Average Rating: Rate this article:

Cisco Buys Cloud-Networking Leader Meraki for $1.2 Billion By Jennifer LeClaire November 19, 2012 11:59AM     Formed in 2006 by MIT PhD candidates, Meraki was funded by Sequoia Capital and Google. Meraki says it now has 10,000 customers using its cloud managed products including wireless LAN, Ethernet switches, security appliances, and mobile device management. The company name Meraki is Greek for doing something with passion and soul.   Related Topics Cisco Meraki Cloud Software-Defined Networking Acquisition Enterprise IT MDM BYOD Latest News Iran Hackers Target U.S. Energy Firms 7 ways To Not 'Screw Up' Tumblr Customer Service a Spectator Sport HP Profit Falls, But Outlook Soars Lenovo Soars Amid PC Industry Slump (Page 2 of 2) Meraki was founded by members of MIT's Laboratory for Computer Science. Meraki combines a high-velocity software development methodology with a tightly linked inside sales and channel model that will form the new Cloud Networking Group. The firm has offices in New York, London and Mexico. The acquisition is expected to close in the second quarter of Cisco's 2013 fiscal year. Meraki's Front-End Connection Zeus Kerravala, principal analyst at ZK Research, said there is a market for an alternative type of deployment model. He pointed to Aruba's success with its proprietary solution, dubbed Instant, as one example. Most of the start-ups in the space, including Meraki and Aerohive, have all built controller-less access solutions, Kerravala told us. "Clearly there's a market for controller-less solutions and Cisco didn't have one. Even with Cisco's excellent sales force, I think they were getting shut out at some companies looking for an alternative solution. That's one of the reasons this acquisition was appealing." So the question then is why Cisco decided to acquire Meraki versus Aerohive. Most people think of Meraki as a Wi-Fi vendor, but Kerravala said Meraki is better described as a cloud-managed vendor that happens to sell Wi-Fi as its primary product. "Meraki also has cloud-managed switches and cloud-managed security devices. If you put your long-term hat on, Cisco is interested in the cloud-management capability for the rest of its product line," Kerravala said. "Cisco rolled out the onePK product," Kerravala said, referring to the One Platform Kit which Cisco introduced in June as part of its Open Network Environment solution. OnePK provides APIs for developers across Cisco operating systems. And, Kerravala said, Cisco already has the "back-end interface to allow cloud management of their switches. What they don't have is the front-end tool. Meraki gives them that." < Previous Page  |  1  |  2   Tell Us What You Think Comment: Name: Also Visit: iPad Info Center Billions of Bytes Mobile Device Now Apple Info Center TopTechWire.com CommVault is a data and information management software company dedicated to providing organizations worldwide with a radically better way to manage data and information. Their unique Solving Forward philosophy allows them to deliver complete solutions with infinite scalability and unprecedented control over data and costs. Be among the first to experience Simpana 10 software. Click here now.  Cloud & Virtualization 1.   Nvidia GPU Boosts Citrix XenDesktop 2.   Dell Kills Its In-House Public Cloud 3.   Cloud Computing Gains Another Rival 4.   Investors Funding Cyberwarfare 5.   HP Boosts Data Center IT Automation

