Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) represents a fundamental shift in how businesses protect and connect their digital operations. As organizations accelerate their digital initiatives and cloud adoption, traditional network and security approaches like MPLS and traditional WANs are proving inadequate for today’s dynamic business needs in the era of the cloud. Below are seven use cases that demonstrate how delivers strategic advantages over conventional networking and security approaches.

Use Case 1: MPLS Migration to SD-WAN

Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) networks are known for their reliability and performance. While MPLS has certainly served enterprises well for over two decades, it comes with high costs and little adaptability. Think of MPLS as a subway system for your workloads that provides fixed routes and stations with reliable and predictable service.

Now think of SASE as a ride sharing alternative that offers dynamic routing based on current conditions as well as flexible pickup and drop-off locations. Consider that in addition to its ability to adapt quickly, it can significantly reduce costs and improve performance at the same time. Here is what transitioning from MPLS to SASE can provide for a typical business:

• Replace expensive dedicated MPLS lines with more affordable high-speed internet connections
• Reduce operational costs through simplified management
• Faster expansion capabilities for your business as SASE can get new offices online in days or even hours vs. the elongated process of MPLS
• Automatically routes traffic through the fastest path
• Improve access to both cloud services and your own data centers

The bottom line is that SASE gives you enterprise-grade network performance and security at a lower cost than MPLS, while being much faster to deploy and easier to manage.

Watch: WEI Roundtable Discussion On Cyber Warfare & Beyond

Use Case 2: Optimized Global Connectivity

for organizations grappling with high-latency and inconsistent network performance across their global footprint. Its architecture leverages a vast network of Points of Presence (PoPs) that function as strategically placed access points for users. Benefits to your business include:

• Reduced latency for global users of latency-sensitive applications like VoIP and video conferencing
• Cloud services that deliver uniform performance across international borders with smoother interaction
• Improved performance of collaboration tools for teams dispersed across different countries

Use Case 3: Secure Branch Internet Access

There is no doubt that the increased use of cloud applications and internet traffic has made securing the typical branch office challenging. SASE delivers a complete, built-in security stack directly from the cloud, protecting all branch traffic without the need for individual on-site security appliances. For your business, this means:

• No need to buy and manage security hardware at each office
• One unified set of security policies across all locations
• Security upgrades and updates are handled by the SASE provider, thus reducing the management burden of your internal IT Team.

Perhaps the biggest benefit is the fact that your organization can kiss the concept of backhauling all your internet traffic to a datacenter or regional hub goodbye. It isn’t necessary anymore thanks to SASE. Not only does that translate into reduced latency but also provides an enhanced user experience for your branch office employees.

Use Case 4: Secure Branch Internet Access

What matters most in real estate is location, location, location. That applies to cloud computing as well. The faster you can access workhorse cloud applications, the more productive your users can be. SASE providers strategically position their PoPs to maximize cloud connectivity. In fact, often times these PoPs share the same datacenter footprint as major cloud providers (such as AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, etc.). This co-location results in near-zero latency between SASE and cloud services. That is like having a dedicated fast lane connected to your cloud service providers, meaning that you don’t have to trod along in the crowded regular lanes that everyone else is taking. For your business this means that:

• Better performance than both public internet and traditional MPLS
• Creates near-instant connections to cloud services
• Reduced costs and complexity as SASE eliminate the need for costly MPLS circuits or additional cloud appliances.

Now add greater flexibility, as administrators can define application-level rules within the SASE platform that determine where cloud application traffic should exit the SASE network. With SASE, security doesn’t have to be complex.

Watch: Innovation Lives Here At WEI

Use Case 5: Remote Access Security and Optimization

It isn’t just on-prem branch users that were stuck with the one-size fits all MPLS architecture to address their hybrid workloads. Remote users were stuck with legacy VPN for remote access. While branch users were constrained by inflexible MPLS architecture for hybrid workloads, remote users faced similar challenges with legacy VPN solutions. SASE offers a more sophisticated approach as it employs Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) technology. Rather than granting access to the entire network like legacy VPN, it allows the granular control to authenticate users to specific resources. This means that:

• Each user only sees and accesses what they’re authorized to use
• The risk of lateral movement within the network is reduced
• Remote users experience security and performance equivalent to office-based workers
• Elimination of slow or unreliable VPN connections

At the same time, it may come as a surprise as this heightened security comes with a simplified user experience. That’s because a single mobile client software provides access to all necessary resources, streamlining the process for remote workers.

Use Case 6: Work from Home

As you may be recognizing, SASE architecture is designed to provide an optimal experience for users within hybrid enterprises. This is especially true for work from home workers. By implementing SASE, organizations can provide their work-from-home employees with a seamless extension of the office environment. Thinks of it as enterprise-grade home access that ensures:

• Employees get the same fast, secure connection they had in the office
• Security automatically follows the respective worker home
• Reliable access to both cloud and company applications

SASE surpasses traditional VPNs by providing a cloud-scale infrastructure capable of supporting thousands of concurrent connections, ensuring seamless access for all remote employees. By incorporating self-service provisioning, consistent security policies, and continuous threat inspection, SASE has established itself as an ideal solution tailored for the demands of the hybrid work era.

Watch: How SASE Will Simplify Your Network & Security

Use Case 7: Consolidate and Streamline Networking and Security Management

People tend to gravitate