New Aruba Mobility-Defined Networks Accelerate the Creation of an All-Wireless Workplace With Automated Security and Performance Optimizations
Aruba Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARUN) today unveiled Aruba Mobility-Defined
Networks™, a new architecture for IT departments to build an
all-wireless workplace designed for improved #GenMobile
job satisfaction and productivity. Supporting the new architecture,
Aruba also introduced five new software innovations that deliver IT
granular visibility, performance optimizations and security automation
to support the networking needs of highly mobile employees.
To be a leader in today’s competitive business world, enterprises need
their IT departments to help retain and attract #GenMobile employees.
Enterprises can accomplish this by creating a truly all-wireless
workplace where Wi-Fi is pervasive, guest and BYOD security are
automated, office appliances are mobile-device friendly, and
communications applications on mobile devices simply work better.
Aruba Mobility-Defined Networks transform enterprise networks into
intelligent systems, providing total control over the all-wireless
experience. The added intelligence enables an automated, self-adjusting
infrastructure where changes in wireless state trigger security actions
and performance optimization measures so that the infrastructure adapts
to its environment. Unlike traditional static Wi-Fi networks, Aruba
Mobility-Defined Networks eliminate the need for IT professionals to
make manual changes to accommodate new mobile devices and applications.
The results are fewer helpdesk complaints and a better end-user
experience.
As a part of Aruba Mobility-Defined Networks for the all-wireless
workplace, Aruba is delivering five essential firsts:
1) Next-Generation Mobility Firewall
Unlike other Wi-Fi firewalls, Aruba’s new Next-Generation
Mobility Firewall uses advanced deep packet inspection (DPI) to set
granular role-based policies, quality of service and bandwidth contracts
for more than 1,500 mobile applications, even when they are encrypted.
This empowers IT professionals with unmatched Wi-Fi control over
applications, accelerating the creation of an all-wireless workplace
both IT and #GenMobile employees can trust.
2) Interactive Unified Communications Dashboard
Aruba AirWave
now offers the industry’s most advanced and intuitive user interface for
visualizing and controlling Unified Communications (UC), like Microsoft
Lync, over Wi-Fi. The new UC dashboard is the first tool of its kind for
IT professionals to bring UC and network performance metrics together in
one, simple, consolidated view. IT administrators can easily
point-and-click to retrieve historical metrics and visualize real-time
call quality by location, thereby eliminating manual investigations for
UC failures. Combined with the Wi-Fi controls for applications, IT
admins now have the tools to cut the cord on the desk phone and
wirelessly deliver communications application to #GenMobile users.
3) ClearPass Exchange and Technology Partners
The new Aruba ClearPass
Exchange makes it easy for IT professionals to automate security
workflows for the all-wireless workplace. IT administrators can leverage
a set of common language application programming interfaces (APIs) and
data feeds that allow ClearPass to automate workflows with almost any
third-party IT and business system from Aruba partners like IBM,
AirWatch and MobileIron. For example, a network policy violation will
prompt ClearPass to trigger a push notification to the device in
question through the Mobile Device Management (MDM) system. ClearPass
integrates with the helpdesk systems to then automatically generate a
ticket notifying security teams. Now IT departments can accelerate
manual processes to satisfy #GenMobile data security concerns.
4) Auto Sign-On
New Aruba Auto
Sign-On enabled by ClearPass and ArubaOS, uses a workplace’s Wi-Fi
login to automatically authenticate an employee into Single Sign-On
(SSO) enabled applications, like SalesForce.com. Aruba Auto Sign-On can
be easily integrated with existing SSO identity providers, like Okta or
Ping Identity®, or used independently. Aruba Auto
Sign-On eliminates frustrating and repetitive username-password
authentication processes, making it painless for #GenMobile employees in
the all-wireless workplace to sign in to enterprise applications.
5) AirGroup, now for DLNA and UPnP™
AirGroup,
enabled by ClearPass and ArubaOS, allows #GenMobile to wirelessly share
screens and stream media with Apple and Digital Living Network Alliance
(DLNA) and Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) devices. Only Aruba AirGroup
optimizes for Wi-Fi performance and limits the view of available devices
based on the employee’s role, location and time of day. Since AirGroup
is completely self-service, #GenMobile employees can easily set devices
for sharing in their all-wireless workplace, eliminating the need for IT
support.
For more information on Aruba’s innovations and to take the new
#GenMobile Assessment, visit www.arubanetworks.com/allwireless.
“Our customers have found that the all-wireless workplace is easily
afforded by rightsizing the network and redirecting IT investments,”
said Keerti Melkote, Founder and Chief Technology Officer for Aruba
Networks. “Aruba Mobility-Defined Networks enables IT departments to
build intelligent and self-optimizing infrastructures where security
actions are automated, performance is enhanced, and efficient workflows
adapt to the dynamics of mobility. The resulting rightsized network
reduces capital costs associated with the fixed wired infrastructure and
delivers an integrated mobility experience that everyone can depend on.”
Pricing and Availability
-
Next Generation Mobility Firewall – Included in policy enforcement
firewall software license for ArubaOS 6.4 (Available Now)
-
Interactive Unified Communications Dashboard – Free with base OS for
AirWave 8.0 (Available May 2014)
-
ClearPass Exchange – Free with base OS for ClearPass 6.3 (Available
Now)
-
Auto Sign-On – Free with base OS for ArubaOS 6.4 and ClearPass 6.3
(Available Now)
-
AirGroup for DLNA and UPnP – Free with base OS for ArubaOS 6.4 and
ClearPass 6.3 (Available Now)
Customer Quotes
Blue Cross Kansas City
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City (Blue KC) has been the health
partner for people in 32 counties of greater Kansas City and
northwestern Missouri for three quarters of a century.
