Archive for August, 2016

Meraki Engineering Open House 2016

On August 10th, the Meraki Engineering Team hosted their first annual Engineering Open House. The Open House gave visitors a chance to check out the Meraki office and learn more about what each engineering team does on a daily basis.

Eng_event1

The night kicked off with a welcome address by the Meraki leadership team, including Bret Hull, who leads Software Engineering, and Todd Nightingale, General Manager of Meraki.

After the welcome address, guests had the opportunity to tour the brand new Meraki lab, as well as attend a panel discussion to hear first-hand about the kind of impact new grads have. Our engineers covered everything from relocating to San Francisco, work-life balance, professional growth, and best practices for collaborating in professional environments.

Eng_event3
Meraki engineers chat with students about their experiences
joining the company after graduating

Guests also explored the engineering workspace to learn more about what a day in the life of an engineer is like. Our staff gave overviews of noteworthy projects and detailed the different technologies and languages used at Meraki. Attendees were able to learn about particular areas of interest and get an insider’s perspective on what it’s like to be a part of the team.

Eng_event4
The Meraki Security Team Lead discussing the team and projects
with attendees

The entire engineering team had a great time meeting all of the participants and having compelling conversations with them. Overall, the event was a great success, giving insight into our exciting projects, as well as the unique Meraki culture.

Interested in opportunities at Meraki but were unable to attend the Open House? Check out our open positions at meraki.com/jobs or be on the lookout for us on campuses this fall!

Eng_event2

Posted in Company Blog | Comments Off on Meraki Engineering Open House 2016

Meraki is 10!

Screen Shot 2016-08-30 at 4.11.38 PM

A decennium. A decade. The Tin Anniversary (who decided on “tin” anyway?). However you say it, Meraki is celebrating 10 years in business. In an age where hype-fueled unicorns and flash in the pan technologies dominate the conversation, Meraki has endured, continuing to grow exponentially and develop exciting new additions to our product line.

Since being acquired by Cisco in 2012, we’ve grown in many ways (we now run over 700,000 networks and counting), but Meraki’s core values have remained the same: our fiercely independent, slightly silly spirit, and our relentless drive to innovate and provide not only best-in-class products and services, but also the finest customer experience possible. Even our official Meraki green is the same (Pantone 368U, BTW).

Are we proud? Absolutely. But there’s still a lot of work to be done.

Screen Shot 2016-08-30 at 4.12.49 PM copy
We’ve come a long way, baby.

As we look to the future, we’re excited at the prospect of taking the business to even greater heights, launching innovative new products, and connecting the world with technology that simply works.

Because this is one of the few opportunities we’ll allow ourselves to be nostalgic, here are some company highlights from Merakians:

“There are too many to choose from! Cheese club, formal Fridays, and an office prank involving a tiny Christmas town (with fake snow and a working train) are some standouts.”
– Kathy Liu, Marketing (Merakian since 2011)

“Definitely the Thriller flashmob at the 2012 Halloween party.”
– Everett Owyoung, People Operations (Merakian since 2012)

During an event in Las Vegas, we hired fake publicists, paparazzi, bodyguards, and screaming fans to follow our top salesperson around the casino. It was hilarious!
– Chris Stori, COO (Merakian since 2012)

“When we finally shipped the MX…also, constructing a Meraki Miles piñata that wouldn’t break.”
– Dan Aguayo, Engineering (Merakian since 2006!)

“Honestly, there are so few bad days—every day is fantastic. Does that count?”
– Paul Lemieux, Technical Support (Merakian since 2013)

“The day I met my fiancé!”
– Riley Wathen, Recruiting (Merakian since 2014)

Meet our Engineering Team on Campus

Screen Shot 2016-08-29 at 10.26.34 AM Screen Shot 2016-08-29 at 10.27.04 AM Screen Shot 2016-08-29 at 10.26.51 AM

Fall campus recruiting here at Meraki starts this August and we would love to see you there—read on to learn where you can find us!

Meraki is the ideal place to start your career, right out of school. We are looking to hire recent university graduates as full-time software developers for teams working on distributed back-end systems, device drivers, mobile device management, and mobile web applications. Meraki takes pride in hiring problem solvers who take ownership over their projects; all our engineers even push code live within their first week of joining!

