4 Ways Cisco makes it easier for MSPs to sell Meraki

The Managed Meraki Services MMS, built into the Cisco Meraki Control Panel, gives the MSP a single place to assess end-customer and network device license compliance.

While Cisco has always been an IT channel-focused company, its offerings weren't always ideal for MSPs selling services to the small and medium-sized business (SMB) community. However, since acquiring Meraki in 2012, the company has taken several steps to develop a comprehensive offering of technology solutions for channel partners, as well as resources to train and support its partners.

Here are four resources you should know about:

MSP Portal. The MSP is a central place where employees can monitor all of their Cisco Meraki end customer networks over the Internet. The MSP, built into the Cisco Meraki Control Panel, gives the MSP a single place to assess end-customer and network device license compliance. From the MSP portal page, click on any of the managed customer networks and use Cisco Meraki online tools to remotely troubleshoot devices; or use the dashboard to monitor user, device and application traffic, set group policies, update licenses, and manage customer device inventory. You get complete visibility into your customers' networks from anywhere accessible on the Internet, be it the NOC (Network Operations Center) / SOC (Security Center) or your field offices.

MSP University. In November 2018, Cisco launched MSP University with ConnectWise, a leading provider of PSA (Professional Services Automation) and business automation platform. MSP's first college course, MSP Supercharger, was developed by industry expert Gary Pica, creator of the TruMethods platform. Its structure has helped thousands of MSPs to create sustainable businesses. All MSP University courses are available free of charge to Cisco partners.

ConnectWise Unite with Cisco. It is a cloud management platform for MSPs that provides a monitoring, management, and billing platform for Cisco's leading cloud offerings, including Cisco Meraki, Cisco Umbrella, Cisco Webex Teams, and Cisco StealthWatch Cloud. The platform now helps more than 400 Cisco MSPs deliver more efficiently, efficiently, and profitably managed services from a single dashboard to more than 1,000 customers and more than 20,000 Meraki devices.

Meraki Managed Services Center. Cisco also has a dedicated Meraki hub filled with educational resources designed to help MSP partners on their journey to sell Meraki-powered managed services. In addition to vital resources such as Introduction to Meraki MSP, MSP Tutorial, Construction Services Resources, MSP Roadmap, and Bringing Your Managed Service to Market, partners can ask questions in the MSP forum. ...