"Call me anything you want, but just don't call me late for dinner."

I wonder how many of us are familiar with this old quote.

Security management often burdens teams to put in extra cycles to get the most appropriate access and security policies in place. The process too often isn't simple and -guess what? -our security admins often have to work later than they'd like just to stay on top of security -maybe missing dinner.

So perhaps this is why I am so enthused about our new management console for our low-to mid-range next-generation firewalls (NGFW).

Our new interface will not only give customers a really slick experience so that they can get the most effective security possible in place, but also they'll be more productive than ever and maybe even get home for dinner on time.

I'm also thrilled since this is yet another example of how we're keeping our promise to the market and our customers to deliver more effective security and make it simpler. If you joined us at Cisco Live in Las Vegas you were surrounded by this theme and examples of new Cisco products and services that make security more effective by keeping them simple, open, and automated.

Our new management console for low-to mid-range NGFW customers is designed for those who focus as much on network management as on security.

We call it Firepower Device Manager. It is a web-based console that makes it easier than ever for network admins to manage their NGFW. We've honed it through thousands of hours of user experience testing as well as lab and in production testing at major organizations. It's the cleanest, simplest and most effective firewall manager Cisco has ever created -getting you connected AND protected in minutes.

Firepower Device Manager gets you connected and protected in minutes.

For a tour of the new experience, check out this 5-minute video overview.

I know our customers will love it. And it won't take long with a setup wizard and workflows that walk you through getting the right access control and security in place fast.

• 5 minutes to connection and protection: With a few simple clicks and some basic information, the initial setup wizard takes you through getting connected and protected in less than five minutes.
• Simple user identification: User identification setup to protect employees is simple with a workflow that takes you step-by-step through configuring identify policies.
• Easy access control: We bid adios to ugly IP mapping. With employees identified, simply click on users and groups to create user-based access control policies, instead of getting bogged down by traditional, time-consuming and complex IP mapping.
• One stop for effective security: We keep it simple. Our access control screen lets you choose firewall constraints and policies, naturally, but also set policy for application visibility and control (AVC), URL filtering and even intrusion prevention (IPS) and Advanced Malware Protection (AMP). Quickly block what you don't want going out and inspect what's coming in. And if you want to customize any rules or configurations, that's easy.
• Bird's eye view: A picture is worth a thousand words. That's why we let you instantly see a visualization of the policies deployed and the traffic across your environment so you can know exactly what is going on.

Firepower Device Manager's check-box environment makes NGFW connectivity and protection as fast and easy as deploying routers and switches. This lets you save time and energy that you can devote to other projects -or even life outside of work.

We hope you are excited too about the simpler, more effective security experience you'll get with Firepower Device Manager.

Now for a last, all-important question: what's for dinner?

We also think about simplifying security management for large, distributed enterprises. Check out howCisco Defense Orchestratorlets network operations staff stay on top of managing security for dozens, hundreds or thousands of devices -all from a simple cloud-based portal. Easy and Effective.