Cisco Meraki Fundamentals

Are you ready to challenge the ways you have always approached networking? The IT world has undergone a transformation, and fast solutions just aren’t fast enough anymore. A platform-based approach with automated processing of data is no longer a dream of the future--it’s a requirement of the present.

In Cisco Meraki Fundamentals, you will learn how to ＂think＂ platform: end-to-end control, management, and visibility of operations, all with less complexity. As you embrace this thinking, the possibilities for producing optimized solutions to problems now and in the future become constraints merely of your imagination.

Cisco Meraki Fundamentals provides everything you need to get started forging a platform-centric journey. From the basics of cloud architecture and building the Dashboard, through automation, best practices, and a look at the Meraki admin experience, Cisco Meraki Fundamentals provides a powerful foundation from which to forge a digital operation for the future.

• Learn the origins of the Cisco Meraki cloud-managed platform, from founding concept through philosophy and goals
• Learn to manage data that emerges from day-to-day operations and how to get to outcomes more quickly
• Understand the differences between cloud-managed Meraki networks and more traditional networks
• Get to know the basics of administering a network with the Meraki Dashboard
• See examples of Meraki-specific best practices, as well as how to integrate and automate with non-Meraki tools and services
• See an overview of how the cloud platform assists in identifying and troubleshooting potential issues more easily
• Look in on a day in the life of a Meraki-based platform administrator, including use cases for the Meraki cloud platform

Arun Paul serves as a technical solutions architect at Cisco Meraki, focusing on supporting public sector - SLED customers in the Midwest states. With more than a decade of experience in the technology industry, Arun has held diverse roles ranging from engineering to technical sales.

Arun’s tech journey began as a software engineer at the Cisco Catalyst 6500 BU, where he played a pivotal role as a point of contact for Catalyst design recommendations and escalations. Arun showcased his innovative spirit by proposing Cisco innovation ideas and process improvements.

Beyond corporate roles, Arun co-founded a security consulting and training business, gaining valuable entrepreneurial experience. This venture provided insights into customer challenges in the modern technology landscape. Arun holds an MS in Information Security from George Mason University, graduating with a Distinguished Achievement Award.

Arun has consistently demonstrated dedication to excellence, innovation, and customer success throughout his career, earning accolades and awards for his noteworthy contributions to the field.

Mike Woolley is a support product specialist at Cisco Meraki with more than eight years of experience dedicated to supporting Meraki products and solutions. Starting in 2016 after receiving a BT in Network Administration from Alfred State College, Mike began as an intern within Meraki Support in San Francisco and rose through to the highest tiers of the technical support structure. Through this experience Mike has worked directly with customers and deployments of all types and sizes. From independent small businesses to massive international corporations, Mike has developed a tried-and-true approach to working with Cisco Meraki solutions based on these experiences. During this time Mike has also written and contributed to core pieces of Meraki documentation and has since become a leading source of knowledge within his specialization of Meraki’s cellular-enabled product lines.

Mike currently lives in western New York with his wife Sara and their dog Noki and enjoys occasional outdoor activities like dirt biking and snowmobiling when not helping on the family farm or playing tabletop games.

Medi Jaafari has more than two decades of industry experience in roles ranging from advanced engineering architectures to director of engineering for a startup ISP colocation specializing in LAN/WAN transport, IoT, SDWAN, SASE, ZTNA, XDR, and observability for multinational, multitenant environments. Medi was an early participant in SDN networking developments working with key tier-one U.S.-based universities while at Cisco and is currently a technical solutions architect for the Cisco Meraki business unit, with more than five years of experience working closely on product design with a focus on SW features, UI, and AI design.

Jeffry Handal is a principal solutions engineer at Cisco. He completed his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in electrical engineering at Louisiana State University (LSU) and has more than 18 years of experience in the area of information communication technology, with special interest in IPv6, cybersecurity, big data, and experimental networks. Before joining Cisco, Jeffry was a very active customer, always pushing the envelope designing and maintaining networks with new technologies, testing new protocols, and providing Cisco and others a large-scale testbed for new products, features, and functionality. Currently, he plays an active role in several Cisco groups (e.g., TACops, IPv6 Ambassadors, Security Technical Advisory Group, Meraki).

Outside of work, Jeffry is an active volunteer in organizations ranging from search and rescue operations with the Air Force to humanitarian technology groups such as NetHope. He sits on several boards within IEEE, actively promotes IPv6 adoption via different task forces, volunteers to teach networking classes in third-world countries, and promotes STEM for women and minorities. In addition, Jeffry serves the public through his participation in conferences and standards bodies (IETF, IEEE); speaking at local and international events (Internet2, CANS, IPv6 Summits, AI/ML Symposiums, IEEE events, WALC, Cisco Live); contributing to and reviewing publications; and appearing as a guest in podcasts like IPv6 Buzz and Meraki Unboxed. He is a big promoter of technological change for the betterment of humanity.