Cisco Meraki, Microsoft Azure Collaborate on Virtual Cloud WAN -

Cisco Meraki announced a collaboration with Microsoft that enables Cisco SD-WAN powered by Meraki to simplify secure connectivity to Azure’s Virtual WAN service, the companies say. This will allow customers to establish branch-to-Azure connectivity regardless of geographical location, according to Cisco.

Benefits of the collaboration, Cisco says, include:

Simplicity, ease-of-use – A co-developed toolkit automates secure connection between Cisco Meraki MX appliances at branch locations and the Azure Virtual WAN service, at scale, which saves time, according to the statement.

Security – Secure connectivity is embedded into the automation workflow, which Cisco says will optimize security and enable agility; IT teams no longer need to consider how tasks are executed.

Change management – To make changes to branch locations, such as a change in ISP provider, or adding additional resources in Azure, zero configuration will be required on the Cisco Meraki MX appliances, saving time and resources at the branch.

Existing customers using Cisco SD-WAN powered by Cisco Meraki can take advantage of the automation to Azure Virtual WAN immediately at no additional cost, Cisco said.

Cisco Meraki, Microsoft Collaboration: Executive Insight

Lawrence Huang, VP of product management, Cisco Meraki

Reshmi Yandapalli, principal product manager, Microsoft Azure Networking

"As customer use of multi-cloud environments continues to increase, providing secure and optimized access to business-critical resources is more important than ever,” said Lawrence Huang, VP of product management, Cisco Meraki. “Through this collaboration, customers can securely connect to the Microsoft Azure Virtual WAN service, with the signature simplicity they have come to expect from Cisco Meraki.”

Reshmi Yandapalli, principal product manager, Microsoft Corp. said, “Organizations are increasingly looking to adopt Microsoft’s Azure Virtual WAN service as a way to connect their branch SD-WAN appliances to our global network for optimal access to Azure resources. With Cisco SD-WAN powered by Cisco Meraki, we can make connectivity a seamless experience for our customers.”