"The LAN is dead" declares Aruba Networks on the company's web page as an introduction to its newly unveiled Mobile Virtual Enterprise (MOVE) architecture. Ranked as one of three leaders for wireless LAN (WLAN) infrastructure in Gartner's Magic Quadrant as of March 2011, Aruba is a profitable company and has more than 13,000 customers. The company says it is focused not only on delivering innovations in products, but new architecture level capabilities to help customers get ahead of their mobility curve.

I spoke to Chief Marketing Officer Ben Gibson over the phone about Aruba's MOVE architecture, and also sought his expertise on the topic of deploying Wi-Fi. With more than 20 years of enterprise networking and virtualization industry experience, Gibson gave some surprising nuggets of wisdom on WLAN deployments, and how wireless technology is more relevant than we think in businesses today.

FCIO: What is Aruba Mobile Virtual Enterprise (MOVE) and in what way does it offer a different approach to building an enterprise WLAN?

Ben Gibson: MOVE is the way to build an enterprise access network for the mobile era. It is a mobility-centric architecture that is focused on breaking down the silos of wireless and wired networks, and also delivers secure network access both on campus and off campus. Aruba MOVE delivers a common set of mobility services with quality of service that is network agnostic in that it works across all access mediums. The other component of MOVE involves the delivery of thin on-ramps. While wired and wireless were built as siloed networks in the past, we now bring them together with common services across both.

FCIO: There appears to be a focus on the iPad and iPhone with Aruba MOVE at the moment. Are there any plans to expand mobility support beyond the iOS platform?

Gibson: We are seeing a sharp demand to provide access for the devices that consumers are bringing into the workplace, but also to enable IT to retain security and control. MOVE facilitates precisely that: Easy self-provisioning of secure mobile access with minimum IT administration. Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPad and iOS devices are the first devices that we support, but they certainly won't be the last. This is an area that is rich in possibilities. 

FCIO: "Wired Ethernet is more secure, cheaper and far more stable." What is your response to this common conception of wired networking?

Gibson: It is a misconception that wired networking is more secure. When wireless rose in prominence over the past decade, there was a strong standardization push for encryption, to the point where wireless LANs are actively deployed for sensitive government applications. This is particularly true with Aruba Networks; instead of securing a port, you are securing a user, based on who they are, and not just the port that they are plugged into. Conversely, there are many wired networks where one can get into a network by simply plugging in an Ethernet cable. The strong focus on encryption at Aruba allows mobile networks to be utilized for the most secure purposes, including government deployments in sensitive areas.

From a cost perspective, simply moving from a wired-centric approach is far more cost effective. The conventional way of deploying Ethernet has seen the deployment of two, three, even four network ports per end-user, at a very high cost. This era of high costs for customers and rich profits for legacy wired vendors is coming to an end. A mobility-centric approach like Aruba MOVE provides the opportunity for customers to reduce their overall networking cost by 70 percent. We call it Network Rightsizing.

FCIO: Can the current generation of Wi-Fi truly enable enterprise-grade wireless client densities?

Gibson: The critical success factor is whether the Wi-Fi network is rich in its RF performance and capabilities to support these users. The second factor is that of network design. Aruba has validated reference designs that clearly outline solutions for these high-density networks. We have a multitude of high-density deployments such as sporting arenas, lecture halls and theaters--so the answer is absolutely yes.

FCIO: What is the worst mistake you have seen made as part of a Wi-Fi deployment?

Gibson: Not moving fast enough to deploy pervasive wireless. I was speaking to a customer in the last few days who told me the following: Three months ago, the number of simultaneous connections on his network was 11,000 to 12,000. That number grew to 20,000 just three months later. I'm not saying that this customer is making a significant mistake, but what I'm trying to say is that this BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) phenomenon may catch businesses that don't plan for pervasive wireless up front. The missed opportunity here would be to move too slowly to deploy them.

I am hearing from customers and from my personal interactions that there is more scrutiny in place within IT in network access strategies than we've seen before. That scrutiny is focused on how to get ahead of this mobility curve, but doing so while being very cost effective. I think it is critical for customers to turn a challenge into an opportunity by rethinking how to re-architect their LANs.

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