Imagine a regional organization is opening new locations this quarter - switches and access points are being installed, point-of-sale systems are coming online, employees are onboarding, IoT devices are connecting across every site.  The network is going to be live within days.

But identity-based access control? That traditionally requires appliances, high-availability design, weeks of tuning, and specialized NAC expertise.

For lean IT teams, that simply isn't practical. So, security is often deferred, static VLANs remain, shared credentials persist. This is the reality for many retail stores onboarding seasonal workers, schools supporting thousands of student devices, or hospitality environments rotating guests daily.

Network Access Control (NAC) has remained out of reach, not because security isn't important, but because the cost, complexity, and deployment risk have outweighed the perceived benefit.

Cisco Access Manager was built to remove that tradeoff.

It brings Cisco's proven identity and segmentation principles into a form factor purpose-built for Meraki-managed networks-delivering identity-based access control without enterprise-level operational burden.

Identity at the Heart of Every Connection

Unlike solutions that claim, "cloud NAC", Cisco Access Manager isn't a traditional NAC appliance moved to the cloud. It delivers identity-based access control as a cloud-native SaaS solution built directly into the Meraki Dashboard.

Every employee, guest, BYOD, or IoT, across wired or wireless networks, is authenticated and authorized based on who or what it is, not where it connects from. This is zero trust access control-made operationally practical.

1. Identity is Fused into the Network: Unlike bolt-on NAC solutions, Access Manager is natively integrated into the Meraki Dashboard. There is no separate policy engine, no separate management plane, and no separate infrastructure to size, deploy, or maintain.

2. Enterprise Security without Enterprise Overhead: Access Manager delivers core capabilities-authentication, authorization, and identity-based segmentation-without requiring dedicated NAC specialists, HA clusters, or lengthy rollout cycles.

3. Designed for Speed and Scale: Customers can enable Access Manager in minutes and apply policies consistently across all Meraki switches and access points, whether managing 10 sites or 1,000.

Security That Works in the Real World

Access Manager unlocks identity-based access control for environments where traditional NAC has historically been out of reach:

• Retail and hospitality organizations with distributed sites
• SMBs and mid-sized enterprises with lean IT teams
• K-12 and higher education environments
• Campus/Branch organizations standardized on Cisco Meraki Cloud Managed Switching and Wireless

Access Manager complements Cisco's broader access control portfolio by delivering enterprise-grade identity outcomes in a form factor that downstream customers can deploy confidently and operate hassle free day to day.

Easy Deployment That You Can Trust

Access Manager is activated directly from the Meraki Dashboard. Authentication traffic is securely handled via existing cloud-based tunnels between Meraki Dashboard and Meraki managed devices-no appliances to rack, no external RADIUS servers to maintain, no firewall rule modifications required.

It supports multiple authentication methods, including:

• 802.1X (EAP-TLS and EAP-TTLS)
• Identity PSK (iPSK) for wireless devices
• MAC-based authentication for IoT and legacy endpoints

Policies can map dynamically to identity attributes from Microsoft Entra ID, allowing access to change automatically as users move roles, departments, or leave the organization.

Because it is SaaS-delivered, customers continuously benefit from innovation-without upgrades, downtime, or disruptive projects. This aligns with the reality of downstream IT teams: limited staff, limited time, and zero tolerance for disruption.

Outcomes That Matter

Cisco Access Manager delivers outcomes that resonate with both technical practitioners and business decision makers:

• Reduced security risk through identity-based authentication and segmentation
• Lower total cost of ownership by eliminating NAC infrastructure
• Faster time to value, with production-ready deployments in days-not quarters
• Operational confidence, minimizing fear of outages during rollout
• Scalable foundation for zero trust, without architectural rework

This is identity-based access control built in ways that matter commercially and operationally.

See. Try. Buy. Experience It for Yourself

Cisco Access Manager is licensed as a subscription, aligned with Cisco's SaaS model. Licensing is straightforward, predictable, and easy to scale. For a limited time Cisco Access Manager is available through a See, Try, Buy offer designed to eliminate adoption risk.

• See how identity-based access is enforced natively in Meraki
• Try it in your own environment with real users and devices
• Buy seamlessly when ready with additional discounts -no reconfiguration required

If you can deploy it in minutes and validate value before committing, why wait?

Zero Trust, Without Compromise

For years, organizations have had to choose between strong access control and operational simplicity.

Cisco Access Manager eliminates that compromise.

By fusing identity into the network and delivering SaaS-native simplicity through the Meraki Dashboard, Access Manager enables retail, hospitality, SMB, education, and distributed organizations to adopt zero trust-on their terms.

Zero trust is no longer reserved for large enterprises with dedicated NAC teams. Now, identity is simply built into your network.

See it. Try it. Buy it. Secure your network today-without appliances, without complexity, and without compromise.

We'd love to hear what you think! Ask a question and stay connected with Cisco Security on social media.

Cisco Security Social Media

LinkedIn
Facebook
Instagram