Make sure to stop by at one of the following universities. We can’t wait to meet you!

Cornell University
8.31.2016 | Technology and Big Data Career Fair
9.01.2016 | Tech Talk hosted by Theta Tau

University of California Berkeley
9.01.2016 | Tech Talk hosted by HKN
9.07.2016 | EECS Career Fair
9.13.2016 | Information Session hosted by Society of Women Engineers
9.14.2016 | Cal Career Fair

Rice University
9.13.2016 | Fall Expo Career Fair

Carnegie Mellon University
9.18.2016 | Let’s Talk! The Sequel
9.19.2016 | Bagels with Meraki & CS Department
9.19.2016 | Technical Opportunities Conference (TOC)
9.19.2016 | Tech Talk hosted by the CMU ECE Department

University of Wisconsin- Madison
9.19.2016 | Fall Engineering Career Connection Fair

Georgia Tech
9.20.2016 | College of Computing Career Fair

University of Maryland, College Park
9.20.2016 | Computer Science Career Fair
9.21.2016 | Pizza Reception and Information Session

University of Michigan
9.20.2016 | Fall Engineering Career Fair

University of Texas, Austin
9.20.2016 | Technology and Science Career Fair
9.21.2016 | Meraki Information Session

Worcester Polytechnic Institute
9.21.2016 | Fall Career Fair

Massachusetts Institute of Technology
9.23.2016 | Fall Career Fair
10.25.2016 | Networking Night hosted by SWE
10.26.2016 | Tech Talk hosted by TechX

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
9.30.2016 | NSBE/ SHPE Career Fair

University of California San Diego
10.05.2016 | Science and Technology Career Fair

Harvey Mudd College
10.06.2016 | Fall 2016 Career Fair
10.07.2016 | Pizza Reception

University of Waterloo
10.06.2016 | Information Session
10.06.2016 | Meraki Tech Talk

Caltech
10.18.2016 | Fall Career Fair

University of Washington
10.20.2016 | Industry Affiliates Meeting
10.21.2016 | Meraki Tech Talk

Cal Poly Pomona
10.28.2016 | Breakfast with Industry
10.28.2016 | Engineering / High-Tech Career Fair

We keep our interview process pretty simple, starting with two technical screens, either on campus or by phone. If we think you would be a great addition to the team we will fly you out to San Francisco to check out the office, meet the team, and explore the city you might one day call home.

Interested in all that Meraki has to offer but can’t attend one of these events? We would love to hear from you. Apply at meraki.com/jobs and be sure to check out some of our team videos on what it is like to be a Meraki engineer.

Posted in Company Blog | Comments Off on Meet our Engineering Team on Campus

Meet the Product Marketing team

Meraki started life ten years ago, one of those Silicon Valley stories we all hear so much about. From humble beginnings, the company quickly became an industry disruptor, introducing a whole new approach to owning and operating a data network. Hitting a receptive market with something different was fundamental to our success.

After joining the Cisco family in late 2012, Meraki rapidly accelerated its growth, reaching new markets and customers who see the advantage of a cloud-managed network: simple to implement, monitor and troubleshoot. That growth has been reflected in our hiring, and Meraki is now five times the size it was just four years ago! Every team has grown to support the business. Today we’re taking a look at the newly expanded Product Marketing team.

So what is product marketing and what are the typical characteristics of a great product marketing manager (or PMM, as we like to call them)? At its essence, product marketing sits at the intersection between marketing, sales and the technology itself. Great product marketeers are truly unicorns, combining deep technical knowledge with the passion and ability to effectively convey targeted messaging to the right audience, nurturing a community of customers and prospects with the ultimate goal of driving business.

Finding exceptional product marketeers is no mean feat, so we’re extremely excited to have assembled what we’re confident is one of the best PMM teams in the industry over the course of the past year. Allow us to proudly introduce the team.

