Aruba Delivers Mobile-First Networking Portfolio to Accelerate the Move to the Digital Workplace

SINGAPORE – March 9, 2016 – Aruba, a Hewlett Packard Enterprise company (NYSE: HPE), today announced a new suite of integrated networking software and hardware solutions that enable enterprises to address the digital workplace requirements of GenMobile, today’s mobile-savvy workforce, and the escalating connectivity demands of Internet of Things (IoT) devices. The new portfolio enables IT teams to anticipate and resolve connectivity problems, and create secure policies to build digital workplaces that are optimized to boost employee productivity.

Legacy networking models were built on the concept of static, wired desktop clients communicating with a pool of internal servers, an approach that is outdated in today’s business environment. The proliferation of mobile and IoT devices, as well as cloud-based apps, has caused enterprises to rethink traditional connectivity and mobility requirements to accommodate new workplace behavior, where collaboration and non-routine schedules have become the new normal. As a result, organizations must adjust their approach to implementing employee-centric services to attract and retain top talent.

Aruba’s new set of networking solutions and software-powered approach advance its offering beyond fixed, hardware-focused networking solutions. The new, integrated wired and wireless portfolio, combined with innovations in network management and security, allow IT organizations to design and augment their networks for the digital workplace.

With massive volumes of devices connecting to the network, IT teams require detailed visibility into the access layer — at the user, device, and app level — to keep productivity high and ensure business continuity. Aruba Clarity, a new software module for Aruba AirWave network management, delivers powerful and intuitive forensics so that IT teams can anticipate and quickly resolve connectivity problems before the user is affected, rather than troubleshooting after the fact. With Aruba Clarity, AirWave can monitor a broad set of metrics proactively such as the time it takes for a mobile device to associate with a Wi-Fi radio, authenticate to a RADIUS server, obtain an IP address through DHCP, and resolve names for DNS services. Clarity allows network operations teams to gather this information not only as Wi-Fi clients connect and roam, but also with on-demand or scheduled client simulation tests running between Aruba access points (APs).

Additionally, the new AirWave 8.2 release gives IT professionals detailed information on the amount of airtime wasted on web content that has been assigned a lower priority category and reputation, so they can take proactive action and improve Wi-Fi health. Enhancements to AirWave’s VisualRF feature set allow for time-lapse visualization of Wi-Fi coverage for up to 24 hours, dramatically reducing the time and manual intervention it takes for wireless network engineers to identify negative trends in Wi-Fi coverage.

To meet the challenges of the digital workplace – particularly with the addition of IoT devices – enterprises must be able to modify their security policies quickly and enforce underlying infrastructure changes on-demand. With the increasing use of cloud-powered devices and apps connecting to their network, enterprise IT teams need a common policy framework to protect business resources, regardless of device type or connection method.

The new Aruba ClearPass Policy Manager 6.6 release allows security operations teams to create policies that adapt to BYOD growth and the emerging challenges surrounding IoT adoption. ClearPass 6.6 enables custom device profiling for any uncategorized connected device, multi-factor authentication on mobile devices for network usage, and deeper forensics into security incidents. As a result of its seamless integration with next-generation firewalls from Palo Alto Networks and multi-factor authentication partners, Duo Security and ImageWare, ClearPass enhances device, network and app threat protection in real-time.

Aruba’s new multi-gigabit 330 series Wave 2 APs with HPE Smart Rate technology help provide a seamless user experience by delivering maximum performance to bandwidth-intensive applications and the highest quality of service for latency-sensitive applications, such as Microsoft Skype for Business and Wi-Fi calling. With Aruba’s unique ClientMatch technology, the 330 series ensures that each Wave 2-capable mobile device can take advantage of the multi-user multiple-input multiple-output (MU-MIMO) standard. The new APs come with integrated Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) to effortlessly manage battery-powered Aruba Beacons and scale indoor location-based services.

As businesses transition to the digital workplace and employees continue to opt for Wi-Fi over all forms of connectivity[1], organizations won’t need as many wired ports to support them directly. However, the surge in IoT devices means that the wired infrastructure remains vital. The new Aruba 3810 Switch Series incorporates HPE Smart Rate technology, allowing enterprises to deliver data rates from 1 / 2.5 / 5 / 10Gbps. With the multi-gigabit capability, the 3810 offers investment protection for IT departments that want to future-proof their network infrastructure as higher capacity wireless technologies emerge, far surpassing the 1Gbps Wi-Fi backhaul limit that exists today.

The new Aruba 3810 Series and the existing portfolio of Aruba 2530, 2920 and 5400R campus switches are powered with the new ArubaOS-Switch, a unified operating system that integrates the best features and capabilities from the ArubaOS and HPE ProvisionOS operating systems. With their integrated Aruba ProVision ASIC, this next generation of switches enables real-time programmability without the need to sacrifice line-rate packet forwarding performance.

In the age of digital disruption in the workplace, organizations are faced with the need to offer more consumer-like experiences. Making changes within large scale enterprise networking and collaboration environments while maintaining business continuity can be challenging. HPE’s multivendor integration expertise and decades of communication and collaboration project experience reduces risk and implementation time. These services provide a consumer-like experience, boosts productivity, and extracts insights from business-critical connected devices. HPE services help bring together key elements to the digital workplace, including strategy, assessment, design, deployment, integration, management, and optimization as well as ongoing support of Aruba networking solutions. 

Read the HPE Services media advisory: http://www8.hp.com/us/en/hpe-news/press-release.html?id=2192492

Fortune 500 financial services company Pacific Life leverages the integration and improvements to Aruba and HPE networking solutions as enablers for its mobile IT strategy.

