Today, I’m proud to share that Cisco has been named a Leader in the IDC MarketScape: Worldwide Enterprise Wireless LAN 2025 Vendor Assessment (doc #US52978225, October 2025). We believe this recognition reflects the trust our customers place in us and validates our focus on delivering innovation that helps organizations transform how they connect, work, and thrive.
[IDC MarketScape vendor analysis model is designed to provide an overview of the competitive fitness of technology and suppliers in a given market. The research methodology utilizes a rigorous scoring methodology based on both qualitative and quantitative criteria that results in a single graphical illustration of each supplier’s position within a given market. The Capabilities score measures supplier product, go-to-market and business execution in the short-term. The Strategy score measures alignment of supplier strategies with customer requirements in a 3-5-year timeframe. Supplier market share is represented by the size of the icons.]
Much like its impact on our everyday lives, AI is profoundly reshaping the workplace – whether it’s in large corporate campuses, globally dispersed branch offices, factory floors, stadiums and arenas, or even the car you’re driving to your next sales call. And the change is just getting started. While the first wave of AI revolved around chatbots intelligently answering our questions, the next wave of AI will be dominated by autonomous agents working together and performing increasingly complex tasks on our behalf.
To support this agentic AI future, we need enterprise networks that are not only powerful enough to manage the scale and performance that AI workloads require, but that are themselves managed, optimized, and secured by AI agents and tools. Intelligent, secure networks are the backbone of future-proof workplaces, and wireless has never been more important.
Wireless is about delivering new kinds of experiences that make it easy for people to do their best work. From smart, immersive retail experiences to future-proofed workplaces that use AI in real-time to make collaboration seamless and intelligently optimize power and HVAC, organizations are using wireless networks to unlock all kinds of opportunities for innovation and operational excellence.
As these opportunities expand, so do expectations for performance, reliability, and security. Our vision at Cisco is to help organizations rise to this moment by delivering networks that are smarter, simpler to manage, and more secure—so IT teams can focus on driving business outcomes rather than managing complexity across point solutions.
I hope you will take the time to read the full IDC MarketScape, but for those pressed for time, below is a quick summary.
Before I sign off, I would remiss not to take a moment to recognize the teams, partners, and customers who continue to be instrumental in pushing us to keep innovating and improving. We’re driven by a shared belief that our technology is improving organizations and the lives of people who use our technology. As wireless technology evolves, Cisco remains committed to helping organizations stay ahead of the curve. Together, we’re not just building networks—we’re shaping the future of how we work and connect with the world.
— Jeetu
Why IDC MarketScape recognized Cisco as a Leader
The IDC MarketScape recognized Cisco for the following strengths:
- Cisco has a long and competitive heritage across a variety of enterprise networking technologies, including enterprise WLAN and non-datacenter Ethernet switching.
- Cisco has a broad portfolio of enterprise networking and security offerings across wired and wireless LAN, datacenter networking, routing/SD-WAN, security, visibility, assurance, and customer experience.
- Cisco has a robust go-to-market channel with direct, channel, and partner routes for different vertical industry segments of different sizes.
- Cisco has a variety of management and deployment options for enterprise WLAN customers, including the SaaS-delivered Meraki management platform or the on-premises or IaaS-delivered Catalyst management platform. In recent years, Cisco has worked to integrate the Meraki and Catalyst portfolios and now has unified hardware and licensing as part of the Cisco Wireless portfolio.
The future of wireless, built on Cisco
Wireless is foundational to digital business. As organizations embrace new devices, applications, and user experiences, they need networks that are more scalable, simple to operate, and secure.
Scalable devices ready for AI
The Cisco Wireless Wi-Fi 7 portfolio, including the new Campus Gateway, delivers the performance and capacity needed for the next generation of digital experiences. From high-density venues like stadiums and airports to rugged industrial environments, our access points and wireless infrastructure are purpose-built to scale with customer needs, with the flexibility to be managed either through the cloud or on-premises.
And when you need the dependability and bandwidth of fiber but laying fiber isn’t practical, Ultra-Reliable Wireless Backhaul (URWB) delivers secure, high-performance connectivity to keep critical services running. Cisco Spaces transforms real-time network data into actionable business insights, enhancing both operational efficiency and user experiences.
“We leverage Cisco Spaces and Cisco Wireless to track assets and personnel in our mines for worker safety and operational enhancements,” says Brock Richards, Senior Solution Architect at Nutrien, a leading provider of crop inputs and services. Together, these devices and innovations create a strong foundation to support AI-driven workloads, bandwidth-heavy applications, and massive device density—all while preparing customers for what’s next.
AgenticOps for operational simplicity
As wireless environments grow more dynamic and complex, Cisco leverages intelligence and automation across the network to make the promise of AgenticOps a reality. From AI-Enhanced Radio Resource Management (AI-RRM) that dynamically optimizes radio resources, to Intelligent Capture and AI-powered packet analysis, our unified platform provides deep, real-time insights for rapid troubleshooting and performance optimization. Using active and synthetic data, a Cisco wireless network can turn every device into a sensor, delivering end-to-end visibility and assurance through ThousandEyes, allowing teams to quickly identify and resolve connectivity issues across the entire network.
With AI Canvas, AI Assistant, and Cisco Workflows, IT teams benefit from proactive guidance, trusted automation, and intuitive controls, making wireless management simpler and more effective than ever. These capabilities all combine to deliver a scalable, AI-native wireless platform that drives agility and efficiency.
Security fused into the network
Today’s hyper-connected world requires a completely different approach to security, where visibility, protection, and deep inspection are fused directly into the network. Wireless must be the first layer of defense, safeguarding users, devices, and agents against access, misuse, and attacks.
It starts with secure wireless infrastructure, with Cisco Secure Boot ensuring your access points and controllers are running verified software to prevent tampering. Add built-in, always-on wireless intrusion prevention to detect and respond to threats, defending connectivity at every connection. And unlike wireless-only solutions, secure network design extends across every domain, delivering common policy and distributed enforcement across every hop of your network, ensuring a truly organization-wide zero trust posture.
When it comes to security, AgenticOps, and scale for the AI Era, we’re truly just getting started. These innovations create a wireless platform where security is seamlessly integrated, simplifying protection while ensuring trust and compliance. And these same networks you build today will determine the kinds of businesses you run tomorrow.
Read the excerpt where Cisco is named a Leader in Enterprise WLAN
Excellent blog. Glad to see industry analyst recognition for our innovations in the wireless business.
Great news. CISCO is doing giant steps.
Not surprised how they’re bringing Security, Observability and Networking all together under a single platform.
Great article. Looking forward to see more informations.
Great insights on Cisco’s leadership in the WLAN market! It’s impressive to see how they continue to innovate and set standards in the industry. Looking forward to seeing how this recognition influences their future developments.
Trusted by partners and customers. Thank you.