Connect. Secure. Manage.
Catalyst SD-WAN Site Onboarding
Bring branch routers into Catalyst SD-WAN through controlled device onboarding, configuration assignment and site-specific acceptance tests.
Devices supported
across the UK
Client locations
supported
Traffic handled
at peak time
Average
response time
Average response is not a resolution time or a contractual guarantee. Support scope and response commitments are agreed for each engagement.
Catalyst SD-WAN site onboarding brings a branch or other location into an existing Cisco SD-WAN environment with the correct identity, configuration and routing role. Registering an edge is only one milestone. MCI Network Services coordinates the preparation, activation and validation needed to make the site's business services work, while keeping local differences and recovery requirements visible throughout the rollout.
The whole path
Understand how sites, providers, cloud networks and security controls fit together.
Resilience that can be tested
Separate a second circuit from genuine end-to-end service resilience.
Provider coordination
Keep addressing, routing and escalation ownership clear across organisations.
Confirm the site-specific prerequisites
We collect the circuit details, addressing, equipment inventory and the applications the site must reach. Provider handoff information needs to include the practical requirements for establishing connectivity, not only an order number and headline bandwidth. We also confirm local power, cabling and the person available to assist if remote onboarding cannot complete.
The site record identifies existing gateways, firewalls and local services that will be affected. A branch may host printers, voice systems or a specialist application even when it appears small in the WAN inventory. Those dependencies influence the cutover and should not be discovered only after the old router has been disconnected.
Standards & partnerships
Confidence in the team behind your network.
Cisco Partner
Cisco Meraki
Cyber Essentials
Cyber Essentials PlusMCI Network Services is operated by Proxar Ltd. Certifications apply to the certified legal entity and the scope of its certificates. View accreditation information
Prepare device identity and software
The edge must be supported and authorised for the intended deployment. We verify the hardware, software, licences and device records required by the customer's control environment. Certificates and identity information are checked through the approved workflow rather than manually improvised during the installation window.
Software alignment is considered before shipping or site work. A device arriving with an unsuitable release can add delay and risk, particularly where the branch has limited connectivity. Where staging is included, we prepare the equipment and record its baseline so the on-site engineer knows what should already be present.
A useful starting point
Not sure where to start?
Bring the requirement. We will help you define the engineering work.
Apply the right site configuration
A shared configuration model should separate common policy from site-specific values. We confirm interface assignments, transport details, local networks and the intended segment membership before attaching the configuration. A template suitable for one branch can be damaging at another if address or port variables are copied without review.
We also identify exceptions that have been approved for this location. They may concern a provider handoff, local application or security requirement. Exceptions are recorded in the site register and configuration ownership model, not hidden as undocumented manual changes that a later central update could overwrite.
Different environments. The same care.
Built around the work
your network supports.
Finance, banking and the wider private sector. We start with the systems and people that depend on your connections.
Finance & banking
Market-data paths, routing and provider coordination on clients’ behalf.
Financial-market services ↗Offices & multi-site teams
Reliable access between people, workplaces and business applications.
Office network design ↗Data centres & cloud
Network boundaries, workload connections and operational ownership.
Data centre networks ↗Establish control connectivity before traffic cutover
The onboarding sequence verifies the required connectivity to the platform's management, control and orchestration services. We check device state, trust and the expected control relationships. A failure at this stage is investigated from transport, DNS, time and certificate evidence rather than addressed by removing safeguards indiscriminately.
Only after the edge has the intended control state do we move to service-side routing and production traffic. Separating those steps makes it easier to stop safely if a prerequisite is missing. The old service remains available for as long as the agreed migration plan requires, with a clear decision point for reversal.
Validate the branch's actual applications
We test representative user workflows from the site, including internal applications, internet services and any local dependencies. Expected routes and segment permissions are checked alongside the application result. A successful ping from the edge is not sufficient evidence that a user device receives the correct DNS response or can complete authentication.
The validation also covers traffic that should not be permitted. Guest or restricted segments need to retain their intended boundaries after joining the overlay. Where the site uses multiple transports, we examine path selection and the effect of an agreed failure scenario rather than assuming both circuits are carrying traffic correctly because they are physically connected.
Test recovery and record local limitations
Onboarding should leave the site supportable when a link or device fails. We confirm how engineers regain access, which local contacts can assist and what spare or replacement arrangements are included. A remote-only support model needs realistic treatment of faults that remove the remote management path itself.
Not every failure can be tested safely during a short installation window. The acceptance record distinguishes completed tests from deferred work and identifies any operational limitation the customer has accepted. A temporary workaround receives an owner and a review point rather than silently becoming the permanent branch design.
Close the site before moving to the next one
The final site record includes equipment identity, configuration assignment, addressing, provider contacts, test results and outstanding actions. Monitoring should identify the site's important conditions and route them to the responsible team. This prevents a rollout from leaving many apparently completed branches with unresolved local exceptions.
MCI can onboard individual locations or deliver a staged multi-site programme using an approved Catalyst SD-WAN architecture. Provide the site list, transport readiness and cutover constraints. We can establish a repeatable process that saves time without treating every location as identical or counting registration alone as a finished deployment.
Technical references
- Catalyst SD-WAN system overview — Cisco / Cisco Meraki
- Catalyst SD-WAN configuration groups — Cisco / Cisco Meraki
Talk to a specialist
What does your network need next?
Tell us what you are planning, changing or trying to improve. We will help define a practical next step and the engineering scope.
+44 203 196 6566Choose option 1
sales@proxar.co.ukUK-wide service.
Most of our engineers are based in Kent, with a focus on London, Sussex, Essex and Berkshire.
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