Welcome! Please introduce yourself. (March 2019 - February 2020)

[Arleen]

Hello All,
My name is Arleen A. and I am a Senior Network Administrator for the City of Los Angeles. We are doing a major replacement on our network infrastructure by installing Meraki (MX84, MS120, MX450) to all 106 Fire Stations. All
personnel in our group was successfully completed the CMNO training.

[ccasasCSCO12616]

Hello,

My Name is Constancio Casas and I want to implement Cisco Meraki and Umbrella everywhere in order  to keep our networks not only safe with Talos' resources but also because of their super manageable aspect. I am an MIS Technician with the OCPD in New Jersey. My hobbies include blacksmithing, rebuilding engines and building electronic gadgets using "Adruino" amp boards. My fun fact about myself is that I will obtain my CCNP "Routing and Switching" certification by the end of this year.

Cisco products are remarkable.

[Macroscopic]

Hi there!

My name is David Milazzo and I'm a technology consultant focused on Apple-centric solutions. My company specializes in mobile deployments which means Meraki products play a huge roll in our approach.

When not designing networks or deploying fleets of iOS devices, I love distance running and hunting for the perfect sushi roll....

[JacobSamuel]

Hi Meredith... and fellow Community Members! Wanted to be part of this community as we are launching our Meraki Sales outreach in the Dallas Metro plex. I head the Sales & Biz Dev for Servsys Corp. At Servsys, our mission is to provide businesses with the necessary resources and technology to ensure security, stability and reliability. We make IT work for your business rather than make you work for IT! We have the Meraki solution deployed at our corp offices. Our team is excited about the momentum that this solution has in the market place and started learning about it and in the process of getting well versed. Fun Fact: I get asked what my "real" name is a lot cuz i dont look the part Lol. my name is Jacob Samuel (2 christian first names), i was born in India, initial schooling in Bahrain and since 18 yrs of age in the US so a medley of countries n culture n experiences! I love people since they are the most important & the most fascinating asset in any equation so a community is a great ave to connect

[MRMunemo]

• A bit about yourself & your work

I work for a a big Telecommunications Cisco partner called "Digicel" located in Bermuda.  

• Your experience with Cisco Meraki

I work across all Cisco Meraki product families on a managed platform for our clients.

• A fun fact about yourself

1. I’ve been on a roller coaster.

.

[MohamedIbrahim]

• A bit about yourself & your work

My Name is Mohamed. I am a Network Engineer.  I work for a  Cisco partner called "CONNECT Professional Services" located in "Egypt".

• Your experience with Cisco Meraki

This is my first time to work on Cisco Meraki product and I am willing to know more about Meraki.

[Avendano]

• A bit about yourself & your work
  I'm the systems admin at a British school in Spain for the last 25 years
• Your experience with Cisco Meraki
  We started using the MDM a few years ago when we deployed iPads to students and staff. We then installed Meraki security, switches and APs when we expanded into a new building.
• A fun fact about yourself
  I love travelling by train

[Dudleydogg]

Thank you for the Welcome Letter, I earned my CNMA last year, and have been evaluating some Meraki Gear.  I am old school CLI so learning the new ways of the future.  I Work for Company Insight Enterprises who does Technical Contracts for Support with some very large companies. I  also earned my Microsoft Cloud Badge last year.  Once I started setting up this Meraki Gear I liked it more and more.  I have already setup demos for 2 other customers who are interested in the MX Devices.  My next goal is to learn more about the Camera features.

[JLord5]

It appears that I need to create a post if I would like to be a member of the Meraki Community. Out of all of the communities that I have access to, Meraki/Cisco is the last company I would expect would require each of us to go around the room, introduce ourselves, say where we are from and what is our favorite Power Ranger....

• A bit about yourself & your work. 
  • Work in the midwest for a Pharmaceutical company where I manage the IT infrastructure.
• Your experience with Cisco Meraki
  • Been using Meraki for the last two years and Cisco equipment for many years before that.
• A fun fact about yourself
  • Favorite Power Ranger is the Blue Power Ranger from season 1-2.

