One of the World’s Leading Performing Arts Venues Replaces Cisco-Meraki to Improve the Mobile Experience for Visitors, and Boost Productivity for Staff and Performers
Aruba, a Hewlett Packard Enterprise company (NYSE:HPE), today announced
that the Miami, Florida-based Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing
Arts of Miami-Dade County is deploying an end-to-end HPE-Aruba network
to bring an enhanced mobile experience to guests, as well as a more
secure and productive workplace environment for its staff and
performers. Replacing its existing Cisco-Meraki network and deploying a
full suite of Aruba access switching, HPE datacenter and core switching,
wireless and security solutions, the Center’s goal is to deliver a
mobile-first experience for up to 5,000 users connecting to its network
regularly.
Now in its 11th season, the Adrienne Arsht Center hosts
approximately 500 events each year in its flexible, state-of-the-art
spaces including performances, meetings, receptions and educational
events. In addition to hosting numerous theatrical and performance
events including the largest jazz festival in South Florida and the
biggest flamenco festival on the East Coast, the Center offers free
programming for the local community and an arts education program that
serves nearly 30,000 children annually.
James J. Thompson, Assistant Vice President, Information Technology for
the Adrienne Arsht Center, noted, “As a nonprofit, we have a very small
IT staff, so the ability to have an easily managed, end-to-end network
is critical for us. We’ve had a great partnership with HPE over the
years and seeing the capabilities of the combined Aruba and HPE
portfolio made our wireless vendor choice a simple one.”
Spread across two city blocks, the Center was an early adopter of
wireless technology and sought to give ubiquitous coverage to its entire
staff, visiting performers and guests, across both indoor and outdoor
areas. For its highly mobile staff including event managers, production
workers and stagehands, most of whom use tablets and are rarely at their
desks, the Center’s primary goal was to ensure secure and reliable
connectivity across all areas.
For visiting performers and show producers, the Center wanted to provide
a way for them to stay in touch with loved ones, connect back to their
offices and remain productive. Finally, for patrons, the Center wanted
to deliver an enhanced mobile experience, allowing guest access for
Internet, email and social media posting, and to provide mobile ticket
sales.
The Center had used a Cisco-Meraki infrastructure for wireless
connectivity in the past, but needed to modernize their network to
encompass both indoor and outdoor areas and support the increased
demands from its varied users and emerging applications. The Center had
also used HPE for its data center networking solutions, so when HPE
acquired Aruba, the benefit of having a single vendor, approaching a
single-pane-of-glass for management, made their upgrade decision easier.
The Center utilizes HPE 5900 switches in the core and Aruba 2920
switches at the edge of the network. To upgrade the wireless network,
the Center worked with channel partner, CSPi
to deploy more than 100 Aruba
802.11ac access points for both indoor and outdoor use. An Aruba
Platinum Partner, CSPi Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CSPI) is a master
systems integrator specializing in wireless and mobility solutions.
With the new infrastructure in place, the Center is also providing an
enhanced experience for all visitors including the broader Miami
community. In addition to accessing the Wi-Fi inside the Center’s four
main performance spaces and their respective box offices, guests and
visitors can also stay connected in the Center’s outdoor areas. These
include the outside dining spaces of the Café at Books & Books, and the
popular Parker and Vann Thomson Plaza for the Arts that hosts numerous
outdoor events including a farmers market each Monday.
Said Thompson, “We have new condo towers near us and foot traffic is
increasing. We have TV crews who like to film commercials in our Parker
and Vann Thomson Plaza for the Arts, given its location in the heart of
downtown Miami. And we get people visiting the Café at Books & Books who
may just want to have a cup of coffee and use their laptop or phone to
do some work. We’re committed to fostering this kind of community
environment, so being able to extend the Wi-Fi across our outdoor areas
was key.”
Although the Café at Books & Books and Brava by Brad Kilgore, the
center’s on-site restaurant, are managed by third-party vendors, all of
these facilities rely on the Center’s Wi-Fi network for connectivity as
well as credit card transactions. The box offices all use the wireless
network, along with tablets and credit card scanners, to sell tickets
and conduct other financial transactions. Thompson noted that supporting
these kinds of Point-of-Sale applications with robust security and PCI
compliance were top of mind when they selected the Aruba wireless
solutions.
The Adrienne Arsht Center is already preparing for the next phase of its
mobile-first network rollout, with plans to deploy Aruba’s AirWave
network management and ClearPass
Guest for secure onboarding of visitors’ mobile devices to its guest
Wi-Fi network, as well as Aruba’s
Mobile Engagement Solution including the Meridian
App Platform and Aruba
Beacons. With the Mobile Engagement Solution, the Center will have
the platform it needs to create its own mobile app allowing patrons to
take advantage of such features as indoor navigation, accessing detailed
and interactive information about the Center, its events and
performances, proximity notifications and in-app ticket sales. The
Center also hopes to leverage the Wi-Fi network to deliver open
captioning and other programs for ADA needs.
“Our users are always vocal about the Wi-Fi and more specifically, about
the need to have good Wi-Fi when they are in our Center and the
surrounding areas,” said Thompson. “We need to make sure that we
continue to offer secure and reliable access and most importantly, keep
up with the increasing demand from our patrons, guests, performers and
staff.”
About Aruba, a Hewlett Packard Enterprise company
Aruba, a Hewlett Packard Enterprise company, is a leading provider of
next-generation networking solutions for enterprises of all sizes
worldwide. The company delivers IT solutions that empower organizations
to serve the latest generation of mobile-savvy users who rely on
cloud-based business apps for every aspect of their work and personal
lives.
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
.
Aruba, a Hewlett Packard Enterprise company
Pavel Radda, +1-408-419-0294
Senior Director of Corporate Communications
pavel.radda@hpe.com
or
LSH Communications for Aruba, a Hewlett Packard Enterprise company
Lori Hultin, Principal, +1-818-879-4651
lori.hultin@hpe.com