The associated data influx of additional IoT devices could lead to network congestion and slow response times, affecting the performance and reliability of both the network and the IoT devices it supports. Moreover, IoT devices can be susceptible to cyberattacks. Is your network infrastructure ready to handle the expected IoT growth?

Imagine investing in interactive whiteboards to enhance employee collaborations, only to experience network congestion causing delays in sharing and saving content. This would lead to frustrated employees and upset clients.

Realizing IoT investment starts with a secure backbone

We recently expanded our Cisco Catalyst 9300-M switching portfolio with 15 new models designed to meet your most demanding use cases. It enables you to deliver a flexible and secure end-to-end network at scale while managing it with ease and confidence. Here are some features designed to unlock new use cases while lowering deployment and operational costs:

• Secure networking across sites: extension of Adaptive Policy across all new platforms and capable of up to 1T physical stacking and stacking flexibility across models.
• Smart, sustainable spaces: 90W Universal Power Over Ethernet (UPOE+), 1,900W power supply option, and StackPower.
• Digital experiences and assurance: high-density mGig and fiber options and 25G/100G uplinks.

For more detailed information, please refer to the datasheet. Tune in to our latest Cisco Champion Radio episode and learn how these latest Catalyst 9300-M switches can help our customers solve the most challenging IT and security needs at scale.

Power more distributed, smarter, and sustainable spaces with UPOE+

The expansive corporate campuses of yesterday have given way to a new age of decentralized offices and hybrid work structures. A recent Cisco survey underlines this change, showing that 98% of meetings now involve at least one remote participant.

The new Catalyst 9300X-M 90W UPOE+ switching powerhouses can connect more power-hungry PoE devices securely to ensure application operations and frictionless user experiences, such as smart lighting systems, conferencing system, and smart cameras. The best part? All your Meraki devices across distributed locations can be managed centrally on the Meraki dashboard, unlocking dynamic topology and rich telemetry, enabling your team with a deeper understanding and control of the entire network for faster mean time to resolution and effective security management.

When converging network and power management, it reduces deployment and simplifies ongoing operations. PoE management on Meraki dashboard can also help you achieve sustainability goals.

For example, the Wrexham County Borough Council in the United Kingdom used Meraki sensors and Cisco Meraki switch port schedules to reimagine its IT infrastructure to reduce cost and carbon emissions across 70 schools. The council has been able to make significant energy savings of 10 metric tons of carbon and roughly $28,000 in electricity savings per year across its 70 schools.

Connect everyone and everything securely with streamlined security

The traditional VLAN-based security policy approach is insufficient, introducing skill gaps and challenges for your IT and security teams to maintain.

Adaptive Policy enables secure access to network resources by dynamically segmenting the network based on user identity and context. This approach reduces SecOps efforts and costs by eliminating the need for manual management of thousands of access control lists (ACLs) and re-architecting the network infrastructure when deploying policy changes.

It strengthens security by automatically applying appropriate policies to the correct users and devices. Back to the earlier example, it will ensure employees can access the interactive whiteboard without delays, while unauthorized devices such as smart cameras will not have access to business applications.

Simplify network operations with an agile, flexible platform

In a distributed IT landscape, Cisco Meraki provides a centralized end-to-end management experience, from wired and wireless, to security, to IoT. This comprehensive approach helps your team deliver secure network management at scale without a steep learning curve. Your network team can make configuration changes in one place and push to selected locations, eliminating manual processes and potential human errors.

Real-time application visibility and rich telemetry provide your network teams with proactive insights to optimize the network, ensuring a seamless employee experience. Furthermore, firmware updates are made effortless with Meraki. Simply schedule and stage them from the cloud, improving productivity for your team.

Resilient, secure networks start here

The Catalyst 9300-M switching portfolio, along with the scalable Adaptive Policy, can help you navigate this new influx of data and network requirements. For more information, please explore our page or contact our sales team.

The post Is Your Network Infrastructure Ready for More IoT Devices? appeared first on The Meraki Blog.

As you drive off, you wonder how they securely and reliably power and connect all their technology (cameras, Wi-Fi, and the digital menu board) in challenging outdoor conditions—whether it’s on a hot summer day, during a cold snowy winter, or on a menu board that needs to fit in a tight space. More importantly, how do their IT experts deploy new sites rapidly, manage firmware updates, and troubleshoot devices across thousands of locations globally?

The answer: extend seamless experiences with a cloud-managed ruggedized switch

Businesses need to power new customer and employee experience possibilities, regardless of industry. To achieve that, you can leverage IoT devices (like outdoor cameras) and Wi-Fi to ensure real-time communication, physical safety, intelligent analytics, and reliable operations in rugged environments. A cloud-managed ruggedized switch is ideal for managing network and security in one place across remote locations.