[FWakefield]

• A bit about yourself & your work:  I've been in the IT industry for over 20 years and I currently work for a Cisco partner in our Managed Services Group.
• Your experience with Cisco Meraki: I've been working with Meraki equipment for the last 4 years.  I love the ability to manage different clients from the dashboard.
• A fun fact about yourself:  I am a sports fanatic, especially Football (American).

[Marty]

• A bit about yourself & your work
  
  

  Hi,
    I've been involved in networking since '95, starting off back when dial-up was the main way of connecting to the Internet, and have been working for a national service provider since 2005 in a Network/Security Admin roll designing/maintaining our clients networks.

• Your experience with Cisco Meraki
  
  I've been working with Meraki for almost 2 years now, and have been CMNO/CMNA certified for about a year since attending an on-site class in the US.
  
• A fun fact about yourself
  
  I used to run Internet Cafes on cruise ships and am also a SCUBA instructor in my off-time.
  

[davyscriviner]

I'm David, an IT Director with a small health care group of non-profits. I teach CCNA Security part time. I have 2 CCNA certifications.

[Network-dad]

Hello Everyone!

I'm fairly new in the Meraki world I guess 1+ year... but i figured better late than never.

• A bit about yourself & your work
  • I'm an I.T. Support Specialist (Jack of all trades) but I love Networking and Meraki makes my life so much easier! I work in the hospitality industry and have 18 different locations with Meraki gear (Mainly Wireless but building more Full Stacks!)
• Your experience with Cisco Meraki
  • As said above we have 18 or so locations with Meraki equipment ranging from Z3-MX10, MS120-MS225-48FP, and MR30H-MR72... A wide range of products including 2 MV cameras.
• A fun fact about yourself
  • I enter the I.T. Field with no degree, no certs & no formal prior work experience....Since entering the field my skills and responsibilities have grown 10x. Now I also run a YouTube channel (IT Career Skills) where I try and help people enter the IT field!

[nd8274]

I work as LAN Administrator in my company and basically provide IT Support.

Now, I'm now learning cyber security tips to understand what is baseline protection for the network and infra, so I can protect those well.

I'm new to Meraki, my company start implement Meraki wireless last year and I'm working on Meraki switch POE or without POE this year. I love it and I will strongly recommend my company to replace all small size office with Meraki switch.

I love playing with my kids and mobile games.

[SitaramP]

Hello Everyone,

• A bit about yourself & your work:This is Sitaram and I have been working as a network engineer for past 5 years. I love routing and switching more but trying to enhance my knowledge base in network security and data center environments these days.
• Your experience with Cisco MerakiI am working for one of the client project based in United States and we have migrated our multiple branch offices from traditional network setup to Meraki setup and we are in process for few more. I would describe Meraki as neat, simple and everything at one place setup.
• A fun fact about yourselfI started my career in ISP domain of networking and was in it till last year but since moving into enterprise networking I have gathered lot of appreciations which I couldn't earlier.

[sweawh]

• A bit about yourself & your work

I work for a Cisco Partner in Sweden as a networking engineer, have been doing networking for quite some time, +20 years. 

• Your experience with Cisco Meraki

I've been working with Cisco products, but just little experience to Meraki. But hope to learn a lot more.

• A fun fact about yourself

I saw my first Cisco router back in 1989, and it was a AGS model with really noisy fans.

[rangermann]

Hoi zämme (Quick colloquial Hello in Swiss German)

• A bit about yourself & your work

After working in the b2b sales organisation with Apple for 8 years I have recently onboarded a new job at Switzerland's biggest ecommerce platform to be pushing the solution selling approach within our b2b department. I am a huge Technology-as-a-Service ambassador. Outside of work I am happily married, love to cycle and to hike and just enjoy spending time with family and friends

• Your experience with Cisco Meraki

Have been in touch with the Meraki portfolio for a couple of years as a lot of customer have been using the solution for a while. Due to my time with Apple the Cisco Meraki Systems Manager plattform is most familiar to me and I have been testing and deploying lots of DEP-enabled devices.

