Apollo 11 has always fascinated me. It was the first time man landed on the moon, truly a giant leap. There were many failed attempts prior to Appolo 11 and many successful ones since then, but everyone always remembers the first one. Patented ClientMatch™ technology from Aruba Networks® is the first to tackle the sticky

Microsoft Lync isn’t just changing the way we build telephony systems in the enterprise, it’s also transforming the user experience, where every communication is a more collaborative, engaging interaction. But remember, Lync is only as good as the underlying infrastructure. And with laptops, smartphones and tablets on track to outnumber desktops, that means wireless infrastructure. Fortunately,

Like so many public school districts, the Bloomington, Illinois, School District 87 is tasked with providing its diverse student population with a 21st Century education while simultaneously meeting state and federal mandates in a difficult fiscal climate. To meet those demands, Bloomington developed an innovative strategy: pursue a device-agnostic, one-to-one computing initiative by leveraging BYOD

Customers of all sizes expect more from their wireless LANs — more speed, more up-time, more of whatever they want, when they want it.  More, More, More. To address those myriad requests, and help you deliver the “more” your users are asking of their WLAN, the focus of the Aruba Instant v3.3 release is resilience. 

Yep, that’s Buzz and Woody, human size, made out of Lego pieces. I used to love Legos as a child, they were my favorite toy. All those small pieces helped you build something that looked so… “perfect!” Our recent survey of wireless network engineers (200+ participants across different verticals) revealed that wireless LANs are not

The best thing about Aruba Instant – our controller-less Wireless LAN solution – is that it’s blazing fast and ridiculously easy to use. When I speak to our customers, they repeat a phrase, “It just works,” or “It works like the salesguy said it would.” In IT, it’s easy to fall in love with the

For the record, I like VLANs. In fact, I vividly remember marveling at their magic. A couple of CLI commands and voila, a Switch was divided into multiple Switches. To me, VLANs are as beautiful an invention as PageRank for search engines. It’s too bad that Larry Page made serious bank on PageRank and the

How hard is it to allow a guest iPad to AirPlay onto a meeting room Apple TV that’s connected to the corporate wired network?  Well it’s not as easy as it sounds. In fact it is one of the most challenging problems to solve when it comes to enabling AirPlay across a corporate wireless LAN.

Its chaos!  The variety in the types and models of mobile devices connecting to the wireless LAN today, is mind-boggling. It can compete with the variety of spices that you might come across at Istanbul’s Spice Bazaar. There are devices that support older 802.11abg (maximum speed of 54Mbps). And there are the ones that support

My iPhone honeymoon is over. I get it. It’s way fast, talks fluently with my stockpile of mac devices, and looks like a coaster I’d get at a hipster mixology bar. Sometimes I whisper to it “you complete me”. But I can’t help but look at the mind-blowing innovation on the consumer side of smartphones

With the 2013 Mobile World Congress tradeshow now squarely behind us it’s time to reflect on the events at the show. It was the first time Aruba Networks attended the event and we’re already excited for next year! As MWC newcomers, Aruba joined around 1700 companies exhibiting over the four day show – an incredible

Now that we are seeing the first Passpoint-capable smartphones, the implications of Wi-Fi network roaming are opening up new questions for Service Providers. To take the cellular (mobile) network analogy, we are familiar with Operators’ interest in making sure their subscribers roam to the ‘best choice’ alternate mobile networks. For instance, in most countries their

Aruba recently participated in Vertical Systems Reseller (VSR) Annual Review and Outlook supplement.  VSR do a great job with this piece, they describe it as “more than just a collection of thoughts and opinions, it’s a roadmap of where they Channel is and where it’s headed, brought to you by some of the smartest and

by Roberto Motta Wi-Fi is on its way to become the dominant access network technology. Modern smart devices no longer have an RJ45 connector. You just can’t connect a network cable to an iPad. Period. Not everything is a bed of roses, though. As with any rapidly evolving technology, the pitfalls abound. Here are some