Meet the MS130R and extend connectivity and security to hot/cold/tight spaces. It is designed to:

• Power more use cases with 30 W PoE+, IP30 protection, and support from -40 °C to 70 °C (-40 °F to 158°F)
• Adapt to your installation needs with flexible mounting and power options
• Connect outdoor access points, cameras, and other IoT devices in hot/cold/tight environments
• Be used in locations such as parking lots, pop-up events, non-temperature-controlled spaces, outdoor kiosks, and hospitality venues like golf courses and ski resorts
• Unleash operational efficiency and streamline remote management with the powerful and intuitive Meraki cloud-managed dashboard
• Protect true edge environments by leveraging Adaptive Policy* with MS130R

The MS130R seamlessly extends common policies from campus to branch to harsh environments, helping you deliver secure networks that evolve with your organization and bolster growth

* MS130R is hardware-ready for the Adaptive Policy feature, with a future firmware upgrade and Advanced license.

Cross two hurdles in one leap: reduce costs and complexity with unified PoE power and network management.

Extending the power and connectivity to these environments is no easy feat.

By utilizing one single Ethernet cable for both power and network access, you not only simplify the installation process and lower costs, but also enable centralized monitoring and control for all relevant devices. The ability to remotely turn off ports and connected devices (like the menu board in the example) at a scheduled time is a great way to achieve sustainability and cost savings.

Peace of mind: manage and troubleshoot no matter how remote

When you deploy and manage end-to-end cloud-managed networks, from cameras to access points, switches, and security, it empowers your network team to manage effectively and unlock insights without adding operational complexity.

Once a Meraki switch is plugged into the network, users will automatically gain an intuitive, interactive topology map that provides unparalleled visibility and control for the entire network. With proactive alerts and powerful live tools like packet capture (PCAP), cable test, and cycle port, your team can effectively see everything and troubleshoot on one dashboard.

The refreshed topology map provides an integrated health overview, device details, and client details on a single page. This feature will be available in the Early Access program soon.

Learn what else you can power with the new MS130R

Discover how Meraki can securely power and connect your technology in challenging conditions and experience the peace of mind that centralized management and troubleshooting capabilities bring, even in remote locations. Visit our page to learn more about the new MS130 and MS130R switches or listen to our recent podcast episode.

The post Power Your Competitive Edge appeared first on The Meraki Blog.

Creating such exceptional customer experiences is vital in today’s competitive business landscape. But behind the scenes, achieving this requires a robust network, integrated IoT devices, and an immense amount of data traveling the network in real time. The rapid advancement of AI-powered experiences—from hyper-personalization to in-store augmented reality (AR)—has opened up countless possibilities, but it has also placed a significant strain on network infrastructures (and the IT teams who support them). 

Your customer experience is only as good as your network 

To deliver exceptional experiences across every touchpoint and every location requires simplifying network operations. A Cisco cloud-managed network enables you to ditch silos and provide reliable, high-performing connectivity at any site, no matter how remote. This allows your employees to unlock productivity and collaborate faster, resulting in better interactions and faster problem solving for your customers.  

Simplifying network operations allows your team to shift from keeping the lights on to delivering innovative, seamless experiences to customers.  

Powering more possibilities starts with scaling the network across locations 

To empower networking teams with more connectivity and flexibility without costly overhead, Cisco is introducing a new, versatile Meraki switching lineup: 

MS130: Cost-effective mGig access switches for remote branches and small/medium campuses 

• An extensive product family with 8/12/24/48 port options in compact and full rack size  
• Perfect for connecting and protecting retail point of sale setups, physical security, video conferencing/streaming, or higher bandwidth Wi-Fi deployments, all while reducing operating and deployment costs 

MS130R*: First Meraki cloud-managed ruggedized PoE switch for harsh hot/cold/tight environments 

• Extends reliable PoE power and connectivity with IP30 protection and extreme temperature (-40 °F to 158 °F) support.  
• Ideal for outdoor cameras and access points in temperature-challenged environments like parking lots (for physical security and/or seamless curbside pickup), menu board setup,skiing resorts, and pop-up events 

Catalyst 9300-M* switches for large campuses 

• These switches combine the power of the industry-leading Catalyst switching portfolio with the scalability of Meraki cloud management   
• With the Meraki out-of-box experience, your team can maximize operational efficiency from day 0 and scale faster without compromising performance  

* Available in late 2023 

Protect networks and privacy at scale with intelligent, intent-based security  

Just like the retail experience we mentioned, these new applications can create a surge of devices accessing the network.  

It is crucial to have granular visibility and control over network traffic and access to protect data and ensure compliance from core to edge. Powered by Cisco TrustSec Security Group Tags (SGT) technology, Adaptive Policy dynamically identifies and enforces security policies for users, devices, and applications with network-based micro-segmentation.   

We are thrilled to extend Adaptive Policy hardware support** to MS130 mGig models, MS130R, and Catalyst 9300-M, enabling you to safely reduce the attack surface across different environments at scale.   

