It’s summertime, and that can mean only one thing… that’s right, it’s time for the 2018 Gartner Magic Quadrant for the Wired and Wireless LAN Access Infrastructure! Every year, we believe this influential report sheds light on how the many vendors in the networking industry are faring, helping customers choose the technology partner that works best for them.

We feel this year’s report tells a great story for Cisco and its various wired and wireless infrastructure solutions, placing us, once again, in the Leader’s quadrant. As part of the broader Cisco portfolio, we were naturally eager to see how Meraki is being perceived, and this year we believe it’s good news. Let’s explore a couple of areas of the report with relevance to Cisco Meraki customers.

As the IT world steadily moves beyond the command line, there’s no question that the management experience has moved front and center, and rightly so. Once equipment is installed, either behind closed doors or up on a wall, it’s through the management interface that we experience the technology we’ve chosen. It determines the workflow, which is why it’s been a huge focus for us at Cisco Meraki. Without question, the Meraki dashboard, and its simple, intuitive experience, has been fundamental to our appeal over the past decade.

While many of our customers use the full complement of Meraki tech exclusively, the majority are operating what we call a ‘hybrid’ network, containing both Meraki and other equipment from Cisco, or another vendor altogether. Our adoption of common network standards makes this a breeze for those who choose to go in that direction.

For whatever reason a hybrid network exists, the one undeniable downside is having to deal with disparate management tools.

At Cisco, we want to minimize the proliferation of these tools as far as possible, and in the case of wired and wireless infrastructure there is now an increasingly polished solution in the form of DNA Center. This powerful new platform provides a thoughtfully designed front end to well-known Cisco product lines like Catalyst switches and Aironet Access Points, both dominant in the market. Through the use of Meraki APIs, DNA Center can also now be used for many of the most common tasks associated with provisioning and managing Meraki switches and APs.

At Cisco Meraki we recognize the reality of a hybrid IT world. Whether by design, through acquisition, or simply for maximizing flexibility, the challenges of a hybrid wired and wireless infrastructure are increasingly a focus for us all at Cisco. To learn more about this year’s Magic Quadrant for the Wired and Wireless LAN Access Infrastructure, click here.

 

Gartner Magic Quadrant for the Wired and Wireless LAN Access Infrastructure,Bill Menezes, Christian Canales, Tim Zimmerman, Mike Toussaint, 11 July 2018. This graphic was published by Gartner, Inc. as part of a larger research document and should be evaluated in the context of the entire document. The Gartner document is available upon request from Cisco.?Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product, or service depicted in its research publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner’s research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warrantees, express or implied, with respect to this research, including any warrantees of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.