Any entrepreneur or IT specialist setting up a physical office and facility for the first time will have heard about Meraki products and how they are a must for on-site and cloud-based networking solutions.
Before Cisco acquired Meraki and became the company it is today, most small-to-medium businesses couldn’t afford enterprise-grade networking solutions. Servers, switches, routers, and other necessary on-site hardware are too expensive and complicated to manage on a smaller scale. It wasn’t until the cloud-based Cisco Meraki products became popular and widely used that SMB applications became more accessible and affordable.
Why should you peruse a Meraki product catalog and buy Meraki products instead of other brands?
Here are five ways Cisco Meraki solutions can change your business for the better:
Cisco Meraki Products Protect Your Business From Online Attacks
Superior firewall and security support are among the best features of every Cisco Meraki product line. Meraki provides a centralized network management platform, which offers excellent connectivity and security for all linked apps and data. Meraki products – hardware and software – constantly get firmware and security updates, keeping the devices up-to-date and less vulnerable to new online threats.
Cisco also complies with all major security standards and regulations like HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) in the United States and GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) in the European Union. What’s more, Cisco conducts daily penetration testing and third-party security audits to ensure users are all protected no matter where they are in the world.
Cisco Meraki supports a remote workforce.
If your company has embraced a hybrid work setup after the pandemic, it will benefit you to buy Meraki products for your on-site IT infrastructure. A Meraki ecosystem can ensure consistent network performance on-site, but more importantly, it also supports remote working.
Employees working outside the office, from a different city or even another country, can still access the company’s programs and data centers. And since Cisco Meraki products can be managed centrally, IT staff can extend security protocols and updates to off-site users.
This flexibility is beneficial for businesses that are expanding and opening branches in different locations. Administrators can monitor and manage networks in different buildings or offices in other places. This way, companies can maintain the same systems security and performance standards across the board regardless of the distance from the main office.
A Meraki cloud network simplifies network management.
The advantage of using all Meraki products is they are compatible with the entire Cisco Meraki product catalog. All devices can be managed centrally through the Meraki Dashboard, which has recently been updated to make it easier for administrators to find network issues, troubleshoot, manage permissions, manage security protocols, etc.
With Cisco Meraki products, IT administrators can manage thousands of devices and perform round-the-clock quality assurance checks from a single dashboard. They can also configure and add new Merki products and devices to the network remotely from anywhere in the world.
Cisco Meraki lets you scale with ease.
Cisco Meraki products have three categories with two to three product lines:
Access Devices:
Switching (MS) – Wireless Lan (MR)
IOT Devices:
Smart Cameras (MV) – Sensors (MT)
WAN Devices:
Security and SD-WAN (MX) – Cellular (MG)
Every Cisco Meraki product line is conveniently scalable (an advantage of cloud-based systems). If you need to downsize or expand, adding and removing devices – even entire networks – can be done in minutes.
Also, Cisco Meraki has now rolled out Meraki as-a-service, which allows users to opt-in for services as needed. Meraki aaS makes scaling a lot easier and more cost-effective for businesses.
A Meraki network frees up time for other responsibilities.
Given Meraki products’ conveniences and efficiency, many Meraki users have more time for other tasks. Network management is essential, but no doubt other things matter more to your business, which demands more time and attention. Delegation can only do so much because if your system isn’t centralized, you’ll still need extra staffing to cover all the work that needs to be done.
A Cisco Meraki ecosystem is an investment that can pay you off handsomely in the long run. When you buy Meraki products, you’re set for many years, as Cisco Meraki has a reputation for durable equipment with long MTBF (Mean Time Between Failure) estimates. In other words, you could upgrade long before your hardware dies.
If you are considering investing in Cisco Meraki cloud services and network systems, you’ve come to the right place. Stratus Information Systems is a Cisco Partner offering consulting, sales, logistics, and network services. We deploy large cloud networks for corporate offices and small-scale businesses. Our cloud network specialists can help you design a cloud infrastructure to take your business to the next level. Contact us to request a free demo or schedule a consultation.