Speed innovation with simplified, smarter cloud-managed networks 

The true magic of Cisco Meraki starts even before the package arrives at your site. With true zero-touch provisioning, large-scale deployments can be completed in minutes, saving time and cost without dedicated on-site IT staff.  

All Cisco Meraki solutions can be effortlessly managed through the same intuitive cloud-managed dashboard, providing your network team with deep contextualized visibility and remote management without complexity or additional operational costs.   

Learn more  

Talk to your Cisco Meraki account team today. Register for our webinar to learn more about how these new Meraki cloud-managed switches deliver enhanced connectivity, increased flexibility, and reduced overhead, empowering your organization to expand the possibilities of the customer experience. 

** Adaptive Policy currently only supports MS390 and Catalyst 9300-M with an Advanced license. MS130 mGig (-X) models and MS130R are hardware-ready for the Adaptive Policy feature, with a future firmware upgrade and advanced license.  

The post Powering New Customer Experience Possibilities appeared first on The Meraki Blog.

Gamma Telecom is a leading managed service provider with a large commercial customer base throughout the UK and Europe. To realize the full potential of its Meraki SD-WAN capability, Gamma needed to deliver a fully managed SD-WAN service for its customers. 

They also wanted to provide this service at scale across multi-site, multi-vendor, and multi-tenant networks. This case study explores how Gamma used both Meraki and the Highlight Service Assurance Platform to enhance their SD-WAN managed services. 

Taking on the challenge of SD-WAN managed service delivery 

As part of the managed service, a key requirement is the ability to quickly identify problems at source and eradicate legacy setup issues. On multiple occasions, Gamma had inherited poorly set-up networks that caused intermittent issues with deployed Meraki solutions. These issues often occurred because of problems with supporting or adjacent connections. As such, they required a holistic view of how all services were interacting. 

Gamma also wanted to share relevant views and reports with their customers, demonstrating service level agreement (SLA) successes to their Meraki customers across the entire spectrum of provided services. They lacked a unified way to present this kind of information without needing to rely on time-consuming data gathering from multiple sources. 

Gamma already used the Highlight Service Assurance Platform as their one-stop service management tool kit for their traditional managed services, so they turned to the Highlight team to develop and support this service assurance capability for their Meraki SD-WAN managed services. 

A fully integrated SD-WAN solution in the Highlight platform 

The Highlight Service Assurance Platform is designed to facilitate communication between service providers and the customer organizations that use their connectivity services, enhancing network service performance analysis. 

By utilizing Meraki dashboard APIs within Highlight, Gamma can show the performance of the SD-WAN devices and tunnels, alongside supporting network connections such as broadband, Wi-Fi, cellular, and LAN. Using a single Gamma-branded Highlight dashboard, the company can also provide a top-down service view of the Meraki network to its customers, with full transparency of the Meraki SD-WAN service.  

“Highlight allows us to gain a holistic view of all VPNs and performance metrics of the organization. We can now extend our service assurance capability alongside the native Meraki tools. We are able to identify potential issues and provide quick improvements to the customer.” – James Sirrett, Gamma Direct Network Support Manager 

For Gamma’s service management teams, the addition of Meraki SD-WAN into their Highlight instance enables them to deliver a uniform customer experience using a platform they’re familiar with, ensuring that the potential benefits of a managed Meraki SD-WAN service are fully achieved. It means they can easily up-tier customers to an SD-WAN managed service with corresponding revenue increases compared to standard supply and break/fix contracts.  

Empowering service management teams to achieve more with less 

Now, whenever Gamma delivers its industry-leading Cisco Meraki SD-WAN solution to customers, it relies on the Highlight platform to provide them with a holistic view of supporting connections. This empowers Gamma to provide a complete managed service for their customers by leveraging advanced service management tools. 

“Working with the Highlight platform has seen a rise in our customers’ confidence levels with Gamma’s Meraki SD-WAN service. I am no longer blind to a huge area of my customers’ business. SLAs with issues have decreased significantly and, therefore, so have escalations.” – Hayley Morris, Senior Customer Advocate at Gamma 

With faster and more accurate reporting, Gamma has reduced labor costs due to fewer escalations and less time triaging issues. Ultimately, this has led to greater customer satisfaction, reduced customer churn rates, minimized account management costs, improved portfolio growth, and faster returns on technology investments. 

For more information about Highlight, visit the Meraki Marketplace. 

The post Solving the SD-WAN Managed Service Puzzle appeared first on The Meraki Blog.

Here are key insights from the survey that will help you better compete and grow no matter your industry or the size of your IT team. 

Your digital transformation journey should lead to better experiences 

There are three milestones to successful digital transformation, as a recent survey from TechTarget’s Enterprise Strategy Group highlights: becoming more operationally efficient, developing new data-centric products and services, and delivering better and more differentiated experiences for customers. 