• A fun fact about yourself

Lived across the pond and my heart remains in the Pacific Northwest region.

[fbsoldati]

My name is Fabiano. I'm half Italian half Brazilian. I'm working in this field since London 2012 Olympics. Use both Cisco classic and Meraki equipment. At the moment doing wireless project for the newest buildings in London.

I have almost 2 years experience with Cisco Meraki APs.

The fun fact is that I like to play ping-pong with my wife on my dinning table, also ride our motorbikes across Europe.

[Skyline86]

HI, my name is Daniele and I'm from Italy. 

A bit about yourself & your work:

I got my CCNA license some month ago and I'm actually working as an apprentice junior network engineer at Lutech in Milan. 

Your experience with Cisco Meraki

I've just heard about the Meraki system at work and I'm looking forward to learn something about it

A fun fact about yourself:

Me and my favourite cat used to study the CCNA together xD

[fbsoldati]

Hi Daniele, welcome on board.

[Keystone]

Hi,

My name is Jose and I work for the only nation-wide manufacturer of stone veneer which also delivers and installs the product.

We have 23+ sites using MR, MS and MX appliances since 2014.  We love the ease of use and security.  No issues whatsoever. Support is fantastic.

My location is at Centennial, Colorado. Being that close to the Rockies allows me to get up to 50 days of skiing in a season!

Happy to be part of the Community!

Jose

[Skyline86]

Thank you mate ^^

[Ashley_Horsup]

Hi everyone!

I'm a freshly minted (if a bit late to the party) CMNO and thought I would say hello!

• A bit about yourself & your work

I work for a MSP with a client that has recently branched out into setting up and managing a multi-tenanted office environment and decided to go for the top shelf equipment - Meraki

• Your experience with Cisco Meraki

I have only a little experience - just setup up am multi-tenanted office space through out a building and recently passed the last ever UK CMNO course!

• A fun fact about yourself

I like to don a pair of skates and join up with other like minded people for a rolling party, with sound systems, that skate pre-determined routes around the streets of London.

[Martin_Garvey]

Hi All,

My name is Martin Garvey, I am an External Account Manager within Comstor - Cisco Distributor. I have been in the Comstor Business (Westcon Group) for roughly 10 years. Having had multiple roles across UK and EMEA.

I work primarily with new partners to Cisco and Cisco Meraki - working on Enablement / Relationship Building / Strategy and Sales Process.

I cover all Cisco and Cisco Meraki Architectures.

Fun Fact: I have no fun facts. 🙂

[RB___]

Hello everyone, glad to be a part of this awesome community!

• A bit about yourself & your work

I am currently a 22 year old associate systems engineer at my company. I have been in my role for around 2 years all together, including internships. My focus is on R&S but as time/myself moves forward I will be getting into the security avenue of networking.

• Your experience with Cisco Meraki

Currently I have around 8 months of Meraki experience, which included me achieving my CMNO and CMNA. I have done a handful of deployments, one including a full stack for a multi-office 500+ client customer, and a deployment of over 250+ MX devices.

• A fun fact about yourself

I am a photographer for the provinces biggest modified car scene team (I am way to interested in the modified car scene)

[Pao]

• A bit about yourself & your work

I just graduated from college last year and was pretty lucky to be hired in Trends and Technologies here in the Philippines. I now work as a Network Engineer and provide support to our customers

• Your experience with Cisco Meraki

Since I just started, I currently have not much of experience yet and that's why I decided to join here. 😄

• A fun fact about yourself

I don't like talking about myself 🙂

[jcantrell]

A bit about yourself & your work:  I have been a Cisco partner for many years.  I was a Meraki partner before Cisco purchased them.  I have been an IT consultant since 1992.

Your experience with Cisco Meraki:  I have been with Meraki since long before Cisco purchased.  I prefer Meraki over other vendors when the dollars align for the end user. 

