BT extends partnership with Cisco Meraki to enhance roadmap for integrated network and IT services

BT announced an extension to its strategic partnership with Cisco Meraki to bring its business connectivity products together with Cisco Meraki’s leading cloud-based IT solutions. The extension of the relationship will see BT launch simple, integrated solutions for UK businesses and the public sector as a BT managed service. These will combine business-grade connectivity with security features and the option to add Wi-Fi, LAN and IP Voice services.

The tie-up with Meraki is the latest development in BT’s Dynamic Network Services programme, designed to give customers more choice, security, resilience, and agility in the roll-out of future networks that support their digital transformation. The new managed service will help business customers create digital workplaces which boost productivity by transforming the way employees work.

In the near future, BT will extend the new managed service across its full range of business connectivity products. This means the bundled solutions will benefit UK SME customers with single site offices, while also scaling up to meet the needs of larger multi-site, enterprise and public sector customers.

By bundling their network and IT services together, and moving them into the cloud, UK businesses can reduce their operational costs, simplify their infrastructure and easily flex their services to meet the changing needs of their organisation. Businesses benefit from having one contract and one bill, delivered as a fully managed service, with the customer also having access to an online management tool to configure some services themselves should they choose to.

Richard Oliver, General Manager, IT & Managed Services, BT Enterprise, said: “We recognise that businesses are looking to simplify their network and IT infrastructure to remove costs and complexity. By bringing our business connectivity range of products together with Cisco Meraki we are delivering bundled solutions which respond to this challenge and create a differentiated experience for our customers.

“Announcing this partnership, which allows us to combine network access with embedded security, voice and Wi-Fi, is a really important shift away from launching standalone products. Instead, we’re focusing on delivering integrated solutions to deliver intelligent connectivity, which brings with it a superior customer experience.”

Todd Nightingale, senior vice president & general manager, Meraki, Cisco, said: “BT and Meraki partnering is great news for our joint customers. Meraki’s vision has always been to ‘Simplify IT’, and the fact that we can now bring together BT’s secure networks with Meraki’s easy-to-deploy IT solutions in a combined service for customers is a great step forward for both organisations. This is just the beginning of a dynamic partnership to build integrated solutions with customer experience at the heart of our thinking.”

About BT

BT’s purpose is to use the power of communications to make a better world. It is one of the world’s leading providers of communications services and solutions, serving customers in 180 countries. Its principal activities include the provision of networked IT services globally; local, national and international telecommunications services to its customers for use at home, at work and on the move; broadband, TV and internet products and services; and converged fixed-mobile products and services. BT consists of four customer-facing units: Consumer, Enterprise, Global Services and Openreach.

For the year ended 31 March 2018, BT Group’s reported revenue was £23,723m with reported profit before taxation of £2,616m.

British Telecommunications plc (BT) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of BT Group plc and encompasses virtually all businesses and assets of the BT Group. BT Group plc is listed on stock exchanges in London and New York.

For more information, visit www.btplc.com