A cloud-managed platform places customer and employee experience where it belongs—as a critical strategy to drive business growth. While boosting efficiency and innovation are key motivators for digitalization, it’s people and their experiences that are the underlying drivers of success. A cloud-based network enhances customer and employee experiences, creating visibility and connectedness across every step of their journey. 

“Cloud-enabled strategies to accelerate digital transformation and support hybrid work are differentiators that set businesses apart and enable a unified customer experience. Treating these concepts as key business goals integral to long-term growth is how I see executives leading their organizations to success.”  

Lawrence Huang, SVP/GM, Cisco Networking Experiences – Meraki & Wireless  

Many challenges, one cross-industry solution 

Embarking on a successful digital transformation journey can seem daunting. Business and IT leaders across industries face many of the same challenges that inhibit transformation, and the ability to overcome and solve for those challenges is often  guiding factor when deciding how to modernize business systems. Tech leaders face friction as they try to navigate IT complexity, meet security and compliance demands, and gain visibility into useful data. While these hurdles vary in height by industry, there is one unifying solution across industries: a cloud-first strategy. 

No matter your industry, breaking away from an outdated IT infrastructure can free your company from legacy systems and technical debt. A cloud strategy opens up new areas of opportunity by providing access to innovative new technologies and services that keep your company agile and resilient.  

Drive greater operational efficiencies for improved agility and resilience 

CEOs and tech leaders are choosing digitalization to prepare their organizations for economic unknowns and security threats. A thoughtful digital transformation strategy addresses the needs of security and compliance, infrastructure and operations, and workplace flexibility by offering resilience and a foundation for growth.  

Cloud-enabled technology like AI-powered network optimization and predictive analytics saves time and drives cost savings, operational efficiency, and productivity. A single unified cloud solution can simplify and modernize in the present while future-proofing for continued growth. 

“Organizations must be able to move quickly to seize opportunities ahead of the competition. Cloud services have an important role to play in making the business they serve more agile and, therefore, more likely to succeed.” 

Gartner, 6 Steps for Planning a Cloud Strategy 

Industry-specific use cases, like at-home patient monitoring in healthcare or seamless delivery services from digital storefronts in retail, are all made possible thanks to cloud-first digital solutions that empower organizations to automate and scale. 

Across industries, organizations can increase the productivity of workers with elevated capabilities that deliver enhanced experiences to employees and customers faster. Read the whitepaper for a more in-depth exploration of the benefits of a cloud platform.  

Make cloud-enabled advantages your differentiator 

A cloud strategy prepares your business for future risk and empowers your organization to move with agility and maintain a competitive edge. In a recent interview with Forbes’ Editor-At-Large and Global Futurist, Rich Karlgaard, Lawrence Huang, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Cisco Meraki Wireless discussed how cloud-activated resilience is a business differentiator. Implementing a centralized architecture where you can deploy security policies end-to-end, have data insights and visibility site-wide, and adapt to your customers’ needs with speed and efficiency provides a springboard for you to further define your own unique business differentiator.  

Infuse innovation with transformational change 

Transformational change at a company begins with decision-making during planning. Innovative CIOs, or to quote Karlgaard, a “CIO+,” will choose to infuse innovation into their IT strategy at the forefront, weighing important revenue drivers like employee and customer experience in their digital transformation needs. By selecting a cloud-managed platform from which to transform your IT infrastructure, you are prioritizing enhanced experiences and enabling operations that scale at the speed of your business.  

Read the ESG whitepaper, “Leveraging the Cloud to Gain the Benefits of Digital Transformation” for a more in-depth exploration into some of the benefits gained by applying a cloud-first strategy as part of your digital transformation journey. Visit the Meraki cloud-managed platform page to learn how we can help you get there. 

The post Your Competitive Edge Is a Cloud Strategy appeared first on The Meraki Blog.

Bringing together these two realms under a holistic approach highlights the growing significance of security for retailers. Let’s explore five areas where cybersecurity and physical security are top-of-mind for retailers. 

Integrating physical and cyber systems

In the retail industry, physical and cyber systems are no longer isolated entities but interconnected networks. For instance, point-of-sale (POS) systems integrate physical payment terminals with digital transaction processing, making them susceptible to cyber breaches. A successful cyber attack could compromise customer data, financial transactions, and even disrupt in-store operations. Thus, securing the cyber infrastructure surrounding these physical systems is paramount.

Protecting customer data

Retailers handle a vast amount of customer data, including personal and financial information. Cybersecurity breaches, such as data breaches or ransomware attacks, can result in the theft or exposure of sensitive data. In 2022, the average cost of a data breach reached a record high of US$4.35 million. However, many experts estimate that average costs could reach $5 million in 2023, leading to severe consequences for both customers and businesses. Retailers must act now to implement robust cybersecurity measures to safeguard customer data and maintain their trust.