We’ve spent some time talking with analysts around the next generation of Wi-Fi performance, namely 11ac.  No doubt this year you will start hearing more and more on this topic, but Craig’s view; he is “not recommending you run out and buy it just yet.”  Find out what 11ac is all about, and why there is a

On 19-21 February 2013, Microsoft will be holding the first-ever Lync Conference dedicated exclusively to Lync solutions. As the only Lync networking infrastructure vendor qualified by Microsoft, Aruba plays an important role in Lync mobility applications and the Lync community more broadly. We’ll be a corporate sponsor of the Lync Conference, have a kiosk staffed

About two years ago, Maribel Lopez was listening to me talk about BYOD and how the WLAN can make the BYOD experience better.  She complimented the story, but challenged me to look at the problem from a user perspective, not a network perspective.  To most of the world, she explained, BYOD is an application problem. 

In 2012 Aruba celebrated it’s tenth anniversary. It was the promise of a fast paced company, in a fast paced industry that lured me to Aruba.  I certainly got that.  But there is more to this company and the underlying culture that makes Aruba great.  Keerti Melkote, the Founder and CTO, and our CEO Dominic Orr, live

This year, Aruba was proud to provide guest Wi-Fi access at EDUCAUSE 2012 (#EDU12). The 802.11n network was deployed throughout the session and common areas to support attendees and vendors, as well as in the technology showcase on the exhibit floor. We tried some new things with the network this year: The Wells Fargo center,

Growing up in a family of armchair politicians, I count election season as one of my few guilty pleasures – it’s right up there with Storage Wars and sneaking my wife’s gossip magazines…the good ones from Britain. I like a good controversy and fortunately Wi-Fi serves up some prince Harry-style fodder. Of course, this isn’t

When the roads are full, it doesn’t matter if you are in the driver’s seat of the fastest car with the best turbocharged engine money can buy; you might as well be driving a three wheeler rickshaw.  Either way, you are crawling and you need to get away from the congestion! Most wireless networks are

Back in beautiful Las Vegas for another Black Hat event – more malware, more exploits, and more multicolored shorts with plaid socks than you can shake a stick at! (Who knew these attendees could be so stylish? ) Most importantly, Aruba is covering the show yet again with Wi-Fi access for the masses, and the

Whatever happened to automatic seatbelts? They seemed like a good idea at the time, right?  Open the car door, climb into the seat and the automated shoulder belt secures you without a second thought.  But to those who experienced the technology you may recall getting hats and glasses knocked off or being clothes-lined if you

I read an article a few weeks ago on the top 5 irrational responses to fear. They were: #1 Reclusiveness #2 Defensive Behavior #3 Avoidance #4 Attack #5 Loss Prevention What got me thinking about this article you ask? Well, it was some strange behavior recently from our friends on Tasman Drive. Curiously, they just

The WFA recently announced the “Wi-Fi CERTIFIED Passpoint™ certification program for network infrastructure solutions and mobile devices, based on the Hotspot 2.0 specification. So what is driving all the interest in Passpoint? They key issue from the operators’ perspective is data offload. And from the end-user perspective it is about a simplified experience connecting to

Aruba Networks Debuts as Leader on a Much Larger Stage There has never been, in such short time, so much challenge to conventional wisdom on how to build access networks. The wireless LAN market has seen tremendous growth over the past two years. So has the demand for not only the right network architecture, but

If you’ve been living under a rock for the last year, you may be surprised to hear that the industry is experiencing a bit of BYO-mania.  Kind of like Beatle-mania but without the paisley suits, symmetrical haircuts and British whimsy. In this case, Apple, Amazon and others have us all whipped up into a gadget

Two of Aruba’s product managers, Carlos Gomez (aka. carlos) and Cameron Esdaile (aka. -cam-) participated in Tech Field Day‘s Wi-Fi Mobility Symposium 2012 (#WMS12) and Wireless Field Day 2 (#WFD2) events. Topic was BYOD and they certainly had quite a bit to share. I have tried to summarized the main points of discussion in this blog entry.