Joe

Joe needs no introduction to anyone interested in our MX product line. After joining Meraki as a member of our support team he quickly advanced and was invited to become the product specialist for the MX before stepping into the PMM role for the product line in 2015. Joe has many talents, not least of which are his linguistic and musical abilities, which led to this amazing reworking of a Gilbert & Sullivan classic in our recent Musical Webinar. Find Joe in many places, including over on our Reddit.

1383255_10103532365812427_3903528655123916118_n

Tony

Tony has been focused on Meraki switches since their introduction at the beginning of 2012, rapidly rising to become one of the Meraki switching rockstars. There’s not much about the fast-growing MS line which he hasn’t watched develop from idea to execution. His passion for customers makes him an excellent fit for the PMM role, so we were delighted to welcome him aboard. In his own words, Tony is “an adrenaline junkie and love riding my motorcycle into work every single day, rain or shine.” And here’s the evidence!

tony_the_biker

Rachel

As one of the newer recruits to the team, and to Meraki, Rachel has been on a vertical learning curve, using her strong technical abilities to pick up networking in a very short time. What’s she doing at Meraki? Well, we’d love to tell you, but as anyone who follows Meraki will acknowledge, we hate to spoil a surprise. All will be revealed in the fullness of time. Rachel has a deep fondness for foods of all kinds, especially ice cream, as clearly evidenced in this photo!

ice_cream_profile

Emily

Emily is a seasoned product marketing professional, with extensive experience gained here at Meraki and elsewhere in the startup world. Mixing it up over time, she’s taken care of MX, MS and now MR, our wireless product line. Emily is also helping us ensure our efforts are effective by overseeing the measurement of our various efforts. Emily loves nothing more than corrupting the dogs in the Meraki office with her delectable treats.

emily

Simon

A career in the networking industry ultimately led Simon to Meraki in 2012 where he helped build our early marketing efforts in Europe. After moving to California in 2014 he developed a broad product marketing capability, covering the full Meraki stack, now including the exciting new MC74 phone. Simon is a regular on Twitter (@merakisimon) and is also an avid motorcyclist. Despite being a Brit he owns two which are American built, neither of which are a Harley Davidson!

simon_2016

Paul

Anyone who’s seen or read anything about Meraki Systems Manager has seen Paul’s work. He’s been working on our industry leading mobility management solution since the early days, and knows it intimately. He recently joined product marketing to channel his unstoppable enthusiasm for the product into helping us get the word out about this sophisticated and powerful tool. In his own words, “I love technology, I love the outdoors, and I’ve played the trumpet since 4th grade. #oddball”.

FullSizeRender (1)

There’s so much talent and energy on this team. From the moment we wake up we’re contemplating and designing new and engaging ways to bring Meraki technology to our customers, partners and prospects. Our work is all over our website and collateral, here on this blog, at events all around the world, and on webinars. Hopefully we’ll get to meet, in person or online, and if Product Marketing at Meraki sounds enticing then be sure to keep an eye on our jobs page!

Posted in Company Blog | Comments Off on Meet the Product Marketing team

In the Know: About Windows 10 and SM

This is the first in an exciting new series of posts to keep everyone in the know. In the Know posts showcase features or capabilities that already exist in the Cisco Meraki portfolio but may not be as well known. Up first are some of the major benefits of using the Cisco Meraki Systems Manager EMM solution with Windows 10 devices.

Installing software and keeping it up to date is one of the many concerns for today’s IT administrators. The Meraki cloud can centrally host up to 3GB of installer files in order to further simplify software deployment. Software can be hosted privately as well. To learn more about installing applications on traditional devices see our product documentation, or look below for an example.

Screen Shot 2016-08-08 at 3.22.36 PM

A challenge of managing laptops, tablets, or phones is that it becomes easier than ever for sensitive data to end up in the wrong handsliterally. Systems Manager provides the ability to remotely wipe managed devices. Enough said. REMOTELY WIPE MANAGED DEVICES AND SECURE SENSITIVE DATA

Whether Windows devices are corporate-owned or user-owned, it is sometimes necessary to restrict their functionality. Common restrictions include disallowing the use of a camera, disabling Cortana, restricting WiFi or Bluetooth access, preventing use of external storage, or removing access to Internet Explorer. Restrictions can be found in Dashboard by navigating to MDM > Settings > Restrictions.

