Cisco intensified the secure branch battle today. During Cisco Live 2025, the company's annual customer conference, it unveiled three new branch-focused elements: Secure Routers, Secure Firewalls, and the Mesh Policy Engine within Cisco Security Cloud Control. Rival vendors already consolidate routing and security in fewer product lines, so Cisco's strategy warrants close review. This post explains what Cisco shipped, what competitive forces it faces, and why its three-product play emerged.