Branch office benefits

Aruba Networks has introduced an innovative branch office networking solution that collapses the complicated patchwork of branch appliances and access servers into a single, compact cloud services platform.

Aruba 7000 series Cloud Services Controllers eliminate the time, cost and complexity of managing disparate single-purpose point products in the branch, while enabling businesses to extract more value from existing cloud-based unified communication and firewall investments.

“Consolidating all required branch IT functions into a single, centrally-managed package is the preferred approach to extending operations essentially anywhere,” said Craig Mathias, Principal, Farpoint Group. “Aruba has taken the lead here with the 7000 series, which is very easy to use and cost-effective.”

Growing legions of enterprise applications and services are migrating to public and private clouds because businesses can realize significant performance gains while saving up to 48%[1] per site – all while having centralized visibility and control across every branch location.

The Aruba 7000 series collapses a wide set of enterprise network capabilities into a single networking platform for the branch:
1. Zero-Touch Provisioning – Eliminates the time, cost and complexity of lighting-up branch office networks.
2. Triple the Resiliency – Supports two Ethernet broadband WAN connections and a 3G/4G LTE cellular back-up link for assured business continuity in virtually all conditions. Branches that use certificate-based 802.1X RADIUS with EAP-TLS get uninterrupted service even if RADIUS servers are unreachable.
3. Programmable Policy Enforcement Firewall – Delivers context-aware control to a variety of branch networking requirements, namely:

Web Content Filtering – Provides web content filtering to create contextual policies based on web site reputation.
Microsoft Lync Mobile Unified Communications – Automatically integrates with Lync Server 2013 SDN API and fingerprints hosted Lync Online traffic for a better user experience across the WAN.
Integration with Palo Alto Networks Firewalls – Automatically extends threat protection to every branch, for mobile devices and users by context, with no additional hardware or software.
Performance Gains for Cloud-based Applications – WAN optimization and application visibility and control with AppRF technology improve the performance of business-critical apps in the cloud.
Advanced Routing – Implements context-based routing across dual Ethernet WAN and LTE WAN links to preserve bandwidth for prioritized, business-critical traffic.

The Ensign Group, Inc. provides a broad spectrum of skilled nursing and assisted living services, physical, occupational and speech therapies, home health and hospice services, and urgent care services across 11 states and more than 180 locations.

“Historically, it’s been very complicated and expensive to provide network services and remain HIPAA-compliant at our 180 plus locations,” said Ryan Rushton, vice president of Information Technology, Ensign Services.

"Aruba’s cloud services solution now gives us a huge advantage at our various facilities,” Rushton added. “Policy-based routing across dual WAN links, plug-and-play gigabit Wi-Fi, and many other services are all rolled up in one compact controller that automatically configures itself. Aruba has redefined what it means to have enterprise-class solutions in all our locations.”

Many enterprises have made significant investments in advanced security and communications solutions hosted in their data centers. Aruba leverages these investments by extending existing firewalls in the data center and unified communication solutions to branch offices.

“With Aruba’s Cloud Services Controller, customers that have already invested in Palo Alto Networks Next-Generation Firewalls and GlobalProtect can now extend their security policies to every single branch location without additional complexity,” said Chad Kinzelberg, senior vice president of business and corporate development, Palo Alto Networks. “Aruba’s integration with Palo Alto Networks extends safe application enablement and threat prevention to branches.”

In addition to extending unified communication capabilities from the data center to the branch, Aruba has improved performance and visibility for Microsoft Lync with Lync SDN API certification.

“Reliably extending Lync unified communications to branch offices requires both applying Quality of Service to latency-sensitive voice and video calls, as well as giving IT end-to-end visibility into Lync services for diagnostics and troubleshooting purposes,” said Giovanni Mezgec, general manager, Lync/Skype for Business, Microsoft. “Aruba’s Wi-Fi, switching, and SDN API solutions are Lync qualified, making them ideal for supporting hosted, on-premises, Lync Online, and Office 365 applications.”
Cut Time, Cost and Complexity of Branch Deployments

With nearly $5.7 billion in annual retail sales, Home Hardware Stores Limited, Canada’s largest Dealer-owned hardware, lumber, building materials and furniture cooperative, has transformed from 122 independent dealers in 1964 into a nationally recognized enterprise today.

“When you’re dealing with 1,100 stores from coast to coast to coast, performing a network upgrade requires costly professional installers, a complicated mix of new network appliances, and service disruptions that hinder employees and frustrate customers,” said Mark Lussier, Special Projects Manager, Retail Applications, Home Hardware Stores Limited. “Collapsing a large number of networking appliances into one zero-configuration cloud services controller offers a tremendous cost savings. Aruba’s new branch solution gives us more resilient WAN performance, stronger cloud security services, and the high-performance enterprise Wi-Fi without sending an IT engineer to every location.”

Varian Medical Systems manufactures medical devices for cancer treatment and other advanced medical conditions. With a revenue stream of $3 billion yearly, Varian has more than 6,000 employees with manufacturing facilities and offices across more than 70 locations globally. “With Aruba, the time, cost and complexity of buying and maintaining multiple branch office appliances are a thing of the past,” said Emmanuel Sabino, Network Manager, Varian Medical Systems.

Image courtesy of pcruciatti