Cisco Meraki
Cisco's cloud-managed networking and security brand.
Last updated August 26, 2026
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Overview
Cisco Meraki is Cisco Systems' cloud-managed networking and security brand, headquartered in San Francisco, California. It provides wireless access points, Ethernet switches, security and SD-WAN appliances, mobile-device and endpoint management tools, and security cameras. These products are administered through Meraki Dashboard, a web-based management platform intended to give organizations centralized visibility and control over distributed infrastructure. The business began as Meraki in 2006, drawing on work associated with Roofnet, an experimental wireless mesh-network project developed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory. Founders Sanjit Biswas, John Bicket, and Hans Robertson built the company around the idea that enterprise networking could be deployed and operated through a cloud service rather than configured separately at every physical site. The company initially operated from Mountain View, California, and later relocated to San Francisco. Google and Sequoia Capital were among its reported backers. Meraki's model combined purpose-built hardware with subscription-supported cloud management. Instead of treating access points, switches, gateways, cameras, and managed endpoints as isolated products, the platform presented them through a common administrative environment. This approach was particularly relevant to organizations with many branches, schools, retail locations, offices, or other sites that needed standardized configuration, monitoring, firmware management, and troubleshooting without maintaining a large local networking staff. Cisco announced an agreement to acquire Meraki in November 2012 for an estimated $1.2 billion, and the acquisition was completed in December 2012. Following the acquisition, Meraki became part of Cisco while retaining its product identity and cloud-managed operating model. The brand extended its portfolio beyond wireless networking into switching, security appliances, enterprise mobility management, and cameras. Its product families are commonly identified by prefixes such as MR for wireless, MS for switching, MX for security and SD-WAN, and MV for cameras. Cisco Meraki's positioning centers on simplified deployment, centralized administration, automated operations, and visibility across distributed environments. Its products are used by organizations ranging from smaller businesses to larger distributed enterprises and institutions. The brand's cloud dependence also creates operational responsibilities around service availability, customer data handling, and recovery procedures. In August 2017, an erroneous policy change affecting a North American object-storage service caused deletion of some customer-uploaded media and other assets. Meraki later reported that recovery was limited and that most affected assets were not expected to be recoverable. The incident remains a notable example of the risks associated with cloud-managed infrastructure and hosted customer data. Cisco Meraki remains an active Cisco brand. Its principal business scope is cloud-managed information technology infrastructure, combining networking hardware, security capabilities, cameras, and endpoint administration under a centrally operated management platform.
History
Cisco Meraki began as Meraki in 2006, when Sanjit Biswas, John Bicket, and Hans Robertson founded a company informed by research connected with Roofnet. Roofnet was an experimental 802.11b/g wireless mesh network developed at MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory. The project explored ways to provide wireless connectivity through distributed networking equipment, and its technical context helped shape Meraki's focus on simplified, centrally managed networking. The company started in Mountain View, California, and later moved to San Francisco. Its early development was supported by investment from Google and Sequoia Capital. Meraki's central proposition was that networking equipment could be managed through a hosted web service rather than requiring administrators to configure each device independently at every location. This was expressed through a combination of purpose-built hardware and a cloud management platform. Over time, the product scope expanded beyond wireless access points. Meraki developed switching products, security appliances, enterprise mobility management capabilities, and security cameras. The platform's operating model connected these categories through centralized administration, allowing customers to monitor sites, apply configurations, manage software updates, and review device status from a common interface. This model was suited to distributed organizations with many branches or locations and limited local IT resources. On November 18, 2012, Cisco Systems announced its intention to acquire Meraki for an estimated $1.2 billion. The transaction was completed in December 2012. Meraki subsequently operated as a Cisco brand while maintaining its recognizable product families and cloud-managed approach. The acquisition placed Meraki's simplified cloud administration model alongside Cisco's broader enterprise networking and security portfolio. A significant operational event occurred in August 2017. An engineering change to a North American object-storage service used an erroneous policy that resulted in deletion of some customer data. The affected material primarily consisted of customer-uploaded media and other assets associated with systems such as Systems Manager, Meraki Communications, and the wireless device dashboard. Meraki announced on August 7 that some data in the cache service might be recoverable. On August 9, it informed customers that recovery efforts continued but that most assets were not expected to be recovered. Cisco Meraki remains active as a cloud-managed IT brand. Its portfolio is organized around centrally administered wireless, switching, security, SD-WAN, camera, and endpoint-management capabilities. The brand's continuing identity is based on reducing the complexity of multi-site infrastructure through a common cloud dashboard, while its 2017 data-loss incident illustrates the importance of resilience and data-governance practices in hosted management systems.
