Aruba, a Hewlett Packard Enterprise company, advanced its Mobile First Architecture with the introduction of new innovations in AI-powered analytics and assurance to enable autonomous networking, as well as partnerships to deliver smarter workplace experiences.

To help IT organisations enhance the user experience and ensure business resilience as they continue to adopt mobility, IoT and cloud, Aruba has introduced NetInsight, an artificial intelligence (AI) based analytics and assurance solution for optimising network performance. Additionally, Aruba has added a new category of smart digital workplace partners to the ArubaEdge Technology Partner Program including corporate real estate (CRE) leaders, connected furniture companies, and technology vendors, to deliver next-generation workplace experiences that securely support IoT, building automation, and personalised, location-based services for guests and employees.

Optimizing Network Performance: New NetInsight Delivers AI-Powered Analytics and Assurance

Today, IT organisations are challenged with managing highly dynamic, unpredictable environments with tools that were designed to manage infrastructure, and not to enhance the user experience.  IT professionals require modern tools that proactively stay ahead of performance issues, deliver insights into possible causes, and recommend configuration changes that optimise the network before impacting users or the business.

To address this challenge, Aruba has expanded the analytics and assurance capabilities of its Mobile First Architecture with its new NetInsight solution. NetInsight uses machine learning to continuously monitor the network, deliver insights in the event of anomalies, and then recommends how best to optimise the network for today’s mobile-first employees and workplace-critical IoT devices, based on data that is specific to user connectivity and RF performance attributes.

Aruba customer, The University of Washington, is keenly focused on providing a positive user experience at its campuses, hospitals, and clinics. With more than 12,000 Wi-Fi access points and over 150,000 devices on the network daily, performance management challenges due to size, unpredictable usage patterns and a wide range of performance stringent applications, are a real concern.

“Today’s digital campuses and hospitals are increasingly dependent on complex applications, smart devices and mobile users who expect to have connectivity everywhere.” said David Morton, Director, Networks and Telecommunications at the University of Washington. “Using Aruba NetInsight, we have access to network data with flow visualizations and actionable analytics that help us make critical decisions about where expanded and new coverage is needed - such as outdoor Wi-Fi for new construction. We can also validate the before and after impacts of network change so that we can proactively deliver the best possible user experience.”

Building the Smart Digital Workplace with an Ecosystem of Proven Partners

Mobility, cloud and IoT adoption is changing the future of work, demanding an autonomous approach to networking. Highly efficient, IoT-enabled smart buildings are intersecting with the mobile-first digital workplace. This new paradigm is forming a smart digital workplace that needs to deliver secure and reliable, optimised and personalised experiences that will foster employee creativity, collaboration, speed and freedom.

Leveraging its Mobile First Architecture, Aruba has expanded its ArubaEdge Technology Partner Program with a new category of partners that include commercial real estate (CRE), connected furniture and new technology companies. Together with Aruba, this new set of partners will create modern workplaces that uniquely pair end user mobility, secure connectivity, and location with the sensory context of enterprise IoT. These experiences range from personalised workspace ergonomics and lighting, to mobile UC and fully automated conference rooms, to preventive equipment maintenance and automated energy conservation, on a single infrastructure.

“Consumers have come to expect seamless experiences in everything that they do, and that includes the workplace,” said Sandeep Davé, Chief Digital and Technology Officer, Global Workplace Solutions at CBRE.

“Our clients, as they seek to attract and retain their best and brightest, are finding it important to deliver an enhanced workplace experience. They are turning to CBRE to deliver experiential services and a digital workplace, which we do via CBRE 360, an experience services offering enabled by leading technology. There is strong alignment between CBRE’s goal of creating next generation workplace environments with integrated property services and Aruba’s smart digital workplace direction. This is an area where our teams have collaborated and expect to realise greater synergies in the future.”

“Companies are reevaluating their real estate strategies to better align with and enable the future of work,” said Francisco J. Acoba, Managing Director and U.S. Lead – Global Real Estate Transformation, Deloitte Consulting LLP. “The smart digital workplace, is now a major point of differentiation for organisations as employers look to attract, retain and grow today’s talent. The future of work will be defined by smart workplace experiences, and corporate real estate leaders along with their IT counterparts should consider embracing how mobility and enterprise IoT will transform the physical office.” 

“What constitutes a great workplace experience is rapidly evolving with the addition of digital and data layers”, said Jeff Gibson, Director of Advanced Business Development at Herman Miller. “People need a variety of settings to perform their work activities and the digital layers that we are delivering are helping to maximise the experience.  We are working with Aruba to create this vision where cloud connected furniture and devices can be deployed to support a mobile-first digital experience.  Leveraging data and insights provides efficient usage of space for organisations as well as maximises the performance potential.”

Enhanced Collaboration and Seamless Workplace Productivity

In many digital enterprises, two or more collaboration applications are used simultaneously, such as Skype for Business for voice calling and desktop sharing, and Zoom for video meetings and bringing in mobile and conference room devices. Zoom’s focus on frictionless meetings across conference rooms and teaming spaces is well aligned with Aruba’s smart digital workspace initiative.

“The workplace has evolved into experiences in which people, content, and tools must seamlessly interact,” said Eric Yuan, Chief Executive Officer at Zoom. “Zoom’s mobile, desktop, and software-based room conferencing systems foster those experiences by allowing the most suitable tools to work together. That openness is a breath of fresh air for customers who for years had no choice but to buy their networks and telepresence from a single vendor.”

To deliver a wide variety of proven digital workplace productivity and enterprise IoT solutions, Aruba has furthered its ArubaEdge Technology Partner Program, adding smart digital workplace partners AccelTex, HPE Pointnext, Lunera, Patrocinium and SpaceIQto a list that already includes Envoy, Robin and Teem  These partners deliver integrated solutions that leverage a combination of location services, secure enterprise IoT management for personalised, and automated digital workplaces.

Pricing and Availability

NetInsight is now available as a subscription starting at $30 USD per network device (access point, controller). Pricing varies with multiyear subscriptions.