Aruba History

It is often said that the best companies are born in the toughest of times. Aruba was born at just such a time – when the market for enterprise network infrastructure was in a deep freeze, and the broader economy was in the doldrums and still reeling from the aftershock of the September 11, 2001 tragedy. It was early 2002, and while enterprise spending on networking infrastructure had slowed to a trickle, consumer spending on wireless LAN technology was increasing steadily. Wireless access points were dropping significantly in price and consumers were finding the convenience of these wireless home networks extremely attractive. Suddenly, the whole family could access and share printers and Internet connections without running wires all over the house. This indicated a deep-rooted need for the freedom of mobility in everything we as consumers do in our lives.

Many of these consumers were also business people who wanted the convenience of mobility at work. After all, at work they needed to be even more mobile than at home. The popularity of cellular phones, laptops and other personal computing devices had created a groundswell for seamless mobile communications in the business world. But mobility at work was almost unknown. So, people started bringing the same consumer-class wireless access points into the office and–voila!–instant mobility at work. These access points were little personal networks that users could create for themselves independent of IT involvement. But for IT departments, these consumer access points created a gap in enterprise network security and led to an uncomfortable loss of control.

Addressing the irreversible trend towards mobility was the primary motivation behind the founding of Aruba Networks. The fundamental question that Aruba’s founders set out to answer was–How would enterprise computing and communications change if everyone was mobile?

In a completely mobile world, the edge of the network where users connect would be wireless. Further, this “wireless edge” would follow the user, wherever the user went–in the office, on the road and at home. This led to the concept of a mobile wireless edge that would move with the user and not be just an extension of the fixed enterprise network. If the Mobile Edge was everywhere a user went, then there would be no need for a fixed edge. This Mobile Edge over time, would replace the fixed wired edge as the primary network connection. Enterprises that deployed only a mobile edge could completely eliminate the capital costs of cabling buildings and the operational costs of moves, adds and changes.

The Mobile Edge was an idea that could completely transform the economics of the network itself and significantly influence the future of enterprise computing and communications. On the basis of this idea, the founders of Aruba Networks set out to build an enterprise-class solution that was optimized for mobility. Top-tier venture capital firms Matrix Partners and Sequoia Capital found the idea compelling enough to invest in Aruba in February 2002.

October 2002 saw the operation of the company’s very first prototype–it booted up, the lights went on, and mobile user traffic was flowing! Quickly this led to our first customer demonstrations in January of 2003 at the famed Tribecca Grill in New York City and at historic Faneuil Hall in Boston, first beta tests three months later in April 2003, and first customer shipments in June 2003.

Since then, Aruba has established a leadership position in a rapidly growing market, successfully deploying its products in thousands of top enterprises worldwide including some of the largest wireless LAN enterprise networks in the world.

But don’t just take our word for it, Aruba is now recognized by industry experts as having the top solution for secure, scalable, enterprise mobility.

It has been a very exciting ride, helping to create and shape this intriguing market. But, it seems to us, that with the unlimited potential inherent in The Mobile Edge, the best innovations are still to come.