Connect. Secure. Manage.
Industrial Network Segmentation
Segment industrial devices and control systems with Cisco networks, documenting required traffic flows and protecting operations during approved changes.
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.
Industrial network segmentation limits which systems can talk to each other. The first step is to understand the traffic that production needs. We work with operational owners and equipment suppliers to map those flows. The result is a staged plan for Cisco-led network boundaries, with checks that new rules do not block essential work.
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.
Build a defensible picture of required traffic
We start with process diagrams, supplier needs, switch records and approved traffic observations. Controllers, operator interfaces, historians, engineering stations and external maintenance systems may have relationships that are missing from an IT asset list. We identify those dependencies before proposing where to place a firewall or routed boundary.
Traffic observations need interpretation. A connection seen during one shift may not capture maintenance, start-up, failover or periodic reporting. We agree the observation period and ask equipment owners to identify infrequent but necessary activities. The resulting flow register distinguishes confirmed services from traffic that needs explanation, rather than permitting everything simply because it was observed once.
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
Define zones that reflect operational ownership
Segmentation is more useful when its boundaries correspond to a process, trust level or maintenance responsibility. We consider equipment groups, production cells, engineering services and interfaces to the enterprise network. The terminology should remain understandable to the people who approve access and investigate incidents.
A separate VLAN can reduce a broadcast domain, while a VRF separates routing contexts; neither automatically supplies all the inspection or access restrictions a security need may need. We choose the enforcement mechanism for the actual boundary and document where authorised traffic is inspected, routed or simply switched.
A useful starting point
Not sure where to start?
Bring the requirement. We will help you define the engineering work.
Treat shared services as explicit dependencies
Time services, name resolution, remote management, logging and data collection may need to cross several zones. Allowing broad access to a shared server can undermine the separation the design was intended to create. We find the specific destinations and service directions required by each group of devices.
Industrial demilitarised-zone arrangements may help mediate exchanges between operational and business systems. Their value depends on the services and controls actually implemented, not the label on a diagram. We clarify which team owns those intermediary systems and how a failure will affect production reporting or maintenance access.
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 ↗Select controls supported by the estate
Cisco switching, routing, identity-based policy and firewall services offer different ways to apply separation. We check platform, software and feature support before recommending a particular method. A design that assumes every older controller can authenticate like an office laptop is likely to create exceptions that weaken the result.
Where device identity is limited, we assess the practical controls available at the connection and gateway. Exceptions should have a documented reason, owner and review condition. The aim is a workable improvement with known limitations, not an impressive policy diagram that operations must bypass to keep the plant running.
Introduce restrictions in controlled stages
The rollout can begin with visibility and a limited pilot before enforcement expands. We agree test devices, change windows, app checks and rollback actions with the operational owner. A test must consider process state and simple network reachability: equipment may remain pingable while a required control exchange fails.
We avoid applying a broad deny rule across an unfamiliar estate as a demonstration of security. The sequence should show which flows are being protected, what evidence supports the rule and how the change will be reversed if a legitimate dependency was missed. Emergency exceptions remain recorded and subject to review after the incident.
Validate both access and isolation
Acceptance includes proving that required communications still work and that chosen unauthorised paths are blocked. Tests need written authority and a method suitable for the connected systems. Intrusive scanning or penetration techniques are not assumed to be safe merely because the project concerns segmentation.
The evidence can support a customer’s wider assurance programme. But it is not a blanket certification of the operational setup. Safety, process governance and regulatory obligations require their own assessment. We state exactly which network boundaries were tested and which conditions remain outside the agreed scope.
Keep the segmentation current
New equipment, temporary vendor access and changes to data collection can gradually erode a well-designed boundary. We recommend a change process linked to the flow register, with an owner for each exception. Diagrams and policy records should be updated when the live network changes, not saved for an annual documentation exercise.
MCI can assess a current industrial network or develop segmentation alongside a planned network migration. The outcome is an agreed set of operational zones, permitted flows, enforceable controls and evidence that your team can use to maintain the separation after the project ends.
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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