WindowsRestrictionsCredentialsWifi

If you’re a Systems Manager legacy customer and are interested in these powerful features, then find out how you can take advantage of them here.
If you’re new to Meraki or Systems Manager, you can also start a free trial
.

Advanced Malware Protection now available in GA

Hot on the heels of our global announcement at Cisco Live Las Vegas, we’re pleased to say Cisco’s Advanced Malware Protection (AMP) is now publicly available for Meraki MX customers with an Advanced Security license. With AMP you can protect your networks against millions of malicious files with the flip of a switch.  What’s more, the new Security Center view in Dashboard combines IPS and Malware data across all of your MX Security Appliances so that you can quickly and easily detect and protect against a variety of threats across dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of locations.  We’ll be rolling the new AMP functionality out to existing customers over the coming weeks according to their upgrade settings, but if you just can’t wait you can always use the firmware upgrade controls on the Network-wide>General page to manually schedule an upgrade for your networks.

You can learn more about AMP on the Meraki MX here.

 

Posted in Company Blog | Comments Off on Advanced Malware Protection now available in GA

Support Spotlight: Technical Training

The first few weeks at a new job can be intimidating, to say the least. You’re in a new environment, interacting with new people, and often times in a new city altogether. On top of that, if you’re on the Technical Support team, you’re working with completely new products as well. Not only are you faced with the question of “What do these products do?”, but also, “What do you do when these products don’t do what they’re supposed to do?!”

For the bright-eyed new hires of the Meraki Technical Support team, technical training is their introductory course on becoming an all-things-Meraki expert. Technical training for new Network Support Engineers is a two-week process, led by trainer Zakariya Alcodray. The first week is designed to get new hires as much hands-on experience with the products as possible. Imagine learning and engaging with all things security, switching, wireless, EMM, and communications for the first time, in just two weeks! The first few days cover product demonstrations and hands-on labs (ending with a break and fix lab, designed to provide first-hand troubleshooting experience). The second half of the week consists of one-on-one case management training, where new hires begin handling their first email cases. During the second week, each individual moves at his or her own pace while transitioning from email cases to live phone cases. By the end of that Friday, every new hire will handle one phone case on his or her own.

Zak began leading these training sessions in November of 2015, and since then has tailored the training to focus on learning to provide Meraki-grade customer support by meeting five important goals:

  1. Comfort navigating the Meraki dashboard
  2. Feature familiarity
  3. Utilization of the troubleshooting toolkit
  4. Understanding of job process fundamentals
  5. Soft skill development: communication, overcoming hurdles, professional development

Overall, new Support Merakians are provided with the tools and support needed to develop and improve their case management, interpersonal, and team building skills.

Below is an interview with the man himself, Zakariya Alcodray:


Zakariya

In your opinion, why is training so important?

Our support team is very diverse in terms of geographic and academic backgrounds, but we have achieved something very special here: no matter where we hail from, our support team consists of good-natured, hard-working individuals who treat each other like family, as opposed to merely coworkers. This creates a dynamic, collaborative environment, allowing us to provide world-class support to our customers. It is important that we maintain this standard, and our training program allows us to do so.

What are three pieces of advice you have for those just starting training?

  • Don’t expect to know everything right away. That’s what the team is there for
  • Be ready to think outside the box
  • Get a lot of sleep!

What is your favorite part about training?

As I sat through my own training last year, a sense of joy was building up inside of me over the course of the two weeks, unlike anything I had experienced before. The amount of knowledge presented was overwhelming; the proposed challenges I would face became increasingly daunting. Regardless, I couldn’t help looking past it because of how proud I was to be part of the Meraki team. I became Support’s technical trainer because I wanted to ensure that each new hire had the opportunity to feel the exact same way I did as they worked to become a member of the Meraki family. My favorite thing about training is being the person who welcomes Support’s new hires and prepares them for hard work and hard play.

Screen Shot 2016-08-03 at 11.41.29 AM Screen Shot 2016-08-03 at 11.41.35 AM