A fun fact about yourself:  I don't really have any fun facts.  I like to freshwater fish - my son says I have mastered the art of catching nothing - not sure what he means by that... We have 3 dogs - an 11 year old Rottweiler named Trixie, a 4 year old fawn and white Boston Terrier named Rusty and a 1 year old Yellow Lab named Nitro.  I've been married for 40 years.  I have 3 car projects stalled in various states of disaster/restoration.  I once drove a Honda CRZ in a Porsche club road rally because my older Boxster got totaled by a rear-end collision from a girl texting - my wife and I walked away.

[RenjithNair]

Hi

Glad to join the Meraki community 🙂

• A bit about yourself & your work. This is Renjith in Dubai. I've been working as a PreSales Consultant with CISCO Gold Partner here in UAE, for more than 6 years.
• Your experience with Cisco Meraki. Have worked on networking and security appliances of Cisco Meraki. Not much with the other solutions, yet.

• A fun fact about yourself. Love Sport and Football, in particular 🙂

[ANTONIOS_BALLAS]

Hello To everyone, glad to join the Community.

• A bit about yourself & your work

I am a Senior Field and Network Engineer, CCNP, CCDP & recently CMNO Certified, working in Telecommunications Sector. I work for ORANGE BUSINESS SERVICES ( Member of France Telecom Group ) in GREECE !! 

• Your experience with Cisco Meraki

Not so much since SDN/SD-WAN and MERAKI are still in Baby Age for GREECE and BALKANS. Nevertheless we have a few customers utilizing MERAKI and we are expecting more to come in the near future, with exponential growth indeed.

• A fun fact about yourself   Happy Go Lucky !!

[ASheppard970]

A bit about yourself & your work: Been around the networking community since the early 80s (I helped my college out with AppleTalk back in the day!); went through MCSE training back in the mid-90s, which solidified my love of the craft.  Nowadays, I work in the Oil & Gas industry as a combo PC tech/Network Admin.  The PC tech stuff I can do in my sleep but it's the networking that I love...and I get to do enough of it to keep me sane!

Your experience with Cisco Meraki: My company has recently begun the transition from straight Cisco switches to Merakis.  I attended several webinars last year during the intro promotions, and was fortunate enough to receive an MX SA, an MS-8 and an MR33 AP.  I have them setup and running, and they have been invaluable as learning tools.  I also attained the CMNO certification last year and just started the process of upgrading to the CMSS.

A fun fact about yourself: I play the Chapman Stick Bass

[EJVL_GT]

Hi, My name is Emilio Velasquez, im from Guatemala Central America.

A bit about yourself & your work

               Im a system and network engenering, im working on Telefonica, we operates our client wifi solutions

Your experience with Cisco Meraki 

              We manage about 100 Organization with 4 networks each on average, we have MX, switches and MR APs on many of our clients solutions

A fun fact about yourself

               Im a bass player on a Rock Band!!!!!

[MatthewPS]

Hello,

• A bit about yourself & your work
  • I'm a Senior Systems Engineer working for Interlaced.io  We provide Mac and iOS Enterprise project and technical support.
• Your experience with Cisco Meraki
  • Less than 1 year
• A fun fact about yourself
  • I'm a really big comic fan and I'm patiently awaiting Comin-Con International San Diego!

[SteveInNP]

My name is Steve, I am a systems engineer working for an international medical supply firm located in Long Island, NY. I recently replaced our existing heterogeneous firewall and switch infrastructure with an all Meraki solution. Six switches and the MX100 firewall. Also created a VPN into China. Awesomely straight forward conversion. I cant help but show this pix of the before and after of the switch and rack rewire which was part of this project.

I have been working with Meraki for about a year and like the name says, I work with a passionate commitment!

My first job in the computer industry was spray painting computer for Applied Digital Data Systems in Hauppauge NY in 1979! 😉

Peace

Steve

[ASheppard970]

Right with you, Steve!  I did a rework of my main wiring closet several years ago and it was a bloody nightmarish rat's nest, as shown above.  Not nearly as bad as yours but it, too, turned out OK.  I'm sure most of us have horror stories from the trenches but your's looks ah-maze-ing!  Great job!

[Quality-IT]

Hello.