Securing Wi-Fi

Offering free Wi-Fi in stores has gained popularity among customers, but it also brings cybersecurity and physical security concerns. Without proper safeguards, the store’s network is vulnerable to cyber threats and data breaches. To safeguard customer data and internal systems, it’s crucial to implement strong cybersecurity measures like network encryption and authentication protocols. Additionally, physical security measures are necessary to prevent unauthorized access to network equipment. Enhancing visibility through appropriate lighting and the presence of video cameras can also act as a deterrent to potential intruders. In addition, the use of door sensors can detect the opening and closing of entryways to restricted areas or after business hours, notifying security personnel of any unauthorized access attempts.

Physical asset protection

In addition to cyber threats, retailers must also address physical security concerns. For instance, organized retail crime, theft, and inventory shrinkage pose significant challenges. Implementing advanced surveillance technologies such as video analytics and object detection can help deter criminal activities. These solutions can also be used to identify and track potential threats within the retail environment. Advanced surveillance technologies such as video analytics can be used to identify and track potential threats not only to prevent criminal activity, but also to enhance employee/associate and customer safety. 

By implementing these technologies as part of a comprehensive physical security strategy, retailers can deter hostile or violent behavior, prevent incidents before they occur, and improve emergency response times. 

Supply chain security

The retail industry relies on complex supply chains involving multiple stakeholders. A cyber breach in any part of the supply chain could have far-reaching consequences. By converging physical security and cybersecurity, retailers can implement measures like real-time product tracking, secure data sharing, and vendor risk assessments. Such practices enhance supply chain security, reducing the likelihood of cyber attacks or physical disruptions.

To thrive in the evolving digital landscape, retailers must invest in robust cybersecurity measures while fortifying their physical security infrastructure. Furthermore, maintaining regulatory compliance, staying updated on emerging threats, and fostering a culture of security awareness are essential components of a comprehensive security strategy.

By prioritizing the convergence of physical security and cybersecurity, retailers can safeguard their operations, protect customer trust, and establish a competitive edge in an increasingly interconnected retail ecosystem. 

Take the first step toward enhancing your retail security strategy and read our retail solution guide today!
You can also visit our safe environments page to learn more about making your workspace safer—digitally and physically.

The post Securing the Future of Retail appeared first on The Meraki Blog.

Strong cybersecurity, privacy, and trust practices are imperative to protecting your business and people from online threats and risks, wherever they work. According to our 2023 Global Networking Trends Report, 41% of respondents said that securing user access to cloud-based applications is a top priority for 2023. All of this cloud focus means that most organizations will be tasked with managing and securing a hybrid cloud environment.

What is a hybrid cloud?

Today, many businesses are somewhere along the path of cloud migration as they seek the benefits of cloud services, including Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) and Software as a Service (SaaS), along with some level of on-premises networking, storage, and software. Some of the most well-known public cloud services include Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud, and Amazon Web Services (AWS). They offer remote storage and SaaS applications, either for free or through purchase. Public cloud providers typically secure the infrastructure while customers must secure the data and workloads themselves.

Meanwhile, private clouds are maintained on premises for restricted access, with the data available only to authorized users. You can rely on a technology partner to provide your private cloud or build and manage it with your own IT team and data center. This offers organizations more control than with public clouds, but they tend to cost more, both to deploy and manage.

Over the past few years, organizations have been shifting workloads and apps from their data centers to multicloud environments. Most of their critical traffic is now internet-based, but they have not been able to move everything to the cloud and instead continue to rely on data centers, which are the heart of traditional architectures. For various reasons—complexity, regulations, staffing issues—many organizations find themselves in a hybrid cloud situation. In fact, our 2023 Global Networking Trends Report found that 92% of IT leaders report using more than one public cloud and over a third reported using four to more than ten. That’s a lot of added complexity!

What is hybrid cloud security?     

Typical network security entails the protection of a computer network and the data it contains. Network security’s primary job is to keep sensitive data safe from cyber attacks and to maintain the usefulness and stability of the network. Before internet and cloud services came into being, most security efforts involved siloed protection for on-premises systems and data centers. Hybrid cloud security encompasses safeguarding on-premises systems, cloud services, and everything in between.

The hybrid cloud, as a transition state for organizations that have not been able to move fully to the cloud, benefits companies by letting them manage workloads between on-site data centers and the public cloud. But with these advances come complex security issues and challenges.

What are the challenges of hybrid cloud security?

Why worry about hybrid cloud security? Let’s take a step back for a moment. Gartner suggests that most enterprise data centers are expected to move to the cloud by 2025, and the pandemic-fueled remote and hybrid working trend has intensified this push. The overall shift in network traffic from physical data centers to virtual public cloud infrastructure means more traffic is navigating public environments, with security becoming critical. The use of public clouds as IaaS and SaaS will continue to grow, yet traditional security approaches will not keep pace and will have a difficult time scaling.

