Cisco ASA - AnyConnect 3.0 features

Cisco has announced new features for AnyConnect 3.0 and will finally be supporting both IPSec VPN and SSL VPN in a single client. They have outlined some interesting things like using RDP to launch AnyConnect, IPv6 VPN access, captive portal detection and auto reconnect. All things that make AnyConnect much more useful and easier for end users to use VPN all the time.

It seems that Cisco is taking seriously Microsoft's DirectAccess solution given the features they are putting into AnyConnect. In addition, they are making the client available for platforms that Microsoft can't support such as the Apple iPad and iPhone. They are also making AnyConnect able to leverage a split VPN connectivity option to take advantage of their ScanSafe cloud security solution so that might give folks more options in terms of offloading posture assessment of VPN clients.

I still think that Microsoft's DirectAccess is an impressive solution for Win7/Server 2008R2 shops that want to provide their end users a remarkable VPN experience. You can tell the difference of something that is made from the ground up in a product and integrated so tightly in the operating system that the experience becomes seamless. The downside is that there are often shortcoming in flexibility in the number of scenarios you can deploy the solution.

I think Cisco's AnyConnect is a great solution in terms of the flexibility it offers while still providing a strong set of capabilities. I just wish a lot of these features had come out in the 1.x release instead of having to wait this long. I special note is the IPSec support in a single client - that has been an issue since AnyConnect was first launched.
- Ed