Although you probably won't have the helpdesk team actively involved in the evaluation of and decision making for a NAC solution, you will certainly need to involve them after you start testing, piloting, or deploying the NAC solution in a lab environment, in phases, or (gulp!) all at the same time on the organization's existing network environment.
Users see your helpdesk as the first line of defense, so naturally you should involve the helpdesk team in your NAC solution. If a user attempts and fails to access the organization's network, which they've been accessing successfully every day for several years, who do you think they're going to call? The helpdesk team.
Who do you think the CEO calls when the new NAC solution kicks his or her laptop off the network because that laptop's antivirus automatic protection is disabled or its operating system patches are out of date? He or she calls the helpdesk.
Get on the good side of the helpdesk team by lab testing or piloting the NAC solution first, and involving the helpdesk team in the process. Involve your helpdesk team by
Setting up and deploying the solution
Creating new or repurposing existing policies
Knowing to stage, operate, and use the NAC solution of choice
Staging and deploying the lab test or pilot of the NAC solution, so that they can observe the NAC solution being deployed and in action, and even become familiar with the NAC solution by using it.
If the helpdesk can't answer a user's question (for example, the question or issue requires greater knowledge or more in-depth investigation), the helpdesk team usually falls back on the subject matter experts (SMEs) in the various teams familiar with the device or service that's generating the questions or issues. So, if the helpdesk team isn't properly trained on or sufficiently comfortable with the NAC solution, not only can the breadth and depth of support calls from their user base easily overwhelm the helpdesk, but the teams involved in the NAC solution decision and deployment can expect to lose precious time helping the helpdesk team answer questions and solve issues that they are unable to answer — because the helpdesk team didn't receive proper training about the NAC solution.
NOTE
The helpdesk can not only help users, but also the teams involved with the deployment. Make sure you get the helpdesk team involved in the NAC solution process!
3.128.78.30