CEO Sanjit Biswas talks about founding and developing Meraki

Meraki’s journey began at MIT with a project called MIT RoofNet, which aimed to create a rooftop network covering Cambridge, MA. The project was led by Sanjit Biswas and John Dickett, who were PhD students at the time. They built the network from the ground up, including the radio chipsets, firmware, management, and routing protocols. The network, which eventually covered six square miles with 150 nodes, faced numerous challenges such as self-configuration, mesh routing, and dealing with adverse weather conditions. These experiences laid the foundation for Meraki’s future products and solutions.

The transition from an academic project to a commercial enterprise happened somewhat serendipitously. After presenting their research at Google, Biswas was approached by an enthusiastic individual who wanted to purchase $1,000 worth of their routers, even though the product was still in its conceptual stage. This unexpected interest led to the founding of Meraki in 2006. The company initially focused on wireless networking, releasing products that supported various standards like 11N. Over time, Meraki expanded its product line to include branch routing, security appliances, and most recently, gigabit switches. This comprehensive suite of networking products allowed Meraki to serve a wide range of customers, from small businesses to large enterprises.

Meraki’s cloud-based architecture is a key differentiator, enabling scalable and easy-to-manage networks. The architecture allows for real-time management data to be sent to Meraki’s data centers while keeping the actual network traffic local. This design ensures high availability and reliability, even if a local connection is lost. The cloud management system, known as the dashboard, provides network-wide visibility and control, making it easy to deploy and manage large networks. Meraki’s focus on customer experience is evident in their continuous feature updates, usability tests, and robust support system. This customer-centric approach has contributed to Meraki’s rapid growth and success in the networking industry.