The Cisco Umbrella Roaming Client has long provided DNS security for millions of Umbrella users. In response to customer feedback, and as Negisa Taymourian covered in her blog post last month, we’ve introduced a more advanced client: Cisco Secure Client — our next-gen endpoint agent that goes beyond VPN. Cisco Secure Client offers multi-function capability, including an enhanced Umbrella Roaming Module with more functionality.
Customers are embracing the Cisco Secure Client because it delivers enhanced performance and broad compatibility.
A bit more about Umbrella & its roaming capability
Umbrella is delivered from the cloud. Its management interface and DNS resolvers, for instance, run on our global network. When you use Umbrella, it includes this core cloud-delivered capability as well as an optional roaming protection for when users are off the corporate network. Put another way, the Roaming Client is a feature of Umbrella, not the product itself. It is easy and understandable to mix these up, as Umbrella is unobtrusive, and usually the end user is aware of it only if the endpoint agent is installed.
“While the stand-alone Umbrella Roaming Client is going to end-of-life, with end of support set for April 2025, all it’s functionality — and more — has been incorporated into the Umbrella Roaming Module in Cisco Secure Client.”
While the stand-alone Umbrella Roaming Client is going end-of-life, with the end of support set for April 2025, all its functionality — and more — has been incorporated into the Umbrella Roaming Module in Cisco Secure Client. As noted in this support article, you may upgrade to the Cisco Secure Client at no cost. You will not lose any functionality, and you will gain new benefits, as detailed below.
The benefits of upgrading to Cisco Secure Client
For most of you, this change saves time. Cisco Secure Client reduces the number of endpoint agent installations that you must test and deploy.
In fact, we took special care to make this upgrade simple. When Cisco Secure Client is installed, it automatically detects an existing Umbrella Roaming Client installation, gathers configuration from it, migrates those settings to Cisco Secure Client and then uninstalls the old Roaming Client, all seamlessly. We understand you are busy, and that the last thing you need is another complex project.
Additional functionality in Cisco Secure Client includes Secure Web Gateway (SWG) protection and improved interoperability with third-party VPNs. Additionally, Cisco Secure Client is fully modular, reflecting Cisco’s commitment to a platform approach, allowing you to easily add ZTNA, Secure Endpoint EDR or ISE Posture Modules.
The end-of-life announcement for the Umbrella Roaming Client will occur next month, on April 2, 2024. While Cisco typically provides a 12-month notice for software end-of-life announcements, given the millions of Umbrella Roaming Client users, we pre-announced the end-of-life notice six months ago to give you extra time to prepare. We’re here to help: Our Customer Success and Support teams are ready to deliver a smooth experience for you. If you have any issues with the migration, please contact us so we can help. We don’t want you to lose a moment of service or protection.
“We’re here to help: Our Customer Success and Support teams are ready to deliver a smooth experience for you. If you have any issues with the migration, please contact us so we can help.”
You can download the latest version of the Cisco Secure Client image from the Umbrella dashboard. Here is a screenshot for reference:
Benefits for security administrators
- Lower total cost of ownership (due to simplified deployment, lower testing costs, easier troubleshooting and support) from a single client that provides multiple services
- Context-aware, comprehensive and continuous endpoint security
- Flexible, policy-driven access to corporate resource across wired, wireless and VPN/ZTNA
Benefits for end users
- Highly secure access across popular PC, macOS and mobile devices
- Consistent user experience
- Intelligent, dependable and always-on connectivity
All this, with no price increases
Umbrella pricing is fixed for the life of the contracted Umbrella solution subscription (up to five years), and there is no separate license or cost for the Cisco Secure Client with the Umbrella Roaming Module. Cisco understands that this is not the right time to be pushing price increases on you, and we want to be clear that this is a no-cost, net-benefit migration for you. In fact, Cisco has not changed prices of Umbrella products since 2016.
Capitalizing on Cisco’s platform approach
Cisco believes in the power of the platform. Our goal is to create a unified experience that integrates previously separate functions into one simpler, tightly integrated security service edge (SSE) solution. Cisco Secure Client is our endpoint capability, allowing you to adopt new Cisco products without having to deploy new software every time.
Many customers have told us that deploying and managing separate endpoint agents is time-consuming. Based on that feedback, Cisco released a unified security client in 2022 that consolidated standalone Cisco Secure Endpoint, AnyConnect VPN Client, etc., into a single integrated agent with the flexibility for you to install and deploy the modules for which you want to enable functionality. In 2023, we integrated the standalone Umbrella Roaming Client into Cisco Secure Client as an additional module.
You can find additional details from Cisco at the following links:
- Drive Your Cybersecurity Platform Transformation: Lead the Way With SSE (Blog Post)
- Cisco Secure Client with Umbrella Module Installations (Support Article)
- Your Free Upgrade to Cisco Secure Client Awaits (Blog Post)
- End of Life for Cisco Umbrella Roaming Client (Support Article)
