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An Advanced Service for Managing Cisco Meraki Organization Splits and Merges

  • Blog
  • The Boundless Crew

Restructuring a Cisco Meraki organizational structure is a complex, yet critical process that companies face during periods of change. These processes can result from mergers and acquisitions, divestitures, or simply the need to optimize network architectures for a more seamless management.

Effective organization migrations require careful planning, precise execution, and often, external expertise to minimize risks and ensure business continuity. Without the right support, these processes can lead to extended downtime, significant operational risks, and increased costs.

This article provides an in-depth look into the complexities of splits and merges, and outlines how the Boundless tailored services and automation solutions can help businesses restructure their Cisco Meraki organizations more efficiently and reliably.

Table of Contents

Understanding Meraki organization splits

When Do Organization Splits Happen?

Organization splits typically occur during company divestitures or when restructuring networks to improve manageability. For example, a large corporation divesting a business unit might need to create a new organization to support the standalone entity. In such cases, existing devices and networks must be transferred to the new organization, while ensuring minimal disruption to operations. Organization splits is the safest, more reliable way of moving Cisco Meraki networks and devices into a new organization.

The Challenges of Splitting a Cisco Meraki Organization​

While organization splits are typically a seamless process managed by the Meraki team, they can involve significant technical challenges depending on the infrastructure configurations. Key complexities include:
  • Template management: Meraki configuration templates, which define key configurations, do not automatically transfer during an organization split. This requires manual recreating them in the new organization, and binding them to selected networks. This process not only is time-consuming, but also can be prone to human error.
  • Handling VLANs and VPNs: VLANs in templated networks and complex VPN configurations often need to be manually adjusted, adding to the workload and increasing the risk of mistakes.
  • Custom configurations: Also related to templated networks, when custom settings are implemented on top of the template configurations, these will also be completely overridden during the split process.
  • Downtime risks: Manual configurations and the need to restore settings increase network downtime, impacting business operations.

Our solution: Boundless Migration for Splits

To mitigate these challenges, Boundless offers a comprehensive service that ensures a structured and efficient split process. This includes:

1. Split assessment

A detailed evaluation of the existing organization is conducted to determine if the organization is easily splittable through Cisco Meraki support. This assessment identifies potential complex elements that might require manual intervention, such as templates, VLANs, AutoVPN hubs and spokes, and custom settings. By understanding these pain points upfront, we can plan for smoother, automated network and device migrations, and reconfiguration processes.

2. Preparatory work

  • Backup creation: A backup of the organization’s current configuration state is created to serve as a safety net, ensuring that if anything goes wrong during the split, data can be restored quickly. The backup is created through the Meraki API, hence covering configurations for which an API endpoint is available.
  • Preparation of restore files: Restore files are prepared to reconfigure settings that won’t automatically carry over during the split. This preparation is crucial to minimize manual efforts and reduce downtime.
  • Coordination with operative teams: We work closely with Cisco Meraki and with your operational team to manage the split and migration process effectively, ensuring clear communication and meticulous execution.

3. Automated restoration

Using the Meraki API, we automate the restoration of critical files and settings that cannot be transferred automatically. This significantly reduces manual work, minimizes errors, and accelerates the restructure of the network infrastructure.

If during split assessment we do not identify any potential complexities that require our support and intervention, we typically recommend to run the intervention with Cisco Meraki support.
cisco meraki migrations - organization split process

Benefits of Using Boundless Migration to Split your Cisco Meraki Organization​

  • Reduced downtime: Our automated processes and thorough planning minimize service interruptions.
  • Enhanced security: Backups and restore files provide a safety net, safeguarding your data.
  • Expert support: Our professional guidance ensures complex reconfigurations are managed correctly, reducing the risk of errors and long processes.

Understanding Meraki organization mergers

When Do Meraki Organization Mergers Happen?

Merges are typically necessary during corporate mergers, acquisitions, or when reorganizing networks to streamline operations. For example, when two companies merge, their distinct network infrastructures must be integrated into a single, cohesive entity. This process requires careful alignment of settings, device configurations, and network policies.