We just completed a survey of 130 retailers.  The survey highlighted following trends: Acceleration of iPad rollouts for customer facing staff Allowing store employees to bring their own devices (BYOD) Offering Wi-Fi access to in-store customers We knew that some retailers were considering iPad deployment to enhance in-store customer experience.  However, we were surprised at

We are happy to participate in this year’s Wi-Fi Mobility Symposium and Wireless Field Day events. In case you have not seen it yet, here is Aruba’s official release on the topic: http://bit.ly/xWEPuL. These events are designed to bring together product vendors and independent thought leaders, creating a forum for engagement, education, hands-on experience, and feedback. Several vendors in the WLAN industry

Expert interview series continue with Jon Green, aka. jgreen, and Carlos Gomez, aka. carlos, who joined me to talk about best practices in enabling secure authentication for employee and guest owned mobile devices. Let’s start with employees… who use one or more mobile devices to get their job done, in addition to using the standard IT assigned

We get a lot of questions about this new upcoming Wi-Fi standard and I thought it would be a good idea to talk to our in-house expert at Aruba on the topic. Here is a video of that conversation with Peter Thornycroft, aka. pthornycroft, a member of Aruba Networks Office of the CTO. As you might already

The answer is — it depends.  In residence halls, the number of devices has been growing rapidly.  The number of mobile device on the University of Washington’s campus (visit http://www.freshlymobile.com for latest device stats), for instance, has doubled in each of the past three years. Students are also increasingly streaming videos from Netflix and eLearning sites, putting

Time to start introducing some of the experts at our online community platform, Airheads Social One of Airheads Social moderators, Cameron Esdaile aka. -cam-, shares his top-5 tips for BYOD in the video below. I was able to capture his suggestions for IT engineers when it comes to ensuring network security, achieving ease deployment and perhaps most

Hi everyone, I’m very pleased to announce that Aruba has just posted a validated reference design for Outdoor MIMO Wireless Networks.  This is the first design guide from any vendor dealing with MIMO in outdoor environments. You can download a free copy here…http://www.arubanetworks.com/technology/reference-design-guides/ This Solution Guide is designed to help customers understand the Aruba system

I had a chance to chat with many Aruba certified engineers during the last few weeks. I asked them about why they have chosen to get certified and what benefits they have seen as a result of it. Here are the top-5 reasons and benefits. 1. Knowledge and practice is power for engineers in the networking industry. If you are a

Aruba’s Airheads Community offers social networking, technical certifications, member events and an industry-first MVP program for IT engineers in wireless LAN, security and mobile device management. Watch the Video! [youtube width="614" height="345"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MbRXYgANLCs[/youtube] Click here to learn more about the community!

While my team is constantly working to turn out new VRDs, some topics are easier to deliver in a more focused application note. To that end I’ve been working with members of our technical marketing team to turn out a series of app notes focused on guest access, DHCP fingerprinting, and voice access with our

Here at Aruba, we take a lot of pride in our philanthropic efforts.  It is one of the things I like best about working here.  On Saturday, October 15th,  some dedicated employees and I took to the streets…well, more like took to the park path…for a fundraising walk that raised money and awareness for the

Aruba’s customers and partners have already found multiple different use cases for point-to-point (PTP) wireless connections:  linking buildings on university campus, creating connections between offshore oil rigs, eliminating the need to pull fiber cable between buildings on opposite sides of a busy road, etc.  Because of this extraordinary demand, over the past several months multiple

Yesterday as I was sitting at the backstage of the international convention center in Barcelona listening to the CEO of Citrix deliver the keynote address for Synergy 2011, I was struck by the similarities in how Aruba and Citrix are solving IT challenges. The keynote was all about the need to reliably deliver content to

Just got back from Educause and here are my three key takeaways: 1.       Mobile Device Explosion Most campuses are seeing 50-100% growth in number of mobile devices.  No wonder “Wi-Fi upgrades” ranked as the top IT priority in our annual education survey.   Devices like the new Kindle are sure to add more fuel to the