We found that 41% of respondents of the Cisco 2023 Global Networking Trends Report said that securing access to cloud-based applications, mobile devices, or cloud-based solutions is the biggest obstacle IT leaders need to overcome when delivering on digital initiatives.

A very real challenge to maintaining security in a hybrid cloud situation is a skill shortage of professionals who understand the technology. Consider how long it takes your team to neutralize a new and unknown threat. Responding swiftly and effectively can be undermined by many factors, including:

• Mediocre threat intelligence
• Fragmented architecture
• Multi-step critical firmware updates
• Human error 
• Complex network security

What are the top security risks for a hybrid cloud?

Complex networking configurations aren’t the only risks involved in securing hybrid cloud operations. Traffic to the cloud, into the cloud, and across clouds must be secured and encrypted, especially when networking models differ across clouds (for example, using AWS for one and Google for another) it can be difficult to create secure connections among multiple cloud infrastructures.

As the environment becomes more complicated, monitoring and alerting systems must be configured specifically to catch real security breaches. However, when different cloud infrastructures are connected, real-time threat detection systems can sometimes erroneously identify the traffic between clouds as malicious. Such false alarms can be frustrating, and teams risk missing valid alerts in the clutter of erroneous warnings.

In addition to network-related vulnerabilities, SaaS apps can bring security exposure. For instance, users can fall prey to email phishing scams and/or experience frustration with authentication. This hindrance can lead users to employ workarounds that foil your attempt to keep systems safe and secure.

Hybrid cloud security architecture elements

Keep in mind that hybrid or multicloud environments increase operational complexity and can put security resilience at risk. Network complexity is often at odds with business agility and IT teams need dynamic solutions that feature centralized control over policy, access, and identity to deliver trusted, secure experiences at scale.

Many organizations look to evolve to a unified Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) solution to provide rich visibility, proactive insight, and comprehensive control for seamless IT management. Or they might choose cloud-managed access, like Cisco Meraki offers, with enforcement still happening via a virtual firewall appliance deployed in the cloud.

The essentials of a hybrid cloud security architecture include cloud-based security services such as a secure web gateway, cloud-delivered and virtual firewalls, DNS-layer security, robust traffic visibility and analytics through cloud access security broker (CASB), and data loss prevention. The security solution must also be able to receive real-time proactive threat updates from a credible source, such as Cisco Talos Intelligence. This will help keep your network, data, and users secure while freeing your IT team from tracking issues manually.

Best practices for ensuring hybrid cloud security

Despite the challenges we’ve discussed, organizations can employ certain best-practice tactics in a hybrid cloud architecture to reduce potential exposure. As you work to secure your hybrid cloud, be sure to choose a platform that can easily adapt to market changes, either natively or through trusted third parties. You may also want to consider choosing a platform that allows a choice between on-premises and cloud security functions—whichever is right for your specific use case within your environment.

You’ll also want to streamline your environment to avoid complexity. For instance, look for solutions that allow you to manage everything through one dashboard rather than dealing with multiple interfaces. You’ll want the ability to monitor WAN, access, and IoT technologies in one place with end-to-end visibility. And you want to see the overall health of each network and proactively solve issues before they become critical.

In addition, consider the skill sets necessary to implement, configure, and manage the security solution. You’ll reduce costs and the chance of human error when you choose technology that is easy to use and does not require specialized training.

How Meraki can help secure your hybrid cloud infrastructure

Meraki operates the industry’s largest-scale cloud networking service. Our cloud platform powers millions of networks worldwide and connects hundreds of millions of devices every day. The Meraki platform is robust yet simple to use. It can scale to fit the needs of businesses of every size, supporting networks with hundreds of thousands of devices at the enterprise level, as well as small businesses with only a handful of users.

In cybersecurity, we know that every minute matters. With Meraki, you can move at “the speed of cloud,” automatically responding to new threats in just minutes. In fact, security is a strategic priority for Meraki. We design and build all products with security in mind, and we’ll help you build greater network resiliency and strengthen your security posture while safely connecting users across any point of service for secure access. You’ll be able to deliver exceptional experiences that are seamless and secure yet easy to deploy and manage.

Our security technologies are delivered and updated through the cloud automatically. As new threat signatures or updates become available, we deploy them across all our customers, so they don’t have to think about firmware upgrades or schedule network downtime. In fact, Meraki can respond to new threats in less than ten minutes!

Benefit from hybrid cloud security today

The hybrid cloud reflects the transition between 100% on-premises and 100% cloud systems. While most companies fall somewhere in the middle, no matter where you are in your cloud journey, the Meraki platform can manage and secure your network from campus or branch to data center and multicloud.

The post Tackling the Challenges of Hybrid Cloud Security appeared first on The Meraki Blog.

