We have all seen the diagram: users over here, apps over there, data in multiple clouds, a data center, and a SaaS platform someone bought with a credit card. Meanwhile, IT is expected to make all of it secure. Simple, right?
Hybrid work changed the shape of the network. People work from branches, home offices, airports, customer sites, and yes, occasionally from the sidelines of a youth soccer game. Applications live in data centers, public cloud, SaaS platforms, and increasingly AI tools and model ecosystems. The old assumption that security starts at a single perimeter feels more nostalgic than useful.
That is why I am excited to share that Cisco SASE with Meraki is now generally available.
For teams already running Meraki MX, this is a practical way to move from SD-WAN toward a complete SASE architecture without turning the project into a six-month tunnel-building festival. You keep the Meraki experience you know, then connect it to Cisco Secure Access for cloud-delivered Security Service Edge (SSE) protection.
What We Built
Cisco SASE with Meraki connects Meraki SD-WAN sites to Cisco Secure Access, Cisco’s cloud-delivered SSE solution. Meraki remains the place for SD-WAN management and AutoVPN connectivity into the SSE fabric. Secure Access remains the place for security policies and SSE configuration. Seamless integration means that everyone gets a clearer operating model.
Less Tunnel Work, More Progress
No one wakes up hoping to spend their afternoon hand-crafting tunnels. With Cisco SASE with Meraki, Meraki AutoVPN can automatically establish secure primary and backup tunnels between enrolled MX sites and Cisco Secure Access. In internal testing, that drove up to 15X faster deployment compared with manual tunnel creation.
The same automation also helps resiliency. Each enrolled Meraki SD-WAN appliance can establish multiple AutoVPN tunnels across available uplinks to two Secure Access data centers. If a tunnel goes down, the system can fail over without sending an administrator on a scavenger hunt through configuration screens.
For lean IT teams, that is the point. Less repetitive setup. Less brittle plumbing. More time for work that actually improves security and user experience.
I already have security protection in my Meraki SD-WAN, don’t I?
Yes, Meraki SD-WAN includes security protections that organizations widely use. However, today’s highly decentralized environment and wildly changing threat landscape means that often, that is no longer sufficient. With this integration, organizations can steer selected traffic through Cisco’s SSE services and apply deeper protection for internet, SaaS, private application, and remote access use cases. Key additional security protections will:
- Discover and secure the accelerating use of Gen AI, AI model repositories, and AI agents
- Enable highly granular, least-privilege access for remote users
- Infuse detailed information about posture, identity, and dynamic threat levels to inform access decisions
- Prevent the loss or leakage of sensitive data and intellectual property
With Cisco Secure Access, you gain the value of multiple security capabilities unified into one solution, such as Secure Web Gateway (SWG) for web protection and control, Zero Trust Access (ZTA) for granular private app access, Firewall as a Service (FWaaS) and intrusion prevention, Cloud Access Security Broker (CASB), Data Loss Prevention (DLP), and more. The benefit is not more security features; the benefit is security that can be applied closer to where users and applications actually are, with policy managed centrally and enforced through the cloud.
Built for NetOps and SecOps
I talk with customers who are trying to converge networking and security, but they do not want to blur every role into one giant operational soup. For larger organizations, there is typically a NetOps and SecOps team. For midsized organizations, the same people often manage both networking and security. In either case, they still need to balance requirements. Networking managers care deeply about routing, fail over, site health, and WAN performance. Security managers care about identity, access, data protection, threat defense, and policy consistency.
Cisco SASE with Meraki respects that reality.
Networking roles can use the familiar Meraki dashboard for SD-WAN connectivity, site onboarding, and VPN visibility. Security roles can use Cisco Secure Access for cloud security profiles and policies. The result is a unified architecture with team-specific workflows.
That is not just cleaner on a slide. It is easier to operate on a Tuesday afternoon when something needs to be changed, validated, or fixed.
Iterative. No Rip and Replace.
Most organizations do not get to rebuild from scratch. They have branches, hubs, cloud apps, private apps, existing routes, maintenance windows, and users who would very much like the network to keep working.
Cisco SASE with Meraki is designed for that real world. Meraki spokes can establish new AutoVPN tunnels to Secure Access while maintaining existing MX hub tunnels and connectivity. That gives teams flexibility as they plan migration, routing, and policy changes.
It lets organizations increase protection iteratively. Start with the traffic and sites that make sense. Expand as your policies, teams, and architecture are ready. SASE is a journey, but it should not feel like a cliff.
Keep the Good. Keep it Simple.
SASE can sound big because, well… it does a lot.. But the operating model should feel simpler, not heavier.
Cisco SASE with Meraki gives Meraki customers a fast, secure, and resilient approach to bring SD-WAN traffic into Cisco Secure Access. It helps administrators reduce manual work. It helps managers lower operational complexity. And it helps organizations protect users, devices, and applications wherever work happens.
That is the kind of launch I like as a product manager: meaningful architecture, real simplicity, and a little less time spent lovingly maintaining tunnels.
Learn more
- Watch the Cisco SASE with Meraki video
- Read more in the Cisco SASE with Meraki At-a-Glance
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