As part of their Unified Communications (UC) Initiative, Blue KC sees
the need for better and more intuitive IT tools for managing UC.
“Aruba’s new interactive UC dashboard will provide deeper, yet faster
control over UC traffic issues on the network,” said Curtis Nave, Senior
Network Engineer, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Kansas City. “We are excited
about the ability to manage users, devices, applications and overall
Wi-Fi performance on one dashboard. This interactive view will help us
ensure a more reliable UC experience for our employees and will result
in significant time and costs savings for IT.”
Brandeis University
Located just outside of Boston in Waltham, Massachusetts, Brandeis
University is a private, world-class research university that is ranked
in the top tier among the nation’s universities. “The number of mobile
and wireless devices relying on our wireless network 24X7 continues to
grow exponentially resulting in unprecedented bandwidth requirements,”
said Tim Cappalli, Wireless Network Engineer, Brandeis University. “With
Aruba’s new Next-Generation Mobility Firewall, we now have the ability
to control, manage and prioritize traffic based on more specific
information such as device type, user role and applications. As needs
change throughout the day, we can easily make adjustments to support
academic versus residential hall traffic making sure the wireless
network is fully optimized for the best possible user experience.”
Brandeis also sees the need for utilizing Aruba’s new AirGroup
capabilities beyond Apple devices to support DLNA. “We have a number of
students using Google Chromecast, Apple TV and other devices and we need
to be able to provide secure access and manage all of the devices on our
network,” added Cappalli. “Additionally, AirGroup for DLNA is an
important step toward making our classrooms more interactive as faculty
and students will be able to use mirroring to share content and create a
more collaborative environment.”
Liberty University
Liberty University is the largest private, nonprofit university in the
nation, the largest university in Virginia, and the largest Christian
university in the world. Home to more than 100,000 residential and
online students, Liberty University views its wireless network as
mission-critical for students, faculty and staff.
“As we continue to see the demand for Wi-Fi access escalate, we need to
find ways to better manage and prioritize network traffic so that we can
confidently support this demand,” said Matt Zealand, Chief Information
Officer, Liberty University. “Aruba’s new Next-Generation Mobility
Firewall with AppRF technology provides us with critical visibility and
policy control for over 1500 mobile applications. This visibility along
with bandwidth allocations, allows us to set role-based policies that
have a significant impact on network security, performance and
ultimately the user experience.”
Partner Quotes
IBM
“We are excited to announce that IBM's Security Access Manager (ISAM for
Web and Mobile) and Aruba’s ClearPass network access platform have been
verified to provide a seamless auto sign-on user experience for reaching
protected web-based applications on mobile devices,” said Kevin
Skapinetz, Director of Strategy, Product Marketing, and Alliances, IBM.
“This joint solution is part of the Ready for IBM Security Intelligence
validation program and bridges the gap between Network Access Control
(NAC), Mobile Device Management (MDM), and Web Access Management (WAM).
The idea of using a valid network authentication via ClearPass with
complementary single sign-on and risk-based decisions via ISAM enhance a
user’s ability to securely reach protected resources without constantly
typing in login credentials per application.”
Okta
“Mobility is a critical part of the modern workplace, and at Okta we're
focused on enabling employees to securely access the content and apps
they need from wherever and whenever they need to with our full identity
management solution,” said Stephen Lee, Director, Platform Solutions,
Okta. “As a part of this vision, we're excited to be working with Aruba
Networks to enable a unified sign on experience so employees can work
productively and efficiently from their mobile devices.”
Ping Identity
“There is no doubt that all-wireless connectivity is coming for a wide
variety of users who want to connect simply and securely to their legacy
and cloud applications and services,” said Ping Identity Vice President
of Product Management Loren Russon. “This makes the Ping Identity
partnership with Aruba even more valuable to our mutual customers.”
Additional Resources
About Aruba Networks, Inc.
Aruba Networks is a leading provider of next-generation network access
solutions for the mobile enterprise. The company designs and delivers
Mobility-Defined Networks that empower IT departments and #GenMobile, a
new generation of tech-savvy users who rely on their mobile devices for
every aspect of work and personal communication. To create a mobility
experience that #GenMobile and IT can rely upon, Aruba Mobility-Defined
Networks™ automate infrastructure-wide performance optimization and
trigger security actions that used to require manual IT intervention.
The results are dramatically improved productivity and lower operational
costs.
Listed on the NASDAQ and Russell 2000® Index, Aruba is based in
Sunnyvale, California, and has operations throughout the Americas,
Europe, Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific regions. To learn more,
visit Aruba at http://www.arubanetworks.com.
For real-time news updates follow Aruba on Twitter
and Facebook,
and for the latest technical discussions on mobility and Aruba products
visit Airheads Social at http://community.arubanetworks.com.
© 2014 Aruba Networks, Inc. Aruba Networks’ trademarks include Aruba
Networks®, Aruba The Mobile Edge Company® (stylized), Aruba Mobility
Management System®, People Move Networks Must Follow®, Mobile Edge
Architecture®, RFProtect®, Green Island®, ETips®, ClientMatchTM,
Virtual Intranet AccessTM, ClearPass Access
Management SystemsTM, Aruba InstantTM,
ArubaOSTM, xSecTM,
ServiceEdgeTM, Aruba ClearPass Access
Management SystemTM, AirmeshTM,
AirWaveTM, Aruba CentralTM,
and “ARUBA@WORKTM. All rights reserved. All
other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
Aruba Networks, Inc.
Pavel Radda, +1-408-419-0294
Director of Corporate Communications
pradda@arubanetworks.com
or
LSH Communications for Aruba Networks
Lori Hultin, +1-818-879-4651
Principal
lhultin@arubanetworks.com