Cisco Takes IT Management into the Cloud

At the heart of the Cloud Managed Networking initiative is technology that Cisco gained through its $1.2 billion acquisition of cloud Wi-Fi vendor Meraki back in 2012. Since the acquisition, Cisco has steadily evolved the Meraki portfolio beyond just core wireless controller functionality, with new devices and security capabilities.

“There is a whole bunch of infrastructure that has continued to be managed on-prem,” Rob Soderbery, SVP of Enterprise Products and Solutions at Cisco, explained during a briefing with press and analysts. “Cloud Managed IT is a strategy that will allow us to apply a cloud-based model for on-prem infrastructure.”

Soderbery said that the Meraki platform can extend beyond just managing Wi-Fi access points. The new effort will enable Meraki to manage wired switching and router infrastructure. The service is further enabled with some advanced capabilities including iWAN (Intelligent WAN) which can provide software defined routing services. Additionally there will advanced analytics capabilities.

Read the full story at Enterprise Networking Planet:
Cisco Expands Meraki Technology for Cloud Managed Networking

Sean Michael Kerner is a senior editor at InternetNews.com. Follow him on Twitter @TechJournalist.