- 2017
Customer data-loss incident
[1]An erroneous object-storage policy change deletes some customer assets in the North American service; subsequent recovery efforts are unable to restore most affected assets.
- 2012
Cisco announces the Meraki acquisition
[1]Cisco Systems announces an agreement to acquire Meraki for an estimated $1.2 billion.
- 2012
Acquisition is completed
[1]Cisco completes its acquisition of Meraki in December, adding the cloud-managed networking business to its portfolio.
- 2006
Meraki is founded
[1]Sanjit Biswas, John Bicket, and Hans Robertson establish Meraki, building on ideas and personnel associated with MIT's Roofnet wireless mesh-network project.
- 2006
The company begins in Mountain View
[1]Meraki starts operations in Mountain View, California, before later relocating its headquarters to San Francisco.
Products and positioning
Cloud-managed networking and security for small businesses, enterprises, schools, retailers, and other distributed organizations, emphasizing centralized administration, ease of deployment, operational visibility, and scalable multi-site management.
Cloud management platform
Meraki Dashboard
Meraki Dashboard is the web-based management environment through which customers administer supported Meraki infrastructure. It provides centralized visibility and configuration for distributed deployments, including wireless access points, switches, security appliances, cameras, and managed endpoints. Its role is to unify device administration and monitoring rather than require separate local management interfaces for each site or hardware category.
Wireless access points
MR series
The MR family comprises Meraki cloud-managed wireless access points. They are administered through the Meraki cloud platform and are intended for centrally coordinated wireless deployments across offices, campuses, schools, retail locations, and other sites. The family represents the product line most closely associated with Meraki's original focus on simplifying enterprise Wi-Fi operations.
Ethernet switches
MS series
The MS family consists of cloud-managed network switches. Within the Meraki operating model, switching equipment can be configured, monitored, and maintained from the same central dashboard used for other infrastructure. This supports standardized administration for organizations that need to operate wired networks across multiple branches, offices, campuses, or facilities.
Security and SD-WAN appliances
MX series
The MX family provides Meraki security appliances and SD-WAN capabilities. These devices sit at network boundaries and are managed through the cloud platform, extending Meraki's centralized administration model from access and switching layers into security and wide-area connectivity. The line is associated with distributed deployments that need common policy and operational visibility across sites.
Security cameras
MV series
The MV family consists of Meraki security cameras managed through the cloud. It extends the brand beyond conventional network infrastructure into physical-security monitoring while preserving the common-dashboard approach. The cameras are part of the broader Meraki portfolio of devices intended to be deployed and administered across multiple organizational locations.
Enterprise mobility and endpoint management
Systems Manager
Systems Manager is Meraki's enterprise mobility and endpoint-management offering. It supports centralized administration of managed devices and related enterprise assets through the Meraki cloud environment. The service formed part of the customer data affected by the 2017 object-storage incident, including custom enterprise applications and contact images.
Brand decisions
2012
Cisco chooses to acquire MerakiM&ABackground
Meraki had developed a cloud-managed approach to wireless and enterprise networking, while Cisco was expanding its portfolio of networking and security technologies.
Action taken
Cisco announced an agreement to acquire Meraki in November 2012 and completed the transaction in December.
Aftermath
Meraki became a Cisco brand and continued offering its cloud-managed product portfolio and centralized management model.
Estimated acquisition value. $1.2 billion (2012 acquisition announcement)
Recent events
Vodafone and Cisco launch Complete Connectivity[3]
Vodafone and Cisco launched Complete Connectivity, a broadband and WiFi solution for small and medium-sized businesses, powered by Cisco Meraki and available from £70 per month on a three-year term.
Allstream announces IT CloudView managed IT solution[4]
Reported:
Allstream announced IT CloudView, a managed IT solution for monitoring and managing enterprise-wide IT environments. Cisco Meraki powers the solution, and Cisco Meraki and Allstream said it would be brought to customers in the United States and Canada.
Sources4 sources
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