Why Meraki, not the traditional Cisco system

[kami]

Hi everyone, 

I am working on a project and went through bundles of details. I want to know, why you think Meraki should be preferred over traditional cisco system?

Please, please share only your own opinion.

Thanks.

Regards,

Kami

[BlakeRichardson]

1. Cloud managed
2. Single pane of glass
3. Simple to setup and use i.e. you can configure your devices even before you have them!

[kami]

Hi @BlakeRichardon,

What do you think about the costs? Can we go out cheaper with Meraki or else?
Regards,
Kami

[Uberseehandel]

Cost driven solutions are always sub-optimal. A good PM will find ways of incorporating additional capability at small additional cost but greatly increased utility to the organisation.

[Nash]

Price of device and license I can't speak on. I try very hard to let that be someone else's job, at work.

However, I do think you can maintain a more current environment that's easier to manage when you go Meraki vs Cisco. So long as your requirements fit within Meraki's offerings and supported features, you're going to spend less time performing updates and rolling out network changes.

The documentation base for Meraki is clearer and simpler than the Cisco doc base. I answer a lot of questions at work simply by searching the Meraki doc base and sending the appropriate doc to a coworker.

Meraki TAC/Support is easy to work with, and very kind even if you call up to ask simple questions.

The one problem is that if you don't renew your license, your device stops working after the 30 day grace period. Cisco equipment will still run. 

[PhilipDAth]

What do you want the switching solution to do?

Then I'll tell you if I think it is a good fit or not.

Sometimes you need to use Cisco Enterprise switches (such as if you need VRFs, BGP, etc).

[BlakeRichardson · Accepted solution]

@kami  Cost depends on what you need exactly. Yes I am happy to pay the higher costs for Meraki for the benefits of cloud based administratoin BUT also the level of network information it provides without any configuration what so ever. 

Yes there is monitoring software available but often you need a degree in physics and the starts aligned to configure it properly which takes hours.

Plus because I am an Apple fan boy and looks do matter you cant go past Meraki's brushed aluminium hardware!

At the end of the day Meraki gear is a good all rounder but they do have their limitations as does most equipment on the market. You need to pick what meets your requirements. 

[MarcP]

As the other said, it always depends on what you want and what you want to pay for.

If you want, tell us what you want it for and then we could maybe suggest whats better.

[kami]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts. 🙂

[jared_f]

I agree with all of the above. The big thing for us is infrastructure. We ditched our last server in 2007 and all of our services are hosted. Meraki was one of the first to offer a hosted MDM suite and is one of few currently offering a camera suite w/o the need for an NVR. The cost is a little more, but for a smaller team makes more sense in my eyes.