Picture this. You are on your way to visit a potential customer. But you forget your iPad at the local Starbucks where you were working just before your meeting. You still have your company issued laptop so you continue to the customer meeting but not before you place a call to IT informing them about

Every year we’re treated to a slew of good Industry data on technology use and IT budgets in Higher Education. Results from a handful of surveys are typically released during the annual Educause event and this year was no exception.   Universities tend to be a good 2-3 year leading indicator for technology trends in the

The Motorola Droid RAZR is the iPhone’s newest rival. The RAZR is equipped with a Texas Instrument OMAP 4430 1.2GHz dual-core processor and 1GB of RAM. Spec-wise the new RAZR buries the 4S but usability and performance are also influenced by the OS and interface. Another competitive edge is the size–7.1mm, 127 grams, with a 4.3

iPhone 4S is NOW AVAILABLE! I’m sure you and everyone in the modern world is well aware of this. Apple stock is up and lines are out the door. Here’s a review. I’m guessing the iPhone 5 will be out within 9 months to herd the rest of the critics. I’ve been reading and hearing rave reviews

I really don’t get why AT&T, Sprint, and Verizon are being so finicky on whether to lock or unlock the new iPhone 4S. Sprint will be selling the 4S unlocked, then lock it via a software push once purchased. You can request it to be unlocked, again, if your account is in good standing. WTH…? Verizon

So, how many of you have downloaded or plan to download iOS 5? What’s your favorite new feature or which feature are you glad that Apple finally implemented–iMessage a la Blackberry, Notification Center like the Droids, Twitter integration…? These are all good and nice but I’m personally most excited about PC Free and the iCloud (5GB free).

The past couple of weeks have been a frenzy in the mobile world. Amazon released three Kindles; new Kindle, Kindle Touch, and their flagship–Kindle Fire. And, unless you live on a Survivor-esque remote island, you’ve heard about the Apple iPhone 4S. Apple also announced iOS 5 in which they will finally offer cloud-based services (iCloud). Pre-orders

We are truly fortunate to have lived in the same era as Steve. He changed the way we interact, learn, and create. From personal computers to animated movies to 1000 songs in your pocket to mesmerizing keynotes – I can’t remember a time when I wasn’t amazed by Steve. For Arubans, the paradigm-smashing contribution of

Last week, Amazon announced an amazing product! The Kindle Fire sports a dual-core processor, free storage in the cloud, an email client and an ultra-fast browser – Amazon Silk. While Amazon is aiming this device squarely at consumers, does anyone really think that people won’t bring them into the workplace? At just $199, you can

By now I’m sure you’ve heard the news about the latest certificate authority hack.  To summarize, on a couple of occasions someone has been able to break into the systems of public certificate authorities (trusted by Internet Explorer, Firefox, and others) and issue themselves fake certificates for the likes of google.com, cia.gov, and others.  At

I’m have to admit that I sometimes take perverse pleasure in my morning commute. Traffic jams are the ultimate social equalizer. Just yesterday I was stopped completely on the highway for what seemed like 10 minutes. On my right was a convertible Mercedes with a guy wearing a gold watch big enough to spot from

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and then of course comes the best day of the week, Friday.  Everyone loves Friday. It’s the end of the busy work week for most people and the start of a beautiful weekend with two days full of relaxation and ease.  The two reasons why I LOVE Friday’s around here. 1.

It happens all the time. Corporate IT policy dictates personal devices are not allowed. Then the CEO comes along with his iPad and wants to use it at work. The policy gets bent a bit to please the CEO, after all he’s THE CEO. Next week the CEO is at a barbecue party with some

If you did not know any better, you would think that Aruba is in the business of selling iPads. Browse our homepage and you will notice iPads everywhere. The truth is that Aruba does sell iPads….indirectly. Since there is no Ethernet (wired) port on the iPad, users need to rely on Wi-Fi (or 3G) services

As I mentioned in my last post, were making great progress on updating and expanding our collection of validated reference designs (VRDs). These guides are a series of fundamental technology discussions and turn key solutions for deploying Aruba WLANs. I am happy to announce that we’ve published our next VRD, a refresh to the Aruba

