Honestly, even just converting the few sites we have migrated so far from the original way we configured them, we have realized a 20% to 30% difference in recurring costs compared to when we were fully on MPLS (Multi-Protocol Label Switching). By the time we move the bulk of our site, the projection is that we might actually be realizing closer to 40% or 50% reduction in operations costs. In this COVID era economy, everyone is looking for cost optimization. That, for us, will be a significant one.  

One of the other good things I see is that Meraki can react fast to emerging trends. For example, we have a VPN. We are looking at most people's workday actually becoming stay-at-home. In two years, maybe the approach of staffing will become increasingly more virtual. That would change a lot of things in the way even use people. With Meraki, we have the availability to support work-from-home in a way that we could not with MPLS.  

They're known for their ease of use and ubiquitous management platform that covers everything. Meraki really excels in plug-and-play solutions. You just plug it up, and everything works. All of the components—the firewall/router, the switches, the access points, the cameras—work very nicely together, and they all can be managed from one platform. That is probably their biggest selling point. Everything comes in one ubiquitous package, and you don't have to manage different components from different platforms. You can see everything from one platform.

We have many businesses in geographical locations, and due to this, we need it in many different locations. It has become very easy for us to deploy these products. They claim that it is zero-touch configuration. That is true. Suppose if I want to deploy this product in Manila, I don't have to have this product in my hand in the wire and I don't need to go to Manila. It's not like that.

It can be delivered to them and as soon as they plug it we can push the configuration. That is the beauty of this SD-WAN technology that we have.

The solution is helping me, not only for side-to-side connectivity but also for defining different VLANs, different networks, between the firewalls. I can do firewalling between these networks.

I can manage it very well and in a very easy way. This is from the technical perspective.

After deploying Meraki, we have a drastic fitting on connectivity because before Cisco Meraki, we used to have a physical broadband internet connection and it is very, very expensive in Dubai.

The security firewall features that are embedded in the product is very good. The security, including the internal threat protection, the IPS, or the advanced threat admin, are very good. 

The hardware is okay as compared to any other product.

I have to keep the operating systems on my switches and routers current and to do that with any other piece of equipment, would literally require me to download the newer operating system. I'd have to get a TFTP server setup to transfer that image over to the appliance. By the time I'd finish, even on the five sites that I have, that's five routers and seven switches.  A combined or aggregated downtime across the sites, potentially of six hours. Whereas now I can schedule the update for the middle of the night or anytime, and it happens on its own.

The portal updates and reboots the device and off it goes. I don't even have to be connected to do it, it just happens. That is of value to me that nobody else is promoting. Between the Auto VPN and the update of the operating systems to keep current, those are the key features.

The network insight and reporting are great.

The seamless end-to-end setup is really what makes it beautiful; that's why Meraki is good. It's much easier than some of the other vendors to manage and keep track of what's going on because you can see it in real-time on the portal. I don't really feel like VALO Cloud gives you a good idea of what's going on. VALO Cloud devices don't work nearly as well, in my opinion, as the Meraki devices.

The classifying of the applications, for example, has been a very useful feature. It helps in contract service, in traffic shaping, and in controlling the balancing between the links that they have over the internet. They have the intention of DI, the direct internet access, as the agencies on the remote side have direct internet access to be able to consume some applications in the cloud.

The product does have a variety of features we can work with.

There's a good balance between 4G and LTE. There are backups to keep the connection going. The MPLS link we had, for example, is just for a backup in case one of the two links goes down.

A lot of our customers really enjoy the Meraki Dashboard. It’s a single pane of glass. If you have their wireless, you have their switching; you have their cameras, you have their firewalls, then you do get a single pane of glass - which is a really strong talking point for us with our customers.

The most valuable features of this solution are load balancing and the security possibilities you have.

The administration in the cloud that Merakioffers is great.

The solution is user-friendly.

Its integrations are good.

We haven't had any issues with customization.

Overall, it's a good product.

The product is easy to deploy.

We have found the scalability to be good.

The solution is stable. 

Pricing is very affordable. 

The speed at which we can change from one provider to another has been great.  

The added security has been useful. However, we are barely using all the capabilities of SD-WAN.

It's easy to set up. 

The solution is stable.

The scalability has been good.

The most valuable feature is the ease of configuration.

The management can be done through the cloud.

It is easy to monitor and manage.

The solution is pretty reliable.

I like the entire set of features and the analytics.

The simplicity of getting connected is the solution's most valuable aspect.

The solution has been stable so far. It's reliable and the performance is good. 

We have found the product to be quite scalable. 

Because it's a cloud-based network infrastructure, everything is done in the cloud, so I don't need to be on-site physically to be able to troubleshoot or resolve an issue. I can be anywhere and resolve an issue. I can see what's happening to the device in real-time, like what people are connected to the device and I can immediately do everything off-site.

The most valuable feature is the firewall capability. It's also got a very good graphical user interface and is very easy to manage.

The most valuable Meraki SD-WAN features for me are cloud management and Auto VPN. 

I believe this solution does a perfect job. It delivers what it's supposed to do and it's secure. The Meraki interface is really well driven and very mature. I like that it's a dashboard on the cloud so profile settings can be done from anywhere.

Meraki has a sexy interface, they've done a great job with it. 

I have found the dashboard very useful, you can configure all of your devices at the same time by just changing some menus. It is configurated virtually on the cloud and it can send the information to the device when it connects to the internet.

The solution has many features available.

The centralized console manageable from the cloud is one of the advantages.

The most valuable feature of Meraki SD-WAN is its user-friendly interface.

Meraki SD-WAN is user friendly.