Cisco Meraki Dashboard makes network management simple
Use Cases and Deployment Scope
We manage the networks for about 20 clients across the city and have found the scalability and reliability of Cisco Meraki Dashboard to be crucial to our business model. We are able to proactively manage network issues before they arise through the reporting dashboard (with recommendations so granular as to RF settings for a particular building to avoid collisions). Our ticketing system receives alerts when any devices go offline and we are able to respond much quicker to outages, sometimes without needing to go on-site.
Pros
- DHCP and VLAN scoping is simple and easy to identify problems
- Consistent firmware updates are pushed to client devices which we can schedule for off hours
- The user interface is intuitive and easily highlights problem areas
- Content filtering has been a big bonus to offer our clients, especially within schools
Cons
- Some features are unavailable when the network doesn't have a switch (network topology, for example)
- I wish there was an overview for all organizations with pending firmware updates, rather than going through one-by-one.
- I would like to have some of the switch tools available for firewall devices (port cycling, line testing).
Return on Investment
- Cisco Meraki Dashboard does 90% of the work for us - we spend very little time on network management after initial setup
- The licensing is clear for our customers and many of the non-profit entities are eligible for donated items/licensing through TechSoup
- If a device fails, the RMA process is fast and usually we have a replacement device the next day
Usability
Other Software Used
N-able N-sight RMM, SentinelOne Singularity, Barracuda Email Protection