My name Is Leon Janse van Rensburg and I am the Technical Manager at Quality IT.

We are a managed services company and do everything IT related for our clients.

Quality It was started in 2001 and has grown steadily since then.

We now support clients both nationally and globally.

Meraki is, in our opinion, the only way to go if you need to manage sites remotely!

We have experimented with several other products and have found that none compare to the Meraki offerings.

When you charge your clients a fixed monthly fee for all they can eat services, the last thing you want is them ringing you daily with network issues!

Meraki's reliability coupled with it's amazing uptime and cloud manageability allows us to literally set and forget the devices.

Changes to the clients network settings are a breeze and happen almost in real time.

Did I mention how much we love Meraki? 🙂

We currently manage a collection of Meraki devices including: MX-64W, MX-84, MX-100 in Azure, MR's, MV's and MS's.

Fun fact: Took a holiday a little while ago to Uluru and 2 hours into the stay at the hotel, I announced to the wife that I was bored? No tech to play with...Needless to say the wife was not pleased...I know I need to get a life LOL.

Note: Uluru was truly awesome I just needed to learn to let go.

[EHolvoet]

• A bit about yourself & your work
  • Hi,I've just started working with cisco meraki. I'm working for a building company. Currently I'm also taking an evening course for network engineer.
• Your experience with Cisco Meraki
  • As told above I've just started with cisco meraki, but as seen so far my little niece could do everything so i should be able to get the hang of it.
• A fun fact about yourself
  • I like to sport but I'm also that lazy guy in the sofa who thinks if he should go to the frigde or just stay laying down.

[willm]

Hello All, 

I am Will and I work work in the IT field, mainly I work on the Help Desk side of things but as many of you know we all wear many hats. I also install run wire, assist in setting up new franchise locations, install cameras, and many other things. Our company is just now switching over to Cisco Meraki and this is very helpful. Our team is setting up firewalls and about to deploy the first set of switches into our corporate location. 

Fun Fact: When I am not troubleshooting at work I am blacksmithing at home or riding my motorcycle around NE Texas.

[pcteechur]

• A bit about yourself & your work:

I am an IT Director for a small school in Texas. My first experience with computers in college was programming. With punch cards. I have seen a lot of changes in this industry (39 years) but have really enjoyed the ride. I taught Technology Applications for 14 years until the technical and artistic elements grew to be to much to handle both.

• Your experience with Cisco Meraki:

I am installing Meraki switches this summer, replacing old Cisco equipment. I have already moved to 100% Meraki on our wap's. I love both the simplicity and the insight that we gain with Meraki.

• A fun fact about yourself:

I enjoy listening to music thru headphones & tube amps. My vocation is technology but my passion is music.

[ASheppard970]

I love hearing that folks' passion is music.  There seems to be a large number of people who straddle the line between the left and right hemispheres and it's great to see.  It's also nice to see folks who don't mind opening up about their passions, so Kudos, @pcteechur!

[rcarmack]

• A bit about yourself & your workI've worked in Networking for 9 years.  It's a great field to work in.  The constant changes make for an interesting field.  I started working for Insight Enterprises in Dec of 2018.  I'm a Sr. Consultant.
• Your experience with Cisco MerakiI'm currently working on a Meraki SD-WAN deployment with a large number of branch sites.  I'm looking to boost my knowledge with Meraki design and devices.
• A fun fact about yourselfMy hobby is woodworking and home improvement.  I'm currently building a wood shop as a place to practice my hobby.

[DN]

• A bit about yourself & your work

I am a recent engineering graduate , but have been working with networking for 2 years now . Just started a job at a small Cisco partner and looking forward to gain as much experience as possible .

• Your experience with Cisco Meraki

Will be working on my first Meraki project soon and I beleive this community will help a lot . 

• A fun fact about yourself

I love beer . 

[Kevin1]

Good Thursday Morning Meraki Community, I am the Meraki Sales Specialist for Tech Data Canada since the past 3 years and been with TD for 20 in sales. I have always been a big Cisco promoter during my Sales career so, I took to my new role of promoting the Meraki line, like a fish takes to water. I enjoy interacting with customers, issues or opportunities. We have our Meraki Master at TD who is my go to guy for Technical queries.