Product Information and Resources for Technology You Can Use To Boost Your Business BYOD & MDM   Forrester Research Inc., Report: BYOD from AT&T. Make everyone more efficient. CRM Systems   Unlock the potential in your people with Microsoft Dynamics   How Microsoft Dynamics helped mobilize retail businesses   2 million CRM success stories and counting...   Experience CRM and Business Success today with Salesforce.com.   Optimize CRM with Data Quality Management. More from Trillium Cloud & Virtualization   Riverbed Stingray Traffic Manager on Amazon Web Services Contact Centers   Unlock the potential in your people with Microsoft Dynamics   Unlock the potential in your people with Microsoft Dynamics Customer Data   See how you can benefit from Microsoft Dynamics Customer Service   Improve your customer relationships with Microsoft Dynamics   2 million CRM success stories and counting...   Unlock the potential in your people with Microsoft Dynamics   Unlock the potential in your people with Microsoft Dynamics Data Security   Simpana® 10 software: an exponential leap forward Enterprise Hardware   The 2013 Toughpad™ tablets. Rugged, secure and built for business.   The best document scanner for you? Try KODAK's scanner selector   APC makes it easy for you to focus on business growth, not downtime. Enterprise I.T.   Brocade's mission: Making networks easier to deploy, manage, and scale.   11 Challenges Solved by Infrastructure for Small IT Environments Enterprise Software   Get critical data off paper and into SharePoint! Watch the video.   Simpana® 10 software: an exponential leap forward Hardware   The 2013 Toughpad™ tablets. Rugged, secure and built for business.   Rugged and reliable Panasonic Toughbook® mobile computers Innovation   The best document scanner for you? Try KODAK's scanner selector   Brocade's mission: Making networks easier to deploy, manage, and scale. Laptops & Tablets   Rugged and reliable Panasonic Toughbook® mobile computers. Mobile Tech   Rugged and reliable Panasonic Toughbook® mobile computers Small Business   The best document scanner for you? Try KODAK's scanner selector Tech Trends   APC makes it easy for you to focus on business growth, not downtime.

Enterprise Hardware Spotlight

Lenovo Sales Soar Amid PC Industry Slump Computer maker Lenovo says its latest quarterly profit rose 90 percent as sales of smartphones and mobile computing technology expanded, amid a decline in desktop and laptop PC sales.   Newest HP PCs Aim for Flexibility, Mobility Hewlett-Packard is hoping its latest PC innovations will revive buyer interest. The new Envy Rove20 is HP's first mobile all-in-one PC, complete with a built-in battery and touch technology.   Dell Kills Its Public Cloud Effort, Will Offer Partner Marketplace Putting the kibosh on its efforts to build out a public cloud, Dell has announced a new program to offer a choice of cloud Infrastructure-as-a-Service through a central marketplace of partners.

Mobile Enterprise Spotlight

Google, Facebook Reported in Talks To Buy Waze There's a bidding war going on over a crowd-sourced map application provider. Or so the rumor mill says. Credible sources are pointing to a competition between Google and Facebook for Waze.   Viva Movil! Buy a Phone from J.Lo Latina pop sensation and entrepreneur Jennifer Lopez is teaming with Verizon Wireless on a new 4G LTE network and wireless service dubbed Viva Movil by Jennifer Lopez, aimed at the U.S. Latino market.   Samsung Sells 10 Million Galaxy S IVs -- Four Every Second The new Galaxy S IV smartphone from Samsung is off to a strong start. The South Korean manufacturer has announced that global sales for the device have exceeded 10 million units in one month.

Enterprise Technology Spotlight

Newest HP PCs Aim for Flexibility, Mobility Hewlett-Packard is hoping its latest PC innovations will revive buyer interest. The new Envy Rove20 is HP's first mobile all-in-one PC, complete with a built-in battery and touch technology.   New Nvidia Chip Boosts Citrix Graphics for Remote Workers The latest Nvidia Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) promises to boost remote graphics sharing through the Citrix remote desktop service. The new chip delivers better graphics for remote workers.   Security Alert: Beware of Tiffany Trojan on the Attack Malware writers are using a luxury name to hack your PC. Security watchdog Sophos reports e-mails appearing to be from Tiffany.com carry an attachment that can install a malicious Trojan on your PC.

Navigation NewsFactor Network Home/Top News | Enterprise I.T. | Cloud & Virtualization | Applications | Unified Communications | Mobile Tech | Hardware | Business Intelligence World Wide Web | Network Security | Data Storage | Small Business | Microsoft/Windows | Apple/Mac | Linux/Open Source | Personal Tech Press Releases NewsFactor Network Enterprise I.T. Sites NewsFactor Technology News | Enterprise Security Today | CRM Daily NewsFactor Business and Innovation Sites Sci-Tech Today | NewsFactor Business Report NewsFactor Services FreeNewsFeed | Free Newsletters | About NewsFactor Network | How To Contact Us | Article Reprints | Careers @ NewsFactor | Services for PR Pros | Top Tech Wire | How To Advertise Privacy Policy | Terms of Service © Copyright 2000-2013 NewsFactor Network. All rights reserved. Article rating technology by Blogowogo. Member of Accuserve Ad Network.