Cisco Meraki moves to digitize 17,000 Nigerian MSMEs

Cisco Meraki, the global leader in cloud managed IT solutions, said it is targeting about 17,000 Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in Nigeria to digitize their operations and ensure enhanced security.

The company which is a subsidiary of Cisco Corporation said in Lagos on Tuesday, that many organisations today are dealing with the challenges of lack of funding for advanced digital solutions and lack of IT specialists to manage those solutions, which Meraki provides a simplified path to powerful technology.

According to Cisco, digitization is the big trend of today and it is important for businesses, whether big or small to adopt digitization. The new Meraki offerings are designed to simplify IT solutions for small and medium businesses even in the absence of an IT specialist.

The technology provides complete network visibility and control- no hardware controllers or overlay software required. Configurations and management are easily performed remotely or on-site, while trouble shooting can be done in a fraction of the time with advanced networking analytics, allowing businesses to focus on more projects that are impactful.

Speaking at the event, Olakunle Oloruntimehin, general manager of Cisco Nigeria, remarked, “Cisco Meraki creates the simplest, most powerful solutions, helping everyone from small businesses to global enterprises save time and money. It helps organizations to rapidly roll out digital initiatives, delivering real business value.

We are committed to helping our customers overcome challenges and achieve their goals. Technology can connect us, empower us, and drive us. At Cisco, we believe that by simplifying powerful technology, we can free passionate people to focus on their mission and reach groups previously not utilizing technology.”

All Cisco Meraki devices are centrally securely managed from the cloud using a single went based dashboard. Their featured rich, intuitive architecture enables customers to save time, reduce operating costs, and scale as a business grows.

Substantially the importance of simplified IT solutions, Nick Malherbe, territory manager for Nigeria, Ghana east and sub Saharan Africa, explained the need for businesses to use data smartly and securely for business success. He said, “In Nigeria, small and meduim businesses account for 84 percent of employment attesting to the fact that they contribute greatly to the GDP of the economy.

The success of this sector is key for the success of our economy, it is therefore imperative that these businesses use IT solutions that are secure, simple and intelligence. With Cisco Meraki, these MSME’s can enjoy agility, operational efficiency and most importantly, data security that they require to accelerate their digital transformations. Our goal is to help customers benefit from digitization by simplifying IT solutions.”