Vodafone Idea adds Cisco Meraki to its managed hybrid SD-WAN service

Vi Business, the enterprise arm of Vodafone Idea, is partnering with Cisco Meraki to make its hybrid SD-WAN service simpler for customers to run, Developing Telecoms reports. The partnership was announced on Thursday.

Vi Business launched the hybrid SD-WAN offering in 2023. It is sold as an end-to-end managed service that lets enterprises modernise and consolidate their wide area networks across leased lines, broadband and cellular connections.

Adding Meraki gives customers one dashboard for managing the SD-WAN. According to the report, it covers application-aware and performance-aware routing and security, and includes built-in Wi-Fi and cellular connectivity.

M P Sunil Kumar, chief enterprise business officer at Vodafone Idea, said enterprise customers get a fully managed service with a single point of contact, proactive monitoring and lifecycle management, backed by the operator's nationwide network. He said the integration lets enterprises "centrally manage distributed networks while radically simplifying operations."

Ashok Shivashankar, who leads Cisco's partner organisation for India and South Asia, said enterprise networks need to be intelligent, secure and built for constant change as companies adopt AI, and that the joint offering is meant to help customers modernise with greater agility and operational efficiency.