Build Your Enterprise Networking Core Skills with Cisco ENCOR at Firefly

Build Your Enterprise Networking Core Skills with Cisco ENCOR at Firefly

Over the past two decades, I’ve watched enterprise networking evolve from basic connectivity to a complex, security-driven, and automated ecosystem.
What hasn’t changed is the need for a strong technical foundation, and that’s exactly what the Implementing and Operating Cisco Enterprise Network Core Technologies (ENCOR) course provides.

At Firefly, we deliver ENCOR with one goal: to prepare you for the real challenges modern networks face today.

What You’ll Learn in ENCOR

ENCOR focuses on the core technologies that power enterprise wired and wireless networks. It blends traditional networking knowledge with today’s critical topics like automation and security.

You’ll gain hands-on skills in:

• Configuring and troubleshooting LANs and WLANs
  
  
• Implementing security features such as network access control and segmentation
  
  
• Exploring Cisco SD-WAN and SD-Access designs
  
  
• Understanding automation using REST APIs, model-driven telemetry, and DNA Center
  
  
• Applying virtualization and infrastructure services in large environments
  
  

These are the must-have capabilities for anyone managing or transforming enterprise networks.

Case Study: From Manual Network Headaches to Centralized Control

Recently, I worked with a global manufacturing company that had a growing problem. Every time they opened a new site or updated a policy, their IT staff had to log in manually to configure hundreds of network switches.
This process was not only time-consuming, but it also left the door open for human error and inconsistent configurations, especially around security.

To make things worse, employees were plugging in unauthorized devices at their desks or in shared spaces, creating risks that the company’s network team couldn’t always detect or contain.

The Solution: ENCOR-Level Design Principles in Action

We approached this challenge by focusing on two core ENCOR topics: network access control and automation.

Step 1: Addressing Unauthorized Access

We introduced 802.1X port-based authentication, which simply means:

“Any device plugging into a network port must prove who it is before gaining access.”

This helped prevent unauthorized laptops or rogue devices from getting onto the corporate network. We also created guest VLANs and restricted access zones for unknown devices, without interrupting business workflows.

Step 2: Centralizing and Automating Management

Next, we brought in Cisco DNA Center. Instead of manually configuring switches at each site, the IT team could now push standardized VLANs, ACLs, and access policies to all locations from one central interface; No CLI required.

What used to take days of configuration now takes minutes with a few clicks.