Workflows for Cisco Networking Data Sheet
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Workflows for Cisco Networking easily automates manual and time-consuming tasks across Cisco and third-party applications through a simple drag-and-drop user interface natively located within the Meraki dashboard.
Workflows is cloud-hosted automation functionality integrated into the Cisco Meraki™ dashboard. It empowers Cisco customers with cross-domain integrations, enabling the seamless automation of deployments or repetitive and error-prone tasks across both Cisco® and third-party applications. Even though Workflows is hosted in the Meraki Dashboard, it can be used to easily automate tasks across the Cisco networking domains, including Catalyst Center, SD-WAN, ISE, and many third-party systems.
Customers can easily integrate and automate processes across cloud and on-premises environments with Workflows’ remote connectivity. Workflows also includes human interaction, allowing multistep approvals and customized scheduling as part of workflow executions. This helps ensure that no changes can happen in the network unless there is a clear and accountable audit trail.
Workflows helps network operations teams by simplifying their tasks with validated automations for common scenarios that might otherwise be time-consuming and difficult to manage. Customers can choose from premade automations that are Cisco validated or create customized automations to fit the exact needs of their business. Workflows improves time-to-value and offers a Cisco branded automation solution for enterprise customers and partners, prioritizing an AI-driven approach. Workflow automations can be run manually, via API, on a schedule, or triggered by a webhook or the Cisco AI Assistant.
Through a natural language conversation with the AI assistant, a workflow user can be guided in selecting and running a deterministic workflow that has been tested and validated for your network environment.
Some example use cases include:
● Performing automated network audits on a fixed schedule.
● Automatically triggering diagnostic workflows using webhooks associated with network alerts.
● Programatically deploying new sites without human data entry errors.
● Automating the lifecycle replacement of devices by using workflows to automatically copy configurations.
● Automating network configuration tasks for users without providing them full network administrator privileges
Table 1. Features and benefits
| Feature |
Benefit |
| SaaS platform |
Continuous-delivery, software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform with single sign-on (SSO) support. |
| Freemium model |
Out-of-the-box Exchange offerings that are free to use for Cisco customers, along with general automation capabilities. Value-added innovation from Cisco- access to Workflows is included with an active license to any Cisco network management console. |
| Exchange |
Out-of-the-box Cisco validated offerings published to all users, providing quicker time to value. Run these as is, or easily modify them for your custom use case. |
| Workspace for collaboration and management |
Customer-specific area that allows for workflows to be customized, lifecycled, and governed by users in a collaborative manner. |
| Workflow Editor |
A modern low/no-code workflow designer that enables users to easily create or modify workflows by dragging and dropping activities onto the canvas from the palette. |
| Interactive workflows |
A user-friendly interface for interacting with customizable approvals or prompts, indicating what human input is needed before the workflow proceeds. |
| Run monitoring |
Visibility into completed or active workflows, what data inputs were provided, and detailed workflow activity status. View the full audit history of who ran the workflow and when. |
| Target management |
Ability to onboard, manage, and monitor controllers and systems to connect and use their API support via the adapter actions available in the palette. |
| System and user audit logging |
Robust and detailed audit logging to track system events, user access, and their actions performed in the user interface or via APIs. |
| Secure connectivity to customer-managed devices |
Secure, bidirectional mechanism to communicate with controllers and systems on a customer’s premises or in their private cloud. |
| Cisco API-first guidelines, northbound APIs |
Well-defined, productized, and backward-compatible APIs that adhere to the Cisco API-first best practices and guidelines. |
Prebuilt workflows
The Exchange provides prebuilt, Cisco validated workflows. Customers can choose from a catalog of globally published workflows that are continuously updated and released, including partner and community-sourced content.
Modified and custom automation
Users have the option to modify a workflow provided by Cisco to fit the needs of their specific use case. This could mean adding additional steps to the workflow run, restructuring the order of events with additional changes, or including approvals. Workflows are selected from the Exchange and then added to the workspace, where they can easily be modified.
Workflows supports a mixed environment where premade, modified, and custom automations can be built, executed, and immediately observed.
Adapter support
Workflows offers robust automation and orchestration capabilities through seamless integration with the Cisco portfolio and third-party systems using adapter technology. An adapter encompasses a suite of functionalities that facilitate the execution of API requests against remote targets accessible from the system. Adapters support activities, which are defined as sequences of API requests designed to produce specific outcomes within a workflow.
A fundamental component of the supported adapters is the connectivity framework, enabling the templating of properties to accommodate target parameters (e.g., API key, IP address). If a specific adapter is unavailable in the system, users have the flexibility to create tasks using the generic HTTP Request activity and leverage defined properties for subsequent API interactions or as task output values.
Workflows supports a wide range of Cisco and third-party applications. Once you’ve created an account and can access Workflows, be sure to review the available integrations in the Workflow Editor palette.
Information about Cisco’s Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) initiatives and performance is provided in Cisco’s CSR and sustainability reporting
Table 2. Links to product sustainability information
| Reference |
||
| General |
Information on product-material-content laws and regulations |
|
| Information on electronic waste laws and regulations, including our products, batteries and packaging |
||
| Information on product takeback and reuse program |
||
| Sustainability Inquiries |
Contact: csr_inquiries@cisco.com |
|
| Material |
Product packaging weight and materials |
Contact: environment@cisco.com |
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Instantly get access to Workflows for Cisco Networking through the Meraki dashboard and start automating today.
● Get started: Dashboard login
● Visit the Workflows community to get additional training, samples and support.
● Visit https://documentation.meraki.com/Workflows for more information