Leader: Cisco

Cisco Systems, a leader once again in the wired and wireless LAN Magic Quadrant, comes to the market with both its Catalyst and Meraki portfolios of access wired switching, WLAN products, network applications and services. A historically strong player with global reach, Cisco’s product lines offers campus infrastructure with multivendor integration and analytic insights with open, programmable APIs, and the vendor is continuously investing in new chips and operating system developments.

However, Cisco’s two separate product lines – Catalyst and Meraki – that address campus connectivity requirements, including wireless access points, are not interchangeable. The vendor was also found to have inconsistent pricing strategies across its two portfolios, which could create confusion.