Item: Cisco Meraki MX
Rating: 9
Author: Verified User

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Cisco Meraki MX is used across the organization as a standard installation at all locations. It allows for simple cloud-based management of all aspects of the network and makes it easy to establish site-to-site connections with the SD-WAN options. All locations have dual ISPs, and the load balancing features in Cisco Meraki MX allow for easy management to use both links and selectively direct traffic through one or [another] ISP if need be.

Pros and Cons

Traffic shaping
Content filtering
Load balancing
Remote management

Throughput troubleshooting
VPN Client - been waiting for Cisco AnyConnect client for years (always "in Beta")

Key Insights

Do you think Cisco Meraki MX delivers good value for the price?

Yes

Are you happy with Cisco Meraki MX's feature set?

Yes

Did Cisco Meraki MX live up to sales and marketing promises?

Yes

Did implementation of Cisco Meraki MX go as expected?

Yes

Would you buy Cisco Meraki MX again?

Yes

Return on Investment

Reduced management overhead
Simplified implementation process

Simplified Management

Having the ability to pre-configure devices before they arrive at their installation site is a godsend. The ability to clone configurations and use templates further eases the process. It reduces the need to have network engineers on-site in every location, which obviously gives a significant benefit from an ROI perspective.

Integrations with other Cisco products

Cisco Meraki MS, Cisco Meraki MR, Cisco Meraki MV and Cisco Umbrella

The unified dashboard [...] to manage the whole network by location makes management of a multi-site network infrastructure relatively simple - having topology diagrams can help with cabling issues; VLAN management across devices types is straightforward; seeing all devices in the network in a diagram also simplifies the troubleshooting process.

Scalability

I've used MX devices in one location organizations, multi-building campuses, and multi-national organizations. All implementations can be easily managed with Meraki equipment thanks to the dashboard and cloud-based management features. Being able to seamlessly connect any site with any other via SD-WAN makes a large-scale deployment a straightforward project. [...] With the use of [...] virtual products, secure connectivity with cloud providers is like adding any other site.

Likelihood to Recommend

I've yet to use Cisco Meraki MX in a scenario where it is less than appropriate - hospitals, small businesses, multinationals, and startups. Cisco Meraki MX just works well - one of my [favorite] features is the ability to pre-configure devices as they are being shipped, so I don't have to travel to get the equipment installed. Claiming them when they leave the depot and setting up all aspects of the device makes the installation process very simple - tell the recipient to power it up and connect cables in a specific way, and the rest is taken care of.

This stuff just works.

Modules Used

Overall Satisfaction with Cisco Meraki MX