The Complexities of Merging Cisco Meraki Organizations​

Merging different Cisco Meraki organizations can be technically demanding due to multiple factors:

  • A destructive operation: Migrating networks is inherently a destructive operation—meaning the existing network must be completely deleted and rebuilt configuration by configuration in the new organization. Each network component, from VLAN settings to security policies, has to be reconfigured manually or through automation in the target organization.
  • Conflicting configurations: Differences in organization settings between the merging entities can cause conflicts that need resolution before the migration can proceed.
  • Manual configuration backups: The process often involves manually copying configurations into spreadsheets or note-taking tools, which is time-consuming and increases the risk of errors.
  • Provisioning challenges: Reconfiguring networks and devices manually during the merge leads to operational delays and potential configuration errors, impacting network performance and stability.
  • Network downtime: During the network rebuild phase, the affected network will be down, impacting connectivity and causing service interruptions. This downtime can vary in length depending on the complexity of the configurations being rebuilt and the efficiency of the rebuild process.

Our solution: Boundless Migration for Mergers

Boundless Migration for Cisco Meraki organizations address these complexities of mergers through a structured approach that focuses on conflict resolution, preparation, and automation.

1. Merge assessment

We conduct a thorough review of both organizations to identify conflicting settings, such as differing IP schemes, security policies, and device configurations. This assessment allows us to plan a smooth transition by preemptively resolving potential issues.

2. Preparatory work

  • Create backup: Using the Meraki Dashboard API, we create a backup of your current organization, network and device configurations to protect against data loss during the migration.
  • Configuration restore files: Restore files are prepared to redeploy network and device configurations seamlessly in the target organization.
  • Restoration simulation: We simulate the restoration of organization, network, templates and device configurations to ensure they function correctly in the new environment.
  • Automated copy and restore: Networks and configurations are copied and restored using advanced automation powered by the Meraki API, minimizing manual work and accelerating the process.

3. Staging and Migration Execution

  • Staging phase: Networks are copied and configurations deployed within the target organization. This phase acts as a sandbox to validate the setup before the actual migration.
  • Migration day: Devices are moved and configurations are automatically applied, reducing the time needed for manual reconfiguration.

Currently, moving and reconfiguring devices with our automated solution takes about 30 minutes per device. However, we are expecting an upgrade from Cisco that will allow us to reduce this time to less than 5 minutes.
cisco meraki migrations - organization merger process

Benefits of Using Boundless Migration to Merge your Cisco Meraki Organizations​

  • Accelerated Integration: Automation significantly reduces the time required to move and reconfigure networks and devices.
  • Reduced Errors: Automated reconfiguration processes minimize manual errors, enhancing overall network stability.
  • Operational Continuity: Our approach ensures minimal disruption to business operations, maintaining high availability during the restructure process.

An overview of the Boundless Migration service for splitting and merging Meraki organizations

Boundless Migration offers distinctive approaches to successfully run the split or merger of Cisco Meraki organizations.

  • Our organization split services when divesting a region or business unit, or simplifying complex network management by dividing a single organization into creating standalone entities.
  • Our organization merge services when consolidating networks under one organization following a merger or acquisition, or to unify operations.

Aspect
Organization Splits
Organization Mergers
Definition
Separation of networks and devices within an existing organization into a new organization.
Integration of networks and devices from separate organizations under one existing entity.
Typical Scenarios
Divestitures, simplification of network management.
Mergers, acquisitions, and network consolidations.
Key Complexities
Manual recreation of templates, VLAN, or VPN management, amongst others.
Conflicting configurations, manual, reconfigurations, device provisioning, etc.
Services Provided
Split assessment, backup creation, restore files, automation.
Merge assessment, conflict resolution, backups, restore automation.
Process Overview
Assessment, preparation, reconfiguration with automation.
Assessment, preparation, staging, migration and reconfiguration with automated setup.
Timelines
Varies by complexity; automated steps reduce overall downtime.
From staging to execution, automation accelerates timelines.
Benefits
Reduced errors, minimized downtime.
Faster migrations, reduced manual labor, minimized disruptions, enhanced reliability.
Our automation services are powered by the Meraki API. Hence, they cover any configuration for which an API endpoint is available. For more information, contact us.

Streamline your next Cisco Meraki organization restructure

Whether your organization requires to be split or a merged, our team is equipped with the expertise and the automation tools to handle the complexities with precision and efficiency.
Contact us today to learn more about how our tailored services can support your organization restructuring needs, mitigate risks, and ensure a seamless migration for your network infrastructure.

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