Held over 3 days across all major regions around the globe, this year the APAC leg of Aruba’s flagship annual event was held in Australia for the first time. Just over a week ago, 1200 peers converged on Sydney to learn, collaborate and discover the latest developments in Aruba technology.
With Atmosphere finally on our home turf, the Matrix CNI team were thrilled to fully immerse ourselves in the world of Aruba innovations as we mingled with like-minded attendees looking to harness some serious value from the Aruba product family.
We gathered all the key insights from the three days and wrapped them all up below, revealing what got attendees buzzing.
Less talk, more action – this year was all about use cases
While Atmosphere provides a platform for Aruba to announce new innovations or upcoming releases, the theme that really came to the fore for us was “less talk, more action”. We are constantly hearing the hype around the next big thing expected to hit the market, but what really struck attendees was that, at Aruba, these innovations are already here and they are already transforming organisations of any size. Throughout the event, we witnessed countless customers and prospects seeing these products in action for the first time. They were blown away by the possibilities.
Here’s just a few of the much-hyped innovations that are now very much a reality:
Dynamic Segmentation for IoT devices
Aruba explains Dynamic Segmentation as “simple and secure network access via automated policy enforcement”. Essentially, it enables the network to automatically segment traffic based on device profiles, and from there, diverting traffic from selected devices to the controller for further inspection and policy enforcement.
With IoT devices the new challenge for IT and network managers, this event was the first time that many have seen the power of dynamic segmentation first-hand. From providing role-based access control, a single point of enforcement, and enhanced fingerprinting of devices through to centralised management of policies – you could see the immediate demand for Dynamic segmentation.
A new improved and integrated Aruba Central
Central was once a simple cloud-based network management solution, but by combining NetInsight, Device Insight, and User Experience Insight with network management Aruba’s really up the ante! It’s now a market-leading solution delivering a powerful, scalable, secure network operations and assurance platform – all managed via a single pane of glass.
For existing customers, this is a welcome upgrade, and for prospects, it’s the answer to the decade-old ‘swivel chair’ management approach that brought about many headaches. This consolidated solution is further evidence of Aruba’s continuing data-driven approach to their product portfolio.
11ax + 5G – maybe we can have it all
Keerti Melkote, President & Founder at Aruba, took to the stage for his keynote session and explored the relationship between two of the biggest new influences in the industry – 11ax and 5G. Contrary to the popular belief that 5G could spell the end for wireless, the two standards will, according to Keerti, co-exist as complimentary solutions that can provide a seamless roaming experience. As Keerti stated, “all Gs are good to me” – 3G and 4G didn’t spell the end of wireless, and nor will 5G. You can dive deeper into 11ax and 5G in our recent blog posts.
Green APs for conserving energy and reduce costs
An impressive feature of Aruba’s new 11ax APs - when coupled with Aruba NetInsight - is Green AP Mode. Using predictive analytics and machine learning to identify usage patterns, NetInsight can predict when demand stops and starts. When it stops, NetInsight selectively instructs those access points that are idle to enter “deep sleep mode” to save energy. For organisations with one eye always on the bottom line, the potential savings of up to 70% in electricity costs is a seriously impressive outcome.
Aruba announced Matrix CNI as ANZ Partner of the Year – for the 4th year in a row
A particular highlight for the Matrix team at this year’s event was Aruba’s announcement that we again again took out ANZ Partner of the Year! This is the 4th year in a row we’ve achieved the honour.
With the team celebrating, Deni Saupin, our esteemed MD, shared:
“This award is a wonderful honour and really is a testament to our team’s commitment to providing the best service, coupled with our expert technical capability”.
Deke Rayner-Harvey, Channel Manager at Aruba South Pacific added, “We are thrilled to host the Atmosphere APAC event in Australia this year, and to welcome our partners from all over the region. As a predominantly channel-first organisation, we are honoured to celebrate the success of our partners and resellers, who are truly the backbone of our business.”
As the three-day event wrapped up for another year, we all walked away with deeper knowledge of Aruba’s product line and a stronger understanding of the impressive improvements Aruba can deliver for our wired wireless networks.