It’s hot – and I don’t mean the fact that we’re spreading WLAN cheer once again at Black Hat USA – just another beautiful August day in Las Vegas. And speaking of heating things up, did anyone happen to catch the creative method we employed for getting temporary AP’s out to coverage areas? It’s the

My First Day…. I’m going to be honest here. Joining Aruba as one of the younger interns this summer had me scared silly. I’m 16, and had zero background in technology, wireless LANs, MIMO with spatial diversity, dual-band radios and spectrum analysis. I actually thought that auto-sensing was a way for employees to get in

I’ve been marketing network security tools and solutions for some time. As a network security guy, I remember the time when wireless APs first started making some headway into the enterprise, and thinking to myself, “Wow, one of those APs could blow a huge hole through our building’s perimeter security – that’s not good.” Some

What’s the big deal about Aruba announcing that is has military-grade Suite B cryptography integrated with its wireless LANs? Well, the truth is, it’s a pretty big deal. Why? Because for the first time ever, commercial mobile devices – smartphones, tablets and laptops – can be used to securely access networks that handle sensitive but

As one of our previous bloggers wrote, “Arubans work hard, but play harder,”   I would have to agree.  Yesterday, July 20, the Human Resources team spent the day at AT&T Park in beautiful San Francisco to watch our World Series Champions finish a 3 game series against the LA Dodgers.  Our team enjoyed a day

Deploying an enterprise WLAN for the first time can seem like an overwhelming task for even the most experienced network engineer. There are new technologies to learn, new rules for design and deployment, and new management tools to master.  When I joined Aruba five years ago I had the same experience, like someone had just

Let’s face it; I am a young man who likes to eat food.  Preferably, food that tastes really good and comes in big portions.  I also like convenience.  Why should I travel long distances for something to eat when I can get it in just a short walk downstairs?  Granted, I could go get Subway,

What’s the most important thing you can do to ensure the security of enterprise data on an employee’s personal mobile device? It might surprise you – it’s the passcode used to unlock the device. If I lose my mobile phone, either accidentally or through theft, the passcode is the only thing keeping someone out of

Hello everyone, thanks for tuning in (can you say that in blogs?).  I have never blogged before, but I will try my best. I am one of the Product Marketing Managers here at Aruba, been with the company for over 6 years, consider myself lucky to be part of the team – has been a

I hate my deskphone. It’s big, doesn’t link to my directories, rings constantly from people trying to sell me something, and smells like Funyuns. For the most part it just sits there ruining my office swagger and taunting me with one last blue Ethernet cable that just won’t go away. But change is in the

From the checkout line, to online, to the mobile device at the waistline, the form and function of Point of Sale (POS) terminals have changed rapidly as the “points of sale” have evolved.  The Apple Store experience, the envy of the retail industry, has retail IT circles in a frenzy. If the conversations at the

The Aruba Networks marketing team is now in Philly for the largest gathering of K-12 IT professionals from June 26-29.  We have a 10×20 booth (Booth #931) showcasing our new Mobile Virtual Enterprise (MOVE) architecture.  This includes our Mobile Device Access Control (MDAC), Adaptive Radio Management (ARM), Interactive Learning, Aruba’s Virtual Instant Access (VIA), Airwave

I have been a part of Aruba Networks for a few months now, and if one thing is for certain, it is that this company has created an environment and culture aimed for success.  Upon my first interview with my hiring manger, I quickly realized that the usual business dress code of shirt and tie

We had a good event here in NYC at the Marquee Sponsor level of the Aberdeen Retail Summit.  We continue to review, evaluate and support event programs that target our core audience.  Aberdeen brought together 150 key retail executives from around the country and it allowed our retail solution experts and local sales and engineering

At Aruba we have fun! Not just your average run of the mill fun, but executive dunking, donut eating, photo taking, lunch time FUN! To thank us for our hard work executing our first multi-product ‘MOVE’ launch, our executives put together a lunch time recognition celebration! Dominic Orr, our CEO, kicked off the celebration by

