Organization Split Overview and FAQ

Organization Splits - What, Why, When

Any organization-level administrator with Full privileges can request an organization split. This could be for ease of administration, the transfer of equipment to another branch of the customer's business, the break-up of a managed service provider (MSP), or other use cases where the separation of equipment and licensing may be desirable. Note that no other types of administrator are authorized to request this operation and will not be able to proceed with initiating the organization split process.

The organization split process itself migrates one or more networks and their associated devices to a new, separate organization. This process does not allow for the migration of networks between two existing organizations, but allows for a minimal-downtime shift of configured networks from one organization to another.

It is important to take note of the below section regarding the limitations of the operation and the special considerations of splitting a dashboard organization into different logical entities. For additional information, please see the section in this document titled "What is the impact on device operation during/after an organization split?".

Initiating an Organization Split

Organization-level administrators with Full privileges may initiate an organization split by opening an email case via the Meraki dashboard of the original organization. Navigate to Help > Get help in the top-right of the screen, then select the Still need help? link at the bottom of the page. From there, choose Submit an email case and fill out the form, being sure to include the following information:

• Include "Organization Split Request" in the Subject field
• A listing of the networks to be split into the new organization
• A name for the new organization
• A list of organization administrators to be copied into the new organization - at least one must be copied for the split to occur; all relevant network administrators and network owners will be migrated over automatically, assuming their corresponding network is moved
• A list of licenses to be moved to the new organization - License transfer between organizations must be completed by Meraki Support if both organizations are using the Co-Termination licensing model. 

A response to the request will be returned by Meraki Support within 24 hours, and the specialist handling the case will work with the requester from that point to confirm the request's legitimacy and verify that all the required information is correct prior to the split.

Once plans are solidified, the split will be completed the next available business day. If the org split must be completed at a specific time to account for potential downtime, please call Cisco Meraki Support at the desired time. Org splits cannot be scheduled ahead of time.

What is the impact on device operation during/after an organization split?

During the organization split process, there is minimal downtime while devices are moved with their corresponding networks. This allows the split to take place without any loss of device-specific configuration. Any combined networks will also be split. This does not negatively impact the new organization and the networks can be combined again. Please refer to this article on how to recombine networks. Please note there may be a momentary disruption in operation during the split itself. Requests to have a split done at a specific time will be handled on a best-effort basis, but may not be accommodated. 

What isn't copied between the original and new organizations?

The most impactful portion of an organization split is that under Meraki security policy, we do not copy information into existing organizations. This split operation does NOT move licenses from one organization into another, and cannot be used to move devices from the original organization into an already established organization - only into the new organization(s) created during the split itself.

In addition, by default, the recorded video in Meraki MV smart camera networks will be lost if they are migrated to a new organization. To keep this footage, inform Support that the video needs to be retained for the camera network(s) being migrated to the new organization. Note that no historical data will be transferred for the network(s) being moved; this includes event log and changelog entries for a network and the devices it contains.

Can an organization split be reversed?

No; after the operation is completed, the organizations are considered two distinct logical entities. Both organizations will exist independently of each other and cannot be recombined. At this time, there is no operation to merge two or more organizations into a single entity, even if they have never been split.

What happens if a network is left out of the organization split?

In the event that a network is missed during the organization split, the customer will need to correct it manually. A network in the new organization will have to be created, and the devices will need to be removed and unclaimed from the original organization, then claimed and added to the new network in the new organization.

Details on network creation can be found in the article Creating and Deleting Dashboard Networks. For claiming and unclaiming devices from organizations, please refer to the article Using the Organization Inventory. The process of adding and removing devices from networks can be found in the article Adding and Removing Devices from Dashboard Networks.

How is licensing handled for the organizations after the organization split?

Licensing moves between the original and new organizations must be performed by Meraki Support if the organization is using the co-termination licensing model. Administrators for organizations using the PDL model can move licenses on their own provided that they have Full access in both organizations. Ensure that corresponding licenses for all devices in the networks migrated to the new organization are accounted for.

Note that both organizations will have different license expiration dates under the co-termination model that Meraki employs. For more information about co-termination, please refer to the article The Science Behind Licensing Co-Termination.

Can an organization split be used to split an organization into a new global region?

No. The new organization is created on the same Meraki backend server as the original organization. For regionalization, a new organization would need to be created in the desired global region, as outlined in the article Creating a Dashboard Account and Organization. Note that multiple organizations can be linked together under a single login by using the same username and password when creating a new organization.