Meraki SD-WAN vs Azure Express Route

[CtotheT]

The company I am working with has Meraki appliances and has performed a POC of a satellite office Meraki SD-WAN connection. They are looking to expand into Azure and are considering whether to use the Meraki SD-WAN virtual-hub solution to connect to Azure with a 1Gbps connection. Once connected to Azure the Virtual WAN service would be used for a spoke office to connect to the HQ datacenter or Azure. The Azure Virtual WAN is able to work with either SD-WAN or Express Route connections.

Here is my question: How should I decide whether to use Meraki SD-WAN or Azure ExpressRoute for site connectivity to Azure at certain locations? Do both connectivity methods fit very specific scenarios or do they overlap in performance and use case except the ExpressRoute runs on a dedicated line?

I have not really found much that speaks to this side-by-side comparison so I am wondering if I am looking at this wrong. Any article links and feedback would be appreciated.

[PhilipDAth]

I'd go Meraki VMX.

The big difference is you can configure the spokes to talk directly to each DC (Azure or on-premise) without having to go through anything else.

[JGill]

If your have MX's in the branch offices I'd go with the VMX in Azure.   Easier to configure / support than the Net-bond, and gives you multiple paths to Azure depending on your broadband configurations.  

We've run that way for 2 years now and the VMX hasn't had an issue.