Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) Playbook
This playbook is designed to provide you with use case education, customer requirements, and actions you'll need to take to help your customers navigate their Cisco product adoption.
You will be guided through the specific objectives of each stage of adoption and how they relate to the aligning automated digital experience.
As we learn more about what it takes for customers to be successful with their adoption, new resources and updated information can be added to this playbook, including if a customer becomes Stalled in Stage or requires additional troubleshooting aid.
Refer to the last page of this playbook for definitions, descriptions, and all associated resources to help your customer through their adoption.
How to coach for success with Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)
Help your customers get started with initial Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) from getting started, to learning how to tap into advanced features to further integrate, automate, and monitor their security, learn how to best coach for success.
ISE journey
Help your customer unlock the full potential of Identity Services Engine while ensuring a smooth implementation of Network Access Control. Support their creation of a Cisco Smart Account to activate and manage licenses via the Cisco Smart Software Manager. Leverage key resources to complete essential tasks such as reviewing the ISE getting started, compatibility, and installation guides. Continue to ensure ISE is registered to a Smart Account and moved from an Evaluation License and make sure the has chosen the ISE deployment based on the maximum scale numbers for active endpoints supported by individual PSN nodes.
Guide your customers through creating and managing authentication and authorization policies in Cisco ISE for secure wired, wireless, VPN, and guest access. Help customers monitor performance and troubleshoot with diagnostic tools, validate deployments, and recommend regular health checks, backups, and reporting—ensuring your customers network remains secure, compliant, and continuously optimized.
Refer to the last page of this playbook for definitions, descriptions, and all associated resources to help your customer through their adoption.
Customers enter the Identity Services Engine journey when they meet the following corresponding entry criteria:
Must HAVE at least one from (ISE Appliance, ISE VM)
Must HAVE at least one from Security EA Choice ISE Bundle, Security EA Choice ISE License, Security EA 2.0 Policy ISE License, Security EA 2.0 Policy ISE SWATCH License, Security EA 2.0 Suite3 License, Security ELA 1.0 5 Yr Virtual Suite, Security ELA 1.0 by Customer, Security ELA 1.0 ISE, Security ELA 1.0 v1, Security ELA 1.0 V2, Security ELA 1.0 V3, Security ELA 1.0 V4, Security ELA 1.0 V4. 1, Security ELA 1.0 V5, Security ELA 1.0 V6)
Customers are eligible for these journeys when they have purchased:
| Eligibility Rule | Hierarchy Component | Rule Description |
|---|---|---|
| Rule 1 | License | Must HAVE at least one from Essentials, Advantage or Premier |
| Rule 2 | License | Must HAVE at least one from Security EA Choice ISE Bundle, Security EA Choice ISE License, Security EA 2.0 Policy ISE License, Security EA 2.0 Policy ISE SWATCH License, Security EA 2.0 Suite3 License, Security ELA 1.0 5 Yr Virtual Suite, Security ELA 1.0 by Customer, Security ELA 1.0 ISE, Security ELA 1.0 v1, Security ELA 1.0 V2, Security ELA 1.0 V3, Security ELA 1.0 V4, Security ELA 1.0 V4. 1, Security ELA 1.0 V5, Security ELA 1.0 V6 |
| Eligibility Scenarios |
|---|
| If Rule 1 or Rule 2 is TRUE, then your customer is ELIGIBLE |
Refer to the last page of this playbook for definitions, descriptions, and all associated resources to help your customer through their adoption.
Guidance on helping your customer adopt ISE
In this stage, the customer will:
- Create a Cisco Smart Account
- Log in to Cisco Software Central to manage their license(s)"
The customer will exit this stage when they have:
- They have created their Smart Account and activated Smart Licensing
Tips for Partner
- Customers will need to create a CCO-ID to create a Smart Account
- Customers will login to Cisco Software Central
- This email is sent to customers whose preferred language EN-US, ES-XL, PT-BR, FR-CA, EN-UK, DE, ES, FR, IT, EN, JP, KO, ZH-CN, ZH-TW
Activate
Subject Line: Activate Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) to begin your journey
Preheader: Gain full use of your investment by taking these actions today.
Trigger: This email is sent to customers whose stage = Purchase, Onboard or Implement and have not activated their Smart License
Goal: Promote creation of Cisco Smart Account and activation of Smart License
Preheader: Gain full use of your investment by taking these actions today.
Trigger: This email is sent to customers whose stage = Purchase, Onboard or Implement and have not activated their Smart License
Goal: Promote creation of Cisco Smart Account and activation of Smart License
Activate
In this stage, the customer will:
- Get familiar with Smart Licensing
- Bookmark adoption resources
The customer will exit this stage when they have:
- They have activated their Smart Account and licenses
Tips for Partner
- Verify customers have their CCO-ID to verify their Smart Account is active
- This email is sent to customers whose preferred language EN-US, ES-XL, PT-BR, FR-CA, EN-UK, DE, ES, FR, IT, EN, JP, KO, ZH-CN, ZH-TW
Onboard
Subject Line: Activate Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) to begin your journey
Preheader: Everything you need for a successful deployment.
