Cisco Meraki harps on cutting-edge IT solutions for MSMEs

L-R: Steven Kewley, EMEAR Commercial Regional Manager, Cisco; Olakunle Oloruntimehin, General Manager, Nigeria and West African Countries, Cisco; and Nick Malherbe, Territory Manager for Nigeria, Ghana East and Sub-Saharan Africa at a news conference held to launch Cisco Meraki in Lagos.

Technology solutions to enhance mobility management, communications, closed-circuit television (CCTV), wireless and video security and data management for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) have been simplified with CIsco Meraki solutions.

All Cisco Meraki new security appliances are now equipped with SD-WAN capabilities that enable business administrators to maximise network resiliency, bandwidth efficiency and all centrally managed data from the web.

The General Manager, Cisco Nigeria, Mr Olakunle Oloruntimehin, made this known during “Cisco Meraki Media Roundtable’’ on Tuesday in Lagos.He said that Meraki provided a simplified path to powerful technology that would boost the operations of organisations noting that configuration and management of Meraki can be easily performed remotely or on-site.Oloruntimehin said that many organisations were dealing with the challenges of lack of fund for advanced digital solutions and a lack of IT specialists to manage those solutions.

“The new Meraki offerings have thus been designed to meet these challenges, and are simplify IT solutions for small and medium businesses, even in the absence of an IT specialist,” he said.

According to him, trouble shooting can be done in a fraction of time with advanced networking analytics, allowing businesses to focus on more projects that are impactful.

“Cisco Meraki creates the simplest, most powerful solutions, helping everyone from small businesses to global enterprises save time and money.

“It helps organisations to rapidly roll out digital initiatives, delivering real business value. We are committed to helping our customers overcome challenges and achieve their goals.

“Technology can connect us, empower us, and drive us. At Cisco, we believe that by simplifying powerful technology, we can free passionate people to focus on their mission and reach groups previously not utilising technology.

“All Cisco Meraki devices are centrally and securely managed from the cloud using a single web-based dashboard.

“Their feature-rich, intuitive architecture enables customers to save time, reduce operating costs and scale as business grows,’’ he said.

Mr Nick Malherbe, the Territory Manager, Nigeria, Ghana, East and Sub-Saharan Africa, Cisco, said that there was the need for businesses to use data smartly and securely for business success.

Malherbe said that in Nigeria, small and medium businesses accounted for 84 per cent of employment, attesting to the fact that they contributed greatly to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the economy.

He said that the success of the sector was key for the success of the economy.

According to him, it is imperative that these businesses use IT solutions that are secure, simple and intelligent.

“With Cisco Meraki, these MSMEs can enjoy agility, operational efficiency, and most importantly, data security that they require, to accelerate their digital transformations.

“Our goal is to help customers benefit from digitisation by simplifying lT solutions,’’ he said.

Since inception in 2006, Meraki has grown to become an industry leader in the IT space, with over 230,000 customers and three million network devices around the world.

Meraki was acquired by Cisco in 2012.

The company’s comprehensive set of solutions include wireless, switching, security, communications, Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM) and security cameras, all managed through Meraki’s web-based dashboard interface.