I am sure you heard the term PCI compliance before. Also surely you will know that Security is quite hard to sell in Europe as it is not being seen as a business enablement tool. It is rather seen as a necessity or a “I must be compliant”. I understand that it is slightly different in the US.

However here in the UK we are seeing a lot of interest in PCI compliance. Not because the customers have additional funds to spare but because banks and other credit card processing organizations are increasing pressure to become compliant by the end of 2010.

Currently we are working with one of our Partners on 2 large retail accounts to become PCI compliant. We are tailoring an all inclusive package to meet the deadline. Hardware, Design, Consultancy & of course tailored high end Cisco Training.  It involves AAA (Cisco ACS), SSH on all boxes, IPS/IDS, NAC, Router & Switch Security as well as Cisco Security Manager and CS MARS.

Apparently the processing bank (a leading UK financial) organization has told the customer that if PCI compliance isn’t met by the end of 2010 there will be a fine of up to £50k per month for every non-compliant month. Ouch!

So it is better worth checking with the financial institutions now before it’s getting to close to the deadline. The beauty for me as the CTO and for our technical Cisco Consultants and Cisco Trainers is the fact that we get to spec, design, implement all the latest and greatest Cisco Security technologies and deliver Training on it.

The timelines are tight, but we have a great team and look forward to those 2 large projects.

Martin Voelk
CTO
ProNetExpert
http://www.pronetexpert.com/cisco-ccie-consulting-consultancy-support-services-security-ironport.html