News of Note—Cisco refreshes Meraki; Huawei, ZTE face Japanese ban

Here are the other stories we're following today:

> Cisco Meraki announced the newest generation of its SD-WAN and security appliance portfolio, which included new MX security and SD-WAN appliances. Release

> Japan is reportedly taking a look at blocking Chinese vendors Huawei and ZTE from bidding on public contracts for building information systems. Gbdtimes article

> According to a new report published by PwC, 84% of executives surveyed said their companies are "actively involved" with blockchain technology. CNBC article

> India-based Lavelle Networks announced the availability of its CloudPort SD-WAN software appliance for use in native Windows environments. Release