Cisco Meraki Systems Manager (MDM+EMM) Reviews

We use the product to provide visibility and support in a hybrid setup. It also helps to enforce new policies. 

The most valuable features include remote inventory analysis, security features like geofencing, and software distribution.

The tool's pricing needs to be more flexible like Cisco's. 

I have been using Cisco Meraki Systems Manager (MDM+EMM) for approximately two years.

I rate the solution's stability a nine out of ten. 

The tool is scalable. 

The tool's deployment is simple. 

We primarily use the solution in order to see devices connected to the network here.

The solution has improved our organization by allowing us to shed some light on how things work in our network.

The analysis of traffic and configuration capabilities are the most valuable aspects for us.

The solution is straightforward to set up. 

The solution seems to be scalable.

It's very stable and reliable. 

So far, it's been very clean and easy to use. We can find proper settings and information easily even though we are rather new to the product.

We have used it for too short of a time to have thoughts about what might be missing; we still need to get more familiar with it.

The solution can be expensive. 

I've been using the solution for half a year.

The solution is stable and reliable. I can confirm we haven't had issues. It doesn't crash or freeze. It's good so far. 

As the solution is only partially deployed, it's hard to gauge how many people are on it or will be on it. 

However, as a cloud solution, it seems to be very scalable. 

I haven't directly dealt with technical support.

We are currently testing systems from both Cisco and Microsoft. This is the first implementation. We did not have anything previously.

This was a cloud implementation, however, I don't really have any details about the process. My understanding was that it was straightforward. Setting up the initial infrastructure took about one month. 

There were only two or three people handling the deployment and maintenance. 

There was a Cisco engineer helping us with configuration.

We have not seen an ROI as we are in the proof of concept phase and still would need to do a full implementation. 

From what I read, it's rather expensive, however, I have no access to such details in terms of what our contract costs.

The solution was ultimately chosen by the organization. I'm unsure as to if there were other options looked at. 

We are just end-users of the product.

I'm not sure which version of the solution we're using. 

Overall, so far, I'd rate it an eight out of ten. It's still new and I still need time to get used to it. 

We use this solution for MDM (Mobile Device Management), as a firewall and using it for their switches and access points.

Generally speaking, the ease of use and setup are most valuable to us. We have come across issues where it doesn't seem to be able to establish some VPN tunnels with other devices in a particular way that such as an ASA can do for us. But other than that, I mean, as far as the switching setup, it's extremely easy. The access point is even easier. The firewall and the  basic setup for the firewall; having the auto VPN connections, site-to-site VPN connections, come up is a very nice feature.

The one particular issue that we had is that one of our sites had a very specific VPN site-to-site setup for access into a a particular client. We could see what was coming out of the firewall, and for some reason, the client firewall was not responding in the way that we were expecting, and we were unable to get client's firewall team on the line in time for us to get it all straightened out, so we had to fall back to the ASA that was in place.

Yes, this is a stable product.

We have this product in a total of six of our sites. I could easily configure everything from one location, despite the various global site locations.

Most of the time, we do not use technical support. We do not need them, but when we do need them, they are available and will work with us for whatever length of time it takes to try and solve the problem.

It's extremely competitive and very good for a product in this sphere. It's excellent, actually, for the products and what they can handle.

Generally speaking, if it's just a mesh network within your own environment, which could be done at a fairly low knowledge level. It's when you're dealing with the external partners and stuff like that that you'll either have to really know what you're talking about to try and troubleshoot. It's a very easy solution for the most part, it's very easy to implement and very easy to administer.

The solution is used for monitoring and configuring access points and BYOD (bring your own device). It is also used to configure many Cisco IoT products, such as CTC. The solution's remote troubleshooting capabilities are helpful for firmware patching.

The solution's integration with other products could be improved.

I have been using the solution for five years.

I rate the solution’s stability a nine out of ten.

Around 15,000 users are using the solution in our organization.

I rate the solution’s scalability an eight out of ten.

The solution has a good technical support team that guides us when we face issues.

The solution’s initial setup is simple.

Cisco Meraki Systems Manager is an expensive solution.

Aruba Central is the main competitor for Cisco Meraki Systems Manager on the market.

You must comply with the policy to access an internet connection. You must have an antivirus for the laptops. The solution is deployed on the cloud. I would recommend the solution to other users.

Overall, I rate the solution a nine out of ten.

Our primary use for the product is as an enterprise mobility management solution to give access to users that are connecting to the network on wired and wireless devices.

Cisco Meraki Systems Manager is very good in terms of performance. It can handle the traffic in the network of our 300-400 user base and it can manage all the users without downtime. Its exceptional performance is allowing us to implement other solutions to service customers better.

Because Cisco products are reliable and user-friendly, we can implement any kind of setup. For example, we can set up for a geographical location. We can make it so users find it easy to access the network securely when they are in and outside the office. We experience no downtime, no breakdowns, all the user readings are exact, and it gives us quick analysis so we can apply security measures.

Because Cisco has improved a lot and is competing with other technologies that are innovative and brand new to the market, the only improvements they have to make are to keep up with the current competition and remain competitive with other solutions.

