In what context does Palo Alto Networks work with Cisco ACI?

Palo Alto Networks collaborates with Cisco Application Centric Infrastructure (ACI) primarily to enhance the security of both east-west and north-south traffic within a data center environment. East-west traffic refers to communications between servers within the same data center, while north-south traffic involves data flows entering and exiting the data center.

By integrating Palo Alto Networks' security solutions with Cisco ACI, organizations can apply advanced security policies and controls that monitor and protect data flows in both directions. This partnership allows for more comprehensive visibility and security postures, addressing the complex challenge of securing traffic that traverses across different servers and external networks.

This collaboration is essential in today’s environments, where segmented and granular security measures are required to meet compliance standards and prevent lateral movement of threats within the network. The synergy between Palo Alto Networks' advanced firewall capabilities and Cisco ACI's network architecture ultimately results in a robust and secure framework for managing and protecting data traffic.