive.
According to a Ponemon Institute report from January 2011 titled “The True Cost of Compliance,” outdated compliance and configuration management tools actually cost companies millions of dollars a year.

4. What Is Compliance Management and Configuration Service (CMCS)?
CMCS uses controlled change to understand, control, and maintain compliance in your network, using Cisco® intellectual capital, software automation, and operational expertise.
Lowers total cost of ownership
Helps ensure business continuity
Mitigates risk
Manages change and complexity
Improves network compliance
Offers customized
service
Here’s how Cisco Compliance Management and Configuration Service can help. The service manages changes and compliance across network devices, automatically, accurately, and efficiently. The result? Your organization can understand, control, and maintain compliance. The service draws on Cisco intellectual capital, software automation, and operational expertise. Workflow controls provide visibility and control of the change management process.
CMCS lowers total cost of ownership by reducing audit costs and the risk of fines, and by eliminating the need for an in-house compliance expert.
It helps ensure business continuity by providing consistent change management that increases network uptime and stability.
It mitigates risk by lowering the risk of fines or liability, the risk of security breaches, and the loss of brand equity.
It improves network compliance, reduces compliance costs and human error, and provides a comprehensive audit trail.
Cisco updates your implementation of the service continuously, to align your network with regulatory, commercial, and organizational imperatives.
This is a customized service, with Cisco people, processes, and tools that adapt to your business needs and with policies tailored to your business.
Configuration
Compliance
Workflow
Software Image

5. CMCS Process Flow for Change Management
Execute Changes
Audit
Qualify Changes
Validate Changes
Recommendations
Cisco® Service Management
Organization
Web UI
Web UI
Offers optimization recommendations
Performs all requested changes
Can write custom policies
Complete software upgrades
Maintenance Window support
Platform support
Set business policies and technology standards
Review and approve change activity
Manage requests or deviation from business policies and technology standards
Here’s how the CMCS process flow works in your organization. Cisco engineers work with you to set the policies and review changes. The Cisco Service Management team upgrades and maintains software, writes custom policies, makes optimization recommendations, and manages the changes that you request.