15.7. Helpdesk Support

The plan that you establish to deal with NAC deployment problems when they arise can dictate whether you successfully deploy NAC. Create a plan to help users if they can't get access to the network. You put NAC in place to control access to resources, but if a user can't log in or has problems, NAC's control limits the user's productivity.

Train your helpdesk personnel so that they can tell users how to get their machines on the network. Some problems to think about include

• The user's machine is out of compliance.

• The user's NAC agent or client does not allow them to connect to the network with appropriate access.

• The user can't authenticate.

Make sure that your helpdesk personnel have access to tools that they can use to identify and fix the problems that arise. These tools should include delegated admin privileges to the policy engine or management system, and centralized logging information.