My impression is that the solution is 98% stable. I really like the devices and I am happy to have the devices in my organization.

The scalability of the solution ranks at about 9.5 of 10. It is flexible and scalable.

While pro support is available, we have not used any kind of support so far. We do the maintenance on our own. But the technical support is 100% available and they maintain certain criteria. Every three to six months they come for a review of performance and they inspect the devices every three months. We meet with them even if we do not request support and they inform us of new devices and improvements coming into the market. If there is anything you need from them, they are very good and reliable.

We previously used a GitLab runner because of the GUID (Global Unique Identifier), but the Cisco Meraki also had the GUID feature which makes it really easy to implement. Without GUID you had to learn so many devices. So GUID is very good, the Cisco console is very good, the interface is extremely good and this made it very easy to implement. You don't have to extract the logs manually, so that simplifies log-analysis. 

I had experience with Cisco devices previously so the initial setup was easy. Deployment is never complicated unless you complicate your design or implement other design management. If your planning is really good before implementation, the deployment will go well. I enjoyed using it and implementing it.

The integration was taken care of by us. We only had the devices. The implementation was our first attempt and it took only a few days. 

Our return on investment is reliability, flexibility and the ability to serve our customers without downtime.

I would rate it a nine out of ten.

We use it in a restaurant environment to provide a managed firewall and WiFi. This is very helpful.

One of our largest support call issues is the processing of credit cards. This is caused by an Internet/network issue 60 percent of the time. Knowing the state of the network remotely is a big time saver. Having the ability to alter the network and WiFi settings remotely permits us to have quick response time. For overall troubleshooting, having tools on Meraki is a time saver.

• We can quickly see if the Internet is up or down, then focus troubleshooting more quickly. 
• We can reconfigure a client’s setup remotely with minimal effort.

• Web portal: Ease of configuration and status reporting.
• Tools: It helps us see if anything has been changed in the network by another vendor or customer.

Integration with other tools, such as, ConnectWise Automate.

The price is high for the market.

We primarily use the solution for iPhone management.

The ability to push out applications is a great aspect of the solution.

We can create a tag of a phone and we can create a package of applications, and then we can tag the device and say, "This device must have these applications." The solution ensures that the device gets those applications.

We also like that it allows us to get applications without setting up iCloud accounts. For some of our employees, the extra steps to have "yet another account" are simply not needed, when all they want the is the app store (and not all of the other iCloud functionality).

For example, a delivery driver - we want him to have Google Maps, Outlook, Chrome, and a Time Clock app.  We can push these apps out through Meraki MDM without having to set him up with an iCloud account.  

We've used the iOS client. The Windows client has a lot to be desired to be a full management tool. 

We first tried the Windows client, but quickly determined that it wasn't going to cut it for most Windows cases. The Windows portion of this product needs improvement.

We've been using this solution for a few years.

The stability of the solution is very good. It's reliable.

I'm not sure how the solution scales. In our experience, we've only put it on twenty devices. 

We've never contacted technical support for Systems Manager

Deployment took a few hours, initially. However, the total time to fully understand it and get into the weeds with the way it works will take a lot longer since there's so much to it. It took us a few months of testing it out here and there to get comfortable to roll it out.  Bear in mind, we didn't have a deadline, and this was being done as a side project.

in house.

Error can't divide by $0.00

We're using a free version of the solution.  But if we exceed the limit the pricing was in line with other MDM solutions.

No, we had a free license to one hundred seats of Systems Manager from our Meraki firewalls.  We have since looked at Jamf and Microsoft Intune.

There's a lot of options in the configuration and the setup.  Make a test device and a test group and make sure you fully understand what is going on before you roll it out.  For example, one setting lets you deny use of Safari, which sounds good till the user clicks a link in an email and it won't open.  *Unless you use Microsoft Outlook which allows you to pick the app that links open in.

Setting up VPP and DEP takes a little bit of effort, but these will be required no matter the MDM solution you choose. The Apple device enrollment program allows devices bought from the carrier you are registered with to show up in the account. 

On the Apple side, the VPP allows you to bulk buy apps, that's the same, regardless of which MDM solution you use.

Personally, we don't plan to continue to use it going forward. While the Apple side of the solution is great, the Windows side just has a lot of problems.

It requires a higher expenditure compared to other solutions, but it's a complete solution. It works well, has a great interface, and the support is very expensive, but it's good.

It helps us deploy and manage remote sites, as well as maintain security on remote networks.

The proprietary standards and modules are the most valuable features. The integrator solution in a single product is quite valuable.

In my opinion, the equipment availabilities and competitive pricings could be improved.

I have been using this solution for around a year. 

I would rate the stability of this solution a nine out of ten. 

I would rate the scalability a nine out of ten. 

Customer service and support are really expensive. Else, it is good. The price could be improved. 

Positive

The initial setup was quite complex.

There was an ROI. 

I would suggest not judging the price and the capital expense and seeing the long-term features.

Overall, I would rate the solution an eight out of ten.