It has been well documented that connecting IoT end point devices causes great angst over security concerns. These concerns are heightened for those that are responsible for the integrity and security of the enterprise networks in particular. Intent-based networking technology can help address and allay these concerns. IBN combines traditional IT data, such as network information, with OT data such as CIP, PROFINET, and BACNet protocols, and creates profiles of users and devices with machine learning. These profiles can then be loaded into a directory and used to instantly identify devices as they connect to the network. While Cisco’s IBN product is the primary reference in the following article, there is a useful how-to approach for designing and scoping an IBN solution.
IBN is something that has been theorized for almost a decade, but solutions only became available recently. The reason why there has been a lag between vision and product is that network engineers didn’t really need IBN to run their networks until recently. Environments were closed, applications were on premises, and everything was under the tight control of the IT organization.
