Organizations need a simple solution to provide secure access to any application, on any device, from any location. So how do you deliver a robust, consistent SASE experience to all users, in today’s era of hybrid work? The answer is as a pre-integrated, as-a-service solution.   Cisco Meraki is pleased to announce Cisco Secure Connect, a unified, turnkey, SASE as-a-service solution that can be set up in hours. It can be maintained with minimal effort via a highly intuitive dashboard powered by the Meraki platform. The Meraki dashboard makes it simple to set up the Meraki Security and SD-WAN appliance, remote access, and cloud security or Security Services Edge (SSE) powered by Cisco Umbrella.   Adding branch offices is a four-click configuration from the dashboard, and remote workers can either install and connect a simple endpoint multi-factor authentication (MFA) software on their own, or access private applications via the browser-based zero-trust network access (ZTNA). Cisco provides the relevant certificates and domain name, for the clientless ZTNA which greatly reduces configuration overhead. Cisco Secure Connect ensures that users are correctly identified, authenticated, and that their posture has been validated before they connect to the corporate applications. Continuous optimization of application performance, combined with Cisco’s direct peering relationships with many leading SaaS providers enables unparalleled user experience and increased productivity.   Cisco Secure Connect is secure, intelligent, and simple to set up. A single, all-inclusive subscription gives lean IT teams the ability to quickly scale access to applications and resources hosted anywhere—across multiple public or private clouds—from any location, at any time, while providing protection across every point of service and delivering actionable insights. Additionally, Cisco’s global reach with local support ensures dependable partnerships and successful outcomes. This is extremely attractive to customers with lean IT environments as they can quickly offer a complete, unified SASE solution as-a-service.   For more information, please visit Meraki What is SASE? or Cisco Secure Connect pages. ... View more

I am extremely happy to announce that the Meraki Umbrella SD-WAN Connector is now available for customers with both Meraki MX and Umbrella SIG licensing. The Meraki Umbrella SD-WAN connector offers a scalable, accelerated step for your SASE journey with a deeply integrated networking and security solution. It significantly reduces the cost, time, and complexities previously associated with configuring and managing SD-WAN connectivity to Cisco Umbrella cloud security.   How does the Meraki Umbrella SD-WAN Connector help?  For customers who have both Meraki MX and Umbrella SIG licenses, the Meraki Umbrella SD-WAN Connector makes it simple to deploy cloud security across distributed locations with just a few clicks. No need for organizations to spend hours on manual configuration or building complex routing tables and redundancy anymore! Businesses can consistently protect users against internet-based threats both on and off the network with easy-to-deploy, automatically maintained connections.      Why is this important?  The Meraki Umbrella SD-WAN connector offers our customers a simple, scalable, and reliable way to embark on their SASE journey with an integrated networking and security offering. The connector enables customers to extend their SD-WAN fabric all the way to the Umbrella cloud – automatically connecting sites with high availability and all the Meraki SD-WAN capabilities. The SASE journey will continue in 2022 and beyond with Cisco Secure Connect, something you will hear more about in the coming months.  Integration options and phases  Customers can start with Option I and enable new functionality with Option II at zero additional cost, or they may choose to deploy Option I and Option II both in the same environment depending on their needs.  1.     Option I: Rolled out in Phase I, Option I allows customers to create IPSec tunnels from their Meraki MX devices to Umbrella through the Meraki dashboard and user interface.    2.     Option II: Available now, the Meraki Umbrella SD-WAN Connector - leverages the Meraki Auto VPN capabilities to extend Meraki’s SD-WAN fabric into the Umbrella cloud with just a few clicks. The connector is available to existing joint customers from the Meraki dashboard at zero additional cost. New customers can purchase Meraki and SIG licenses as part of the SASE bundle. If a customer has one of the licenses (Meraki or SIG), they can buy the other missing component to leverage the benefits of the new integration. The Meraki Umbrella SD-WAN connector itself is provided free of cost.   3.       Option III (Phase III): Networking and security will be delivered as a single as-a-Service subscription offer as part of Cisco+ Secure Connect. Stay tuned to hear more about this later in FY22.           Resources   ·                     Umbrella webpage  ·                     Meraki web page  ·                     Solution brief  ·                     Demo video  ·                     Deployment Guide ... View more