Hi.  I manage Aruba’s global event marketing strategy & programs.  You’ll hear a lot from me specifically at relates to our presence, sponsorship and role in our global events.  My first post is coming to you right here from the Westin Times Square in NYC.   We have partnered with Aberdeen Group as a sponsor of

Rapid adoption of smartphones and tablets is causing massive disruption in the retail industry.  With the cheapest price just a click away, retailers are increasingly relying on customer service for differentiation.  To help retailers serve the “smart” shoppers, Aruba announced its award winning In-Store Mobile Marketing solution earlier this year.  Since then many retailers have

Earlier this week, at an investor’s conference, I asked the audience during my presentation to do a show of hands if they had an iPad. More than eighty percent of the audience raised their hands. Moreover, most of them of them had the device with them.  The audience also verified that most of them carried

From the early days of this company, when revenue was almost nothing, employees were few, products were scattered around our heads and desks and partners were still on the sidelines, we talked often about milestones, including what it would be like to someday have a $100M quarter. After seven years, we did it, last quarter.

With millions of iPads sold and all the market and media fervor around mobility, whole legions of university students now using iPads instead of (or in addition to) a laptop at school is no big deal, right? Not so fast. Lots has changed in the past few years with regard to mobility in education, perhaps

Most of us are warming to the iPad (and some of us have the tattoo). But it’s starting to become clear that the “i” couldn’t possibly stand for “interactive”. A device that’s so perfectly designed to improve interaction and collaboration in the enterprise is a victim of its own success. As the killer-apps changed from

A day in the office, why not a day at home?  The freedom that Aruba has given me to either work in or out of the office is one of the biggest attractions that drew me to this company. The ability to focus on school and extra-curricular activities, while maintaining an internship, is extremely appealing

When I speak with customers about a new product or solution, there is always interest in how we designed and built the functionality. What problems were we trying to solve? Where did the requirements come from? What design assumptions did we make? Today I thought I would provide some insight into our recently-announced Mobile Device

With the company’s first $100M+ quarter behind him, Aruba CEO Dominic Orr recently reminded us that we must continue to be the biggest, small company around no matter how big we get. As a new Aruban I had no idea what that meant, so I took to the Aruban halls and asked my co-workers. The

At Aruba, we have a tendency to work really hard to deliver networks to users, wherever they work or roam. That said we also understand the importance of taking a break once in a while and playing as hard, if not harder, than we work! A few years ago, our management team decided that instead

Introduction time – I’m Jon, and I’m an IT security geek.  I’m such an IT security geek that I went and got a college degree in the subject.  “Don’t you want a respectable degree like Engineering or Computer Science?”  Nope, I’d rather have something obscure that people ask if I ordered from a spam email.  My

By the time you finish reading this, everything will have changed. At least that’s the premise of this blog, of social media in general, and certainly what we are seeing in the incredibly dynamic wireless LAN (WLAN) market. Welcome to Aruba Atmosphere, a place for Aruba’s top executives to share their thoughts with you and

A lot has been said and written about how the iPad has changed our lives. The impact of employees bringing in their personal iPads to work however has not been given a lot of attention, a phenomenon now commonly referred to as Bring-Your-Own-Device or BYOD. The most critical pain point all IT Network administrators are

Working in Technology in the silicon valley, or anywhere around the world for that matter, is fast paced and intense.  Working hard and playing hard is not just a statement, its a state of mind.  Aruba Networks is one of the few places where we embody that in everything we do.  On this blog you will

Innovation Island is the new blog for everything Technology, Product, Solution…..and Innovation…. related to Aruba Networks.  We will bring you the latest information on our MOVE architecture with proof points on how customers are using it to drive business and technical improvements in their organization.  We will show how our world class partners are driving differentiation

Welcome to the new Aruba Networks Corporate Blog.  Over the coming days, weeks and months you will find the latest information on all things related to corporate positioning, thought leadership, executive comments, plus any related press and analyst report.  Stay tuned to see whats going on in our atmosphere, then head over to see whats happening on the Innovation Island,