Connect. Secure. Manage.
Catalyst Center Device Discovery
Onboard Cisco devices into Catalyst Center, checking credentials, reachability, software support and inventory accuracy before enabling wider workflows.
Devices supported
across the UK
Client locations
supported
Traffic handled
at peak time
Average
response time
Average response is not a resolution time or a contractual guarantee. Support scope and response commitments are agreed for each engagement.
Catalyst Center device discovery builds the list of devices the platform can manage. A device appearing in that list does not prove that every function will work. We plan the scan, check the results and record which tasks are ready to use. Missing access, unsupported features and other gaps remain visible for follow-up.
Cisco-focused engineering
Design around the platform, traffic and failure behaviour you actually operate.
Change with evidence
Use pre-checks, acceptance criteria and a documented route back.
Operational handover
Keep the configuration, diagrams and responsibilities understandable after delivery.
Set a precise discovery scope
We start with the sites, address ranges and device roles the customer intends to manage. The scope should exclude unrelated infrastructure and networks for which access has not been authorised. A broad address sweep is not automatically the most useful discovery method, particularly in an estate with overlapping ranges or restricted management boundaries.
Available inventories and diagrams provide a starting point, but their accuracy is checked. We record expected devices and known exceptions so the discovery result can be reconciled rather than accepted at face value. The exercise may reveal missing records, stale management addresses or equipment that has been replaced without updating documentation.
Standards & partnerships
Confidence in the team behind your network.
Cisco Partner
Cisco Meraki
Cyber Essentials
Cyber Essentials PlusMCI Network Services is operated by Proxar Ltd. Certifications apply to the certified legal entity and the scope of its certificates. View accreditation information
Verify reachability and supported access
The platform needs appropriate network access to the devices and the supported credentials for the required functions. We assess routing, access lists, management interfaces and the protocols used by the chosen Cisco release. Successful ICMP reachability alone does not prove that discovery or later setup access will work.
Credentials are prepared with a defined owner and secure handling process. We avoid repeated authentication attempts with uncertain accounts that could trigger lockouts or security incidents. Where device access is controlled by an external authentication service, that team helps confirm the intended privilege and source restrictions before discovery begins.
A useful starting point
Not sure where to start?
Bring the requirement. We will help you define the engineering work.
Distinguish inventory presence from manageability
A device can appear in the inventory while some functions remain unavailable. Identification, setup collection, telemetry and software-management readiness may depend on different prerequisites. We inspect the resulting status and explain the difference rather than marking every discovered serial number as fully onboarded.
Unsupported hardware, software or feature combinations are recorded clearly. The response may be a credential correction, a network-access change, an upgrade or an agreed exclusion. We do not force a device into an unsupported workflow simply to make the inventory look complete. The customer needs an accurate capability record, not a uniformly green screen.
Different environments. The same care.
Built around the work
your network supports.
Finance, banking and the wider private sector. We start with the systems and people that depend on your connections.
Finance & banking
Market-data paths, routing and provider coordination on clients’ behalf.
Financial-market services ↗Offices & multi-site teams
Reliable access between people, workplaces and business applications.
Office network design ↗Data centres & cloud
Network boundaries, workload connections and operational ownership.
Data centre networks ↗Organise devices in the correct site context
Discovered equipment should be associated with the appropriate site and role before broader automation is introduced. We check naming, management addresses and physical location, resolving duplicates and ambiguous records. A switch with a familiar hostname can still be the wrong device if it was replaced or reused elsewhere.
Site assignment can influence inherited settings and later provisioning. So it is treated as a controlled decision. We review what will change when a device is assigned or provisioned and preserve its current baseline. Discovery and setup enforcement are separate stages unless the project clearly combines them.
Reconcile the result with the real estate
The reconciliation compares expected and discovered devices, identifies unexplained absences and checks that obsolete records are not mistaken for active assets. We use serial numbers and other stable identifiers where available rather than relying only on names. The resulting exceptions list gives the team specific follow-up tasks.
We also identify devices whose management path is fragile or undocumented. A discovery that works only through a temporary firewall exception is not operationally complete. Any temporary access is reviewed and either replaced with an approved permanent rule or removed after the task. This keeps onboarding from quietly weakening the management boundary.
Validate the workflows that will use the inventory
Acceptance includes the functions agreed for the engagement. That may be setup retrieval, supported diagnostic access, software information or telemetry readiness. A representative sample is exercised, and material exceptions are documented. The scope of those tests is stated so a later team does not assume that every possible feature has been checked.
Where the inventory will feed automation, we check targeting and grouping carefully. A wrong site or role can turn a harmless inventory error into a setup incident. The handover therefore includes the ownership of inventory maintenance and the process for approving new devices before they enter production workflows.
Keep discovery accurate over time
Device replacements, credential rotation and management-network changes can all degrade an initially correct inventory. We recommend a review process that reconciles platform records with the actual estate and alerts on failed collection. Decommissioned equipment should not remain indefinitely as an unexplained failure.
MCI can deliver discovery as part of Catalyst Center deployment or as a focused clean-up of a current installation. The useful outcome is a reliable management baseline, with exceptions understood and assigned. From there, software and setup automation can be introduced with much greater confidence in the devices they will affect.
Talk to a specialist
What does your network need next?
Tell us what you are planning, changing or trying to improve. We will help define a practical next step and the engineering scope.
+44 203 196 6566Choose option 1
sales@proxar.co.ukUK-wide service.
Most of our engineers are based in Kent, with a focus on London, Sussex, Essex and Berkshire.
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