SolarWinds, Cisco Ease Network Management for MSPs
Companies integrate Cisco Meraki Dashboard API with SolarWind’s N-central tool
SolarWinds and Cisco are integrating solutions to make it easier for MSPs to monitor their end clients’ Cisco Meraki networking devices.
The Lowdown: The two companies on Thursday announced the integration of the Cisco Meraki Dashboard API and SolarWind’s N-central network management solution that can be used on premises or hosted in the cloud.
The Details: Through the integration, MSPs will be able to use their N-central dashboards to more easily discover and monitor Cisco Meraki devices, including routers, switches, and access points. MSPs will now be able to view the status of their customers’ Cisco Meraki devices through the dashboard, monitor connectivity and traffic, enable notifications and alerts, and report on license warranties.
The integrated offering comes at a time when much of the workforce continues to work remotely due to the COVID-19 pandemic. That has put pressure on companies and their corporate networks to ensure that employees working from home continue to be productive and secure, and that businesses can quickly adapt as workers begin to return to their offices and other sites.
Making sure the network is secure and robust is key and, given the increasing reliance businesses have on their channel partners, is a necessary capability for MSPs. N-central uses automation to enable partners to onboard, configure, and patch hundreds of devices and includes security solutions, remote support, and other capabilities.
Background: SolarWinds is a major IT channel player, with about 3,200 employees worldwide and more than 320,000 customers in 190 countries. Company officials in August announced they were exploring the idea of spinning off its MSP business – SolarWinds MSP – to create a stand-alone company that would continue to supply IT management solutions to managed service providers.
The Buzz: “Cisco Meraki offers a comprehensive set of cloud solutions that give IT providers the opportunity to streamline and simplify the digital workplace, a goal that has never been more paramount as the definition of the workplace is in flux. Daily shifts from work-from-home and returning to the office require an elastic office space and IT infrastructure,” said Mav Turner, group vice president of products for SolarWinds MSP. “This goal is fully aligned with SolarWinds MSP, as we work to empower MSPs to more easily fulfill a market need that has spiked almost overnight. As MSP customers seek their help more than ever, we believe the integration with Cisco Meraki and N-central will play another important role in supporting them.”
“SolarWinds N-central is known for its power as a remote monitoring and management solution that centralizes the ability for an MSP to see and manage everything from one easy-to-use dashboard,” said Marc Inderhees, Cisco-as-a-Service sales acceleration leader at Cisco. “We are excited about the new integration of Cisco Meraki with N-central to give SolarWinds MSP partners a direct path for discovering and monitoring Cisco Meraki devices in their SolarWinds dashboard, so they can focus more of their time and energy on taking care of the businesses they support. Working with SolarWinds and its MSP partners will provide our mutual customers with even more opportunities to thrive and succeed.”
“Like most IT service providers, we’re more hyper-focused than ever right now, making sure the businesses we serve are up and running and secure,” said Jeffrey Bowles, IT lead/partner at Act360 Web & IT. “To do that effectively, we have to be able to work as efficiently as possible. Having more visibility and direct monitoring of our Cisco Meraki devices from within our SolarWinds N-central dashboard is a key piece of the efficiency puzzle, and we’re excited to have this new capability.”
Related Links:
CHANNELNOMICS:
>SolarWinds Mulls Spinning Off MSP Business
>Microsoft, SolarWinds Help MSPs Remotely Manage Devices
>SolarWinds Makes Hybrid IT Scenarios Easier to Manage