“We have in excess of 2,000 wireless devices connecting to our network daily that are a mix of company, contractor and personally-owned,” said Alex Munro, AVP of Corporate IT Enterprise Technologies at Pacific Life. “Since those devices represent a wide range of users and demands, we require the ability to assign appropriate levels of secure access while maintaining class of service and user experience. We leverage Aruba’s wired and wireless campus solutions, with integrated performance and authentication, to allow us to deliver a mobile-optimized workplace for employees and contractors, while providing visibility and control over network monitoring and security.”

Maxim Integrated Products, Inc., a global leader of highly integrated analog and mixed-signal semiconductors is currently evaluating Aruba’s 335 APs and 3810 switch. “We are excited about the new features and performance of the new multi-gigabit APs and switches,” said Danny Kwan, Senior Network Engineer, for Maxim. “Specific to the 3810 switch, we appreciate the Smart Rate technology and general ease-of-use and familiarity of commands as we consider integrating it with our existing switching solutions. The 335 APs with MU-MIMO will allow us to deliver maximum performance for users, and as we continue to move to a mobile-first, BYOD-friendly environment, the new solutions will allow us to future-proof our network for more wireless demand.”

West Chester University is the largest of the 14 public institutions in the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education. “One of our primary IT goals is to ensure that our users’ wireless experience, regardless of device or location, is seamless and reliable,” said Trevor Beach, Network Engineer, West Chester University. “Using Aruba’s new AirWave capabilities with Clarity provides our team with detailed visibility into network performance, including how specific network services are running on each device, all in one location. With 12,000 active users now online at peak times, we will rely on AirWave’s advancements to help us fine-tune the network by trouble-shooting and quickly remediating issues before they cause problems, which allows us to focus on other priorities.”

“As organizations grapple with the escalating number of IoT and mobile devices accessing their networks, IT professionals need the ability to instantly take preventative action against risky devices at the connectivity level,” said Chad Kinzelberg, Senior Vice President of Business and Corporate Development, Palo Alto Networks. “The integration of Aruba ClearPass with the Palo Alto Networks Next-Generation Security Platform enables potential threats to be quickly identified and removed from the network, eliminating costly data loss and disruption to business continuity.”

“Our new integration with Aruba ClearPass solves problems that organizations face on a daily basis,” said Ash Devata, Vice President of Products at Duo Security. “With Duo and ClearPass, organizations can ensure trusted access to their networks and business applications. The key is that it’s easy to operate for employees and end-users, so they’ll actually adopt Duo’s two-factor authentication solution, thereby increasing security posture across the organization.”

Read the Duo Security blog: https://www.duo.com/blog/duo-security-releases-new-application-integrations

“Human beings and their passwords have been the weakest link in network authentication,” said Jim Miller, chairman and CEO of ImageWare. “Removing the complexity of passwords while adding the robust security provided by biometrics adds a secondary layer of network and application protection for today’s mobile workforce. The combination of Aruba ClearPass and ImageWare GoVerifyID delivers a powerful multi-tiered and multi-modal biometric security approach that works for any critical application or connection method – wired, wireless, VPN or cellular – and is simple for enterprises to implement.”

Aruba channel partner, Comm Solutions, provides end-to-end technology solutions for a variety of companies in North America. “As more organizations transition to mobile-first workplaces, we need to furnish the right mix of technology solutions that are not only simple to implement but also deliver critical, device-level network visibility,” said Bill Carr, Chief Mobility Architect, Comm Solutions. “Aruba’s integration of wired and wireless networking solutions, and advancements in AirWave and ClearPass capabilities, enable our customers to boost employee productivity and IT departments to maintain business continuity.”

Adaptive Communications is a leading provider of customized, robust and flexible IT solutions. “Aruba has continued to show leadership in innovation and complete wired/wireless integration. It is especially great to see their newest hardware and software solutions because as more of our customers make the move to mobile-first networks, it is critical for them to have a complete solution like Aruba’s,” said John Turner, Director of UC Practice for Adaptive Communications. “Our customers are particularly excited about Aruba’s Clarity solution, focused on deep network visibility, as well as the new multi-factor authentication capabilities for ClearPass allowing our customers to deliver a quality user experience which is crucial for the modern digital workplace.”

The new multi-gigabit Aruba 330 Series Wave 2 Access Points are available in the second quarter of 2016 and priced at $1,695 U.S. list. The Aruba 3810 Series switches are available today with pricing starting at $4,299 U.S. list. Aruba ClearPass 6.6 is available in April 2016 as a software upgrade with no additional costs for existing customers with valid service contracts. Aruba AirWave 8.2 and the new Aruba Clarity module will be available in March 2016.

·         HPE Services Digital Workplace Media Advisory: http://www8.hp.com/us/en/hpe-news/press-release.html?id=2192492

·         Aruba Digital Workplace Blog: http://community.arubanetworks.com/t5/Technology-Blog/Going-digital-We-ve-Got-Your-Back/ba-p/260505

·         ImageWare and Aruba Integration News Release: http://iwsinc.com/aruba_news/

·         Duo Security Blog: https://www.duo.com/blog/duo-security-releases-new-application-integrations

·         Product Page: Aruba AP-330 Series http://www.arubanetworks.com/products/networking/access-points/330-series

·         Product Page: Aruba Multi-gigabit Ethernet Switches http://www.arubanetworks.com/products/networking/switches/ 

·         Product Image: AP-335 http://www.arubanetworks.com/assets/images/335.png

·         Product Image: Aruba 3810 Switch Series family  http://www.arubanetworks.com/assets/images/3810_Family.png