I am amazed and impressed by the responses to questions posted here in this community. My early apprehensions about being treated with aloofness disappeared in a hurry. I now kick myself for not communicating with you good folks earlier ! 

KUDO's TO ONE AND ALL ! and Thank you for always responding.

Sincerely.

[Bleeps77]

Hey everyone, currently work at ECS/Commsworld in the UK, previously worked in IT in the gaming sector, now work for MSP.

We are a Meraki partner so installing anything from cameras to switches, routers etc...

Fun fact abojut myself is that I produce music at home, mostly trance/dance type. Also been lucky enough to release some tracks and have songs in a game I used to work on!

[Nove_Lupo]

Hello, work for CenturyLink as a Sales Engineer.

Basic knowledge on Meraki. Have CCNP/CCDP; looking to take additional classes and obtain my certification on Meraki.

Avid wildlife photographer.

Great to be a part of the community!

[JuanPabloMx]

I have some years of experience working for companies like AT&T, Alcatel, Lucent Technologies (Avaya), and Aviat Networks.

Nowadays I work for Telmex in Mexico city. We managed about 2,000 Meraki devices mainly AP's and Switches for several customers. Probably this year we will be enrolled in a new project for Public Security that involves hundreds of Meraki Security Cameras.

When I was invited to participate in the Wifi team I doubt it because I had bad experience with WiMax poducts, but when I knew the Meraki Dashboard I love it.

[charles07]

• A bit about yourself & your work

Me working as a solutions architect in an IT infrastructure firm.

• Your experience with Cisco Meraki

Ha implemented Cisco Meraki MX firewalls. Both Mx100 and MX250. I liked the autoVPN feature

• A fun fact about yourself
  Enjoy managing firewall from the cloud.

[Andreas_Becher]

Hi to all,

I am Andreas Becher from Germany an 37 yaers old. I work for Westcon/Comstor a big Distributer of Cisco. Specifically I am Responsible for Cisco Meraki as an Business Coach for our Stock listed Companies.

I completed my Cisco Meraki CMNA Certification in February. 

Last year I became 6 times World Champion at the ICF Dragon Boat World Championships on Lake Lanier Gainesville.

[Cleytonsc]

Welcome! Please introduce yourself.

1 - A bit about yourself & your work

I work for a medium company called "Montreal" located in Rio de Janeiro - Brazil.  

2 - Your experience with Cisco Meraki

I don't have experience with produtcs Meraki only Cisco, but I would like to learning more.

3 - A fun fact about yourself

I have a dog then lovely to eat my notebooks.

[Cleytonsc]

1 - A bit about yourself & your work

I work for a medium company called "Montreal" located in Rio de Janeiro - Brazil.  

2 - Your experience with Cisco Meraki

I don't have experience with produtcs Meraki only Cisco, but I would like to learning more.

3 - A fun fact about yourself

I have a dog then lovely to eat my notebooks.

[Ward]

Hi Meraki Community 

My name is Ward and I'm a system engineer at ABC-Groep, a consultancy firm in Antwerp(Belgium).

We were contacted by a new customer, notary, for managing the day to day IT infrastructure. They had recently invested in network infrastructure. Full meraki (Firewall, Access Points and switching). So we created our account, linked the customer and went for it. 

This was a great expierence so we started to implement meraki devices with our other customers aswell. 

looking forward to work more and more with meraki solutions. 

Fun fact: besides IT,networking, project management I also like Flower arranging 🙂

Best regards

Ward

[Phil_Cooke]

Hi all,

• A bit about yourself & your work

I'm currently working as a Solution Architect mainly in UC, trying to expand my knowledge into other areas 🙂

• Your experience with Cisco Meraki

I've completed my CMNA and worked on a couple of small business opportunities - mainly learning how to break/fix my lab setup at the moment!

• A fun fact about yourself

It's not unusual to find me cooking bacon rolls or burgers on a train at the weekend!