Today's dynamic environment requires seamless connections for more people, devices, and things than ever before. Networks, both in the core campus and on the edge, need to support new ways of working, enabling workforces to use any device, from anywhere. With rapid shifts toward automation, new architectures for hybrid work, and evolving hybrid cloud environments, we know you, our customers, are looking for easier, more agile ways to operate.

As organizations around the world are fighting to thrive in this environment, we want to help by not only removing the complexity from IT management, but by unlocking the true potential of networks with data, insights, and automation options. We aim to help your IT teams accelerate your organization's growth with the power and agility offered by Cisco cloud-management platforms.

That's why today I'm pleased to announce that, starting today, Catalyst customers who want to adopt a fully cloud-managed enterprise networking solution will be able to take their first steps on that journey.  We are bringing cloud monitoring to select Catalyst switches, new Wi-Fi 6E access points that can be managed either on-premises or through the cloud with Meraki, and a clear path toward fully cloud-managed access networks, that blend the strengths of both Catalyst and Meraki.

Realizing there are multiple stages on the cloud journey-and understanding that each organization's journey is unique-our goal is to support our customers' needs no matter where you are in your journey to fully cloud-managed operations.

In bringing cloud monitoring and cloud management to our Catalyst access portfolio, we are offering you more ways to improve IT operations efficiency; reduce infrastructure complexity and costs; protect your investments with Cisco solutions; and enable a faster rate of change for your cloud journey. With the ability to cloud-monitor or cloud-manage the devices on their network, Catalyst customers can now:

• Enable business agility and resiliency by providing consistent network management practices with global scale and plug-n-play operations.
• Create better customer experiences for places of commerce, offices, or public spaces by providing a consistently elevated, secure, and connected experience to keep employees and customers engaged and loyal.
• Drive new revenue opportunities by enabling the network to rapidly adjust to changes in how people engage with organizations through cloud-based apps.

Cloud Monitoring for Catalyst 9000 Switching

Our engineering and product management teams have been working diligently to simplify and unify our access platforms by connecting Cisco Catalyst switching and wireless hardware to the Meraki dashboard, giving you a choice in how you can monitor one of the most critical layers of your information infrastructure from the cloud. For the Catalyst 9200, 9300, and 9500 series of switches, you can now accelerate your network monitoring and troubleshooting use cases with rich switch health details, client information, network topology, and firmware visibility. These benefits are all available in the cloud at no additional cost for customers with Cisco DNA licensing.

Cloud-Managed or On-Premises Managed Wi-Fi 6E

Customers can now have their choice of management mode-Meraki, DNA Center, or CLI-with the new Cisco Catalyst 9100 Series Wireless Access Points, making it easier for your IT teams to support diverse use cases. For example, at an organization's corporate headquarters, IT can continue managing Cisco Catalyst 916x series access points on-premises, using Cisco Wireless LAN Controllers and on-premises Cisco DNA Center. While for their branches or distributed retail chains, those same organizations can benefit from the ease-of scalability and low-touch operation for cloud-managed access points through the Meraki dashboard. As the Catalyst and Meraki development teams continue their collaboration, Cisco will bring additional Catalyst wired and wireless devices fully under cloud monitoring and cloud management.

Operational Flexibility and Choice for Cisco DNA Center

While many organizations are on their individual journeys to the cloud, there are enterprises who will choose to maintain the flexibility of an on-premises network infrastructure. For those looking for even greater agility in their on-premises deployment solutions, IT can continue using Cisco DNA Center either on physical, on-premises appliances or leverage the newCisco DNA Center Virtual Appliance for virtual machine instances (VMware ESXi) in private data centers or cloud platforms such as AWS. The benefits of a virtual appliance for IT are many: eliminating lengthy and expensive compliance and certification checks; fast, automated deployment; and high availability.

Your Journey, Your Way with Cisco Platforms

IT teams that are more agile, more resilient, and optimally productive can deliver network experiences that truly transform operations. With these new innovations in cloud monitoring and management, IT teams can scale faster, eliminate complexity, and secure the hybrid workforce.

We are excited to meet you wherever you are on your journey and help you find your path to a more flexible and connected future. With the power and flexibility of Cisco's platforms, we aim to help unify IT teams across networking, security, cloud infrastructure, and applications to deliver an optimized experience for you, your customers, and your workforce.

Learn more about these innovations by attending our

Insider Series for Networking webinar

July 21, 2022

For a deeper dive on Cisco Catalyst and Meraki cloud monitoring and management, as well as advances in Cisco DNA Center, read SVP of Enterprise Engineering Ravi Chandra's blog post: Simplify and Optimize Networking Experiences for the Hybrid Workforce and Cloud Workloads.