Case Study: SternPartner GmbH & Co. KG achieves unified network visibility and reduced management overhead with Cisco Meraki

Unifying network visibility to reduce management overhead and eliminate complexity

SternPartner GmbH & Co. KG, a distributed German dealership and automotive service center group with 14 locations serving tens of thousands of customers annually, needed a simple, cost‑effective network that could support employee and guest access across remote sites. Their prior on‑premises solution was powerful but hard to operate at scale, required wireless controllers, and forced IT staff to travel for troubleshooting. SternPartner selected Cisco Meraki (MR wireless, MS switching, MX security/SD‑WAN) to simplify management and improve visibility.

Cisco Meraki deployed a compact stack at each site (an 8‑port PoE MS switch, an MX60 security appliance and 1–2 MR access points), managed centrally via the Meraki dashboard with device tagging, group policies, per‑port power control, and a Twilio/Facebook guest portal. The unified Cisco Meraki solution cut management overhead and eliminated complexity—allowing a single IT team to proactively troubleshoot remotely, speed employee workflows on iPads/iPhones, improve guest experience and engagement, and enable plans to migrate traffic to site‑to‑site VPNs with an expected ~80% savings vs. MPLS.

SternPartner GmbH & Co. KG

Uwe Fabian

IT Director