Automating manufacturing processes is a crucial goal of many digital transformation projects. The transition to digital initiatives helps manufacturers achieve operational efficiency, resiliency, and sustainability. 

For many factories, automation relies on Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) technology to enable everything from system controls and asset tracking to predictive maintenance and autonomous robots. The foundation supporting IIoT technologies is resilient networks—on-premises or cloud-based—that facilitate robust data collection, artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML), and apply predictive analytics to keep the entire infrastructure adaptable and sustainable. 

IT plays a critical role in helping manufacturing organizations scale by using data-driven manufacturing to enhance productivity, thereby accelerating Industry 4.0 projects using automation to enhance the workforce and automating operational technology to increase safety and security. 

Data-driven manufacturing increases productivity

To keep up with the rapid pace of change in manufacturing, IT leaders need deeper visibility into the network and thousands of connected endpoints. By continuously collecting data from manufacturing floor sensors and IIoT devices, IT can help track what is happening NOW and provide dashboards for plant managers and engineers so they can identify trends, predict outcomes, and detect potential problems before they affect production. 

IT must also address how a manufacturing organization can efficiently scale to encompass new products, services, and customers. Automating network management is essential to enabling IT to rapidly change network configurations, add security policies, and extend connectivity to new locations. For example, when demand for certain goods increases dramatically—as was the case for medical equipment and supplies during the pandemic—the processes already in place must quickly scale to produce new products or modify existing ones. That can mean adding new warehouses, expanding factory floor lines, and reconfiguring supply chains. To support these changes, IT needs the ability to scale by expanding wireless connectivity to new locations, onboarding thousands of different device types, and integrating new partners into the supply chain. 

Industry 4.0 poses ongoing challenges for IT

Manufacturing IT teams face ongoing challenges as organizations embark on Industry 4.0 initiatives to digitalize the existing infrastructure to adapt to new products and markets dynamically. To embark on the Industry 4.0 journey, IT needs to connect distributed computing resources at scale so the workforce can access applications from wherever they are to monitor and control operations in real time. In addition, IT needs to support the ability to collect data from sensors added to existing equipment on the plant floor and to remote edge locations.

But managing these distributed computing resources and providing secure connectivity adds a layer of complexity to IT operations. To simplify the complex, IT can apply AI and ML tools to monitor computing resource usage and balance network traffic loads by dynamically choosing the most efficient routes. AI/ML systems can automate troubleshooting with predictive alerts that warn of abnormal behaviors before they can affect production. 

Augmenting the workforce for productivity and retention

With all the technology woven throughout manufacturing processes, it’s critical to keep human-centric consideration at the forefront of planning for automation and scale. Recent economic challenges coupled with a steadily retiring workforce have led to staffing shortages and the loss of skill sets. Automating processes to minimize manual repetitive tasks enables people to concentrate on mentoring the incoming workforce and focus on more creative work tasks to keep them engaged and learning.

Another way to combat repetitive labor processes in some manufacturing roles is to employ robotics to perform tasks such as delivering materials from the warehouse, safely manipulating massive loads, and working in hazardous environments. Cobots, or collaborative robots, are increasingly used to supplement human labor, taking on the repetitive strain of assembly processes and freeing human ingenuity on production lines to improve quality outcomes. These semi-autonomous robots require ultra-low latency networks to function safely and adapt to the environment around them. IT must ensure reliable connectivity so robotic systems can perform 24×7 as production schedules require. Robotics in either form elevate efficiency while making the workforce safer and more productive. 

Automate operational technology for safety and security

Building on the safety that automated robotics can bring into the factory, networked smart cameras and motion sensors enable operational technology (OT) managers to monitor security, environmental changes, and personnel safety throughout warehouses, plant floors, and data centers from a central location. By adding a layer of ML to analyze the data streaming from these devices, humans don’t need to continuously monitor every location because they are alerted only when predefined anomalies occur. Combined with sensors for temperature, water leaks, and humidity levels, vast areas of a manufacturing facility can be monitored 24×7 to minimize interruptions to operations by accidents, security breaches, or environmental impacts. 

Network automation: a recipe for success

As manufacturing organizations scale processes to adapt to market changes, new products, and customer requirements, so must the networks that tie every device, application, and person together over distributed organizations and hybrid workforces to match the needs of the enterprise. Automating technology and processes enables IT to adapt to and manage complex industrial networks. Working toward automating everything prepares the manufacturing enterprise for growth and success. Learn how a cloud-managed platform that converges IT, IoT, and physical manufacturing environments can unlock countless possibilities.

The post Driving Transformation in Manufacturing appeared first on The Meraki Blog.

From patient engagement and data-driven workflows to operational transformation and industry-leading security, our tech partners are helping lead the way for a more connected, secure, and resilient future in healthcare. 

