Softcat launches Cisco Meraki Managed Services

Softcat has launched Cisco Meraki managed services in order to provide customers with fully managed wireless switching and security solutions, with an unprecedented four-hour engineer call-out time for any issues. Softcat has wrapped Meraki’s cloud networking products, including wireless LAN, Ethernet switches, security applications and mobile device management (MDM), in a fully managed service package.

This new offering will provide customers not only with the necessary secure wireless LAN to cater for their own customers’ access, but also the on-going servicing, monitoring and security checks from fully-trained Softcat staff in its 24/7/365 network operations centres (NOCs) in Marlow and Manchester. Softcat can offer this service on an OPEX basis, procuring the products on behalf of the customer and bundling the costs into the overall monthly service charge. This enables customers to take advantage of all the technology without losing out on precious CAPEX budgets.

Simon Walker, Softcat’s managed services director, anticipates a positive response from customers: “We’re delighted to be providing Cisco’s Meraki managed services to meet our customers’ ever-evolving needs. Customers already like Meraki’s products, but we realised there was a real demand for a more extensive solution. The proliferation of multiple device use that has come with the Internet of Things means that more and more people are connecting wirelessly, and businesses need to respond by providing the necessary wireless infrastructure, which in turn necessitates a higher level of critical support. Many customers want us to manage this for them, to provide them with peace of mind in the event that they encounter any issues, and to provide intelligence about patterns in end-users’ activities,” said Simon. He added: “We’ve spent six months training our team up to be able to provide the excellent level of service across this product portfolio our customers have come to expect from us, and as a Cisco Gold Partner I think we’ve already gone a long way to demonstrate our expertise. Our team will be providing round the clock, year-round Meraki support from our NOC, promising a 30-minute response for severe issues and a four-hour response for all other issues. We’re able to provide the 24/7/365 management and monitoring that customers need from Cisco.”