Cisco Unveils Industrial Network Director: Streamlined IoT Network Management for Operations Teams

Today Cisco announced Industrial Network Director, a purpose‑built software solution that empowers operations teams to manage industrial Ethernet networks across their Industrial Internet of Things (IoT) initiatives.

Industrial Network Director delivers an intuitive, operator‑centric interface that accelerates troubleshooting, boosts system availability, and simplifies control of the entire Cisco Industrial Ethernet switching portfolio.

Over the past six years, Cisco has adapted its Enterprise‑class switching line to meet rigorous industrial requirements, establishing a market‑leading position in Industrial Ethernet. The portfolio delivers performance, security, and industrial certification for Automation, Utilities, Smart Cities, and Transportation.

Customers seeking greater business agility and cost control typically demand three key capabilities:

1. Real‑time, graphical views of automation and network device connectivity, giving line operators and automation engineers clear plant‑floor asset visibility.
2. Immediate notification of network events and their impact on automation processes, enabling rapid, collaborative troubleshooting by technicians and IT.
3. Open APIs that integrate network data with automation tools, enhancing asset management, monitoring, and accounting for plant managers.

Industrial Network Director addresses these needs by seamlessly integrating with existing operational systems, unifying IT and operations around a common information framework, and driving continuous improvements in system availability.

Historically, operations teams faced opaque networks, lacking visibility into device connectivity and application status relative to automation. Industrial Network Director cuts through this barrier with a task‑driven user experience tailored to common operational roles. Step‑by‑step guided tours reduce the learning curve and empower users to harness the system’s full potential.

Industrial Network Visibility

Through collaboration with industry leaders, we learned that successful IoT and automation programs hinge on seamless information flow between operations and IT. Industrial Network Director eliminates this divide by providing a shared, consistent view of network infrastructure and connected devices.

Network Troubleshooting with Automation Context

The platform aggregates network events and traps into actionable alarms, presenting them within the context of the automation process. Alarms identify the affected automation devices, facilitating impact analysis and straightforward troubleshooting for rapid resolution.

Rapid Integration with Automation Systems

Industrial Network Director is built on an API‑first architecture; every function is exposed through a RESTful interface. This design enables easy integration of network data into existing industrial asset‑management systems and lets system integrators create custom dashboards that meet unique customer requirements.

Early adopters report gains in operator productivity, system availability, and cross‑functional collaboration with IT.

“The industrial Ethernet network can traditionally seem like a black box to many operators, technicians and automation engineers. They want intuitive tools to easily access network and connected device information—with little to no learning curve. Cisco’s Industrial Network Director fits perfectly, by providing asset visibility and simplified troubleshooting in context. Industrial Network Director lets operations teams monitor their networks and quickly recover from expensive unplanned downtime.” – Carsten Hopf, CEO, Hopf Vertriebsgesellschaft mbH

“The Industrial Network Director offers quick and easy integration with current business processes and systems. The REST API built into Industrial Network Director works perfectly to provide connectivity information for the network devices, as well as the automation devices to both existing and new applications.” – Dan Vargas, Solution Engineer Team Lead, SHI International Corp.

To learn more about the impact of IoT and industrial automation with integrated network management, visit www.cisco.com/go/ind.