Trigger: This email is sent to customers who have activated their Smart License
Goal: Provide customers with resources needed to adopt the product
Preheader: Everything you need for a successful deployment.
Trigger: This email is sent to customers who have activated their Smart License
Goal: Provide customers with resources needed to adopt the product
Onboard
In this stage, the customer will:
- Ensure ISE is registered to a Smart Account and moved from an Evaluation License
- Choose the ISE deployment based on the maximum scale numbers for active endpoints supported by individual PSN nodes
The customer will exit this stage when they have:
- They have registered ISE to a Smart Account and moved from an Evaluation License
Tips for Partner
- Ensure the customer is reviewing the sizing guide and appropriately forming their deployment based on sizing guidelines
- Ensure the customer is watching ISE deployment planning and stategies to follow key deployment steps
Implement
Subject Line: Start with these Network Access Control configurations
Preheader: Implement with these best practices for success.
Trigger: This email is sent to customers one week after the Resources: Getting started email
Goal: Provide customers with implementation best practices
Preheader: Implement with these best practices for success.
Trigger: This email is sent to customers one week after the Resources: Getting started email
Goal: Provide customers with implementation best practices
Implement
In this stage, the customer will:
- Created authentication and authorization policies on ISE for Wired, Wireless, and VPN Network Access or Guest Access to access control, and user policy enforcement for more secure network connectivity and resources
- Updated policy conditions and results, if necessary, and reorder policy sets based on counts or live logs
- Explored and run Endpoints, users reports, and guest reports
The customer will exit this stage when they have:
- They have selected the ISE deployment based on the maximum scale numbers for active endpoints supported by individual PSN nodes
Use
Subject Line: Ready to deploy Cisco Identity Services Engine?
Preheader: Start with these Network Access Control configurations.
Trigger: This email is sent to new contacts one week after the Resources: Getting started email or when existing contacts’ stage = Use, Engage, Adopt or Optimize
Goal: Highlight core product features and provide resources to learn more
Preheader: Start with these Network Access Control configurations.
Trigger: This email is sent to new contacts one week after the Resources: Getting started email or when existing contacts’ stage = Use, Engage, Adopt or Optimize
Goal: Highlight core product features and provide resources to learn more
Use
In this stage, the customer will:
- Validate, scale, and deploy with these best practices
- Scale their network access to ensure that the minimum number of deployed licenses aligns to the number of ISE nodes
- Run an on-demand ISE health check. An ISE health check will verify their deployment and identify critical issues to avoid downtime or blockers
The customer will exit this stage when they have:
- They have scaled their network to ensure the minimum number of deployed licenses aligns to the number of ISE nodes
Engage
Subject Line: Ready to deploy Cisco Identity Services Engine?
Preheader: Start with these Network Access Control configurations.
Trigger: This email is sent two weeks after the Core features email
Goal: Provide steps to customers on how to plan and deploy their policies
Preheader: Start with these Network Access Control configurations.
Trigger: This email is sent two weeks after the Core features email
Goal: Provide steps to customers on how to plan and deploy their policies
Engage
In this stage, the customer will:
- Configure and run ISE system backups
- Use reports to monitor and troubleshoot various features on ISE and analyze trends of the network activities from a centralized admin node
- Identify and enable the ISE Nodes to be used for device administration with TACACS+ or introduce Guest feature
The customer will exit this stage when they have:
- They configure and run ISE system backups and usage reports
Adopt
Subject Line: What you should know about successful Network Access Control customers
Preheader: Use these top 3 best practices.
Trigger: This email is sent to customers two weeks after the Feature focus email
Goal: Provide customers with best practices for using and tuning their policies
Preheader: Use these top 3 best practices.
Trigger: This email is sent to customers two weeks after the Feature focus email
Goal: Provide customers with best practices for using and tuning their policies
Adopt
In this stage, the customer will:
- Focus on measuring success, continued tuning, and keeping their solution updated with these actions: leverage the Cisco ISE portal, explore audit reports, experience latest features and security updates
The customer will exit this stage when they have:
- They upgrade to a higher software version to enable the latest features for ISE
Tips for Partner
- Ensure your customers software version has been upgraded to the current recommended version/li>
- ISE Release Notes
Optmize
Subject Line: Tuning and customizations for Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)
Preheader: Optimize your Cisco Network Access Control solution.
Trigger: This email is sent to customers four weeks after the Top 3 recommendations for success email
Goal: Provide advanced features and integrations
Preheader: Optimize your Cisco Network Access Control solution.
Trigger: This email is sent to customers four weeks after the Top 3 recommendations for success email
Goal: Provide advanced features and integrations
Optmize
Refer to the last page of this playbook for definitions, descriptions, and all associated resources to help your customer through their adoption.
To further support your customers along their digital journey, you can provide them with key resources:
Refer to the last page of this playbook for definitions, descriptions, and all associated resources to help your customer through their adoption.