Solving healthcare challenges 

Many customer challenges can be solved by Meraki ecosystem partners and their turnkey solutions for healthcare. Using Meraki APIs and partners featured in the Meraki Marketplace, customers can deliver safer spaces, secure access, and much more.

During HIMSS, several ecosystem partners highlighted the extensibility of their solutions, including:

• AiRISTA Flow, the world leader in real-time location solutions, offered a number of demos featuring computer vision integrations such as medication stock monitoring and staff location tracking.

• Ordr makes it easy to secure every connected device across your network. At HIMSS, they presented a practical approach to zero trust, where attendees learned from the CIO of Dayton Children’s Hospital about their zero-trust journey.

• Armis creates a detailed inventory of every device on your network using your existing Meraki infrastructure. They showcased how cloud-to-cloud integrations give customers greater visibility into the devices and software on their network, connections between devices, and services being used. At HIMSS, Armis also announced their top ten riskiest devices in healthcare.

• ServiceNow makes healthcare work for everyone by connecting teams, streamlining processes, and securely integrating systems to change lives for the better. At HIMSS, the team hosted a lunch-and-learn on investing in digital operations to reduce costs, a showcase session on interoperability, and a discussion on streamlining medical device management.

“Meraki has cracked the code for extending its platform value with an effective partner ecosystem. Customers can combine solutions like AiRISTA’s patient location tracking with Cogniac’s computer vision to solve the healthcare industry’s most challenging problems. Cogniac tools allowed us to be self-sufficient, and we created the integration in only hours.”

Vince Grove, AiRISTA Flow, VP Marketing

In learning more from our tech partners, the audience gained insight into how to build a flexible and distributed network infrastructure—one that can scale up and down as needed—and they took away the knowledge of how to be at the center of all digital transformation efforts.

Boost your network with ecosystem partners

Insight into the physical world drives decision-making and innovation. Using Meraki smart cameras and environmental sensors—while leveraging the various technologies from our ecosystem partners—can aid in remote patient monitoring, PPE compliance, detecting aggressive behavior, or slip-and-fall prevention.

As healthcare organizations navigate the evolving landscape of healthcare IT and strive to deliver safer, more efficient patient-centric care, the Meraki team and its ecosystem partners are happy to be a resource that moves them well into the future.

Start with our smart hospital checklist or learn more about our healthcare IT solutions. 
Missed HIMSS23 altogether? For a high-level recap, check out the Cisco blog, Top three takeaways for healthcare technology leaders at HIMSS 2023.

The post <strong>Ecosystem Partners Are All the Buzz at HIMSS 2023</strong> appeared first on The Meraki Blog.

More effective treatment with patient-monitoring technology

Secure connectivity for wearables and medical devices enables continuous monitoring and reduces technology frustration with an always-on experience in hospitals. Wearables also enable personalized, prevention-oriented health and more proactive care. The hope is that these deliver more effective treatments, better outcomes for individual patients, and reduced costs.

Remote patient monitoring technologies such as these generate vast amounts of real-time data, paving the way for a new type of high-precision medicine. Providers can now detect, predict, and treat emerging health issues before the patient experiences symptoms. With the Meraki dashboard, empower your hospital staff with the ability to deliver exceptional patient experiences and manage your network with an intuitive and interactive web interface connecting you to the industry’s leading cloud IT platform.

Delivering care anywhere with telehealth solutions 

Virtual care is here to stay. Healthcare organizations are looking to provide more care in nontraditional care settings, including telehealth services, retail clinics, community- and employer-based clinics, and even at home, which will drive investment in connected health, networking, cloud, and edge computing. 

A growing majority of consumers now say they prefer telehealth over in-person visits for a wide range of routine care, including prescription refills, reviews of medication options and to discuss medical results. 93% of consumers are open to engaging with physicians digitally if that would be cheaper, faster, more convenient, and would give them access to electronic records, and 57% to 80% of patients prefer telehealth when obtaining care, revealing high levels of satisfaction.

Future-forward healthcare providers interested in telehealth can better scale patient care and relationship management without being confined to organizational limitations. Equipping healthcare professionals with secure, reliable technology helps them provide better virtual care for patients. Doctors can now deliver telehealth services in front of the office (securely connected) or from their homes leveraging SD-WAN and cost-cutting telemedicine as a remote work solution with robust security. 

Enhanced patient experiences

Connecting hospitals, patients, and healthcare providers quickly and securely to patient monitoring devices, wearables, and mobile apps provides scalability to extend healthcare to thousands of sites. Patient engagement technology guides them through all steps of their health journey, as well as provides tools to proactively manage their health, lifestyle choices, and chronic conditions, in partnership with their providers. 

Through security, simplicity, and ease of management, cloud-based IT enables healthcare providers to become more efficient and can enhance the patient experience.

Learn more about our cloud-based solutions for healthcare.

The post <strong>Patient Engagement Technology is Revolutionizing Healthcare</strong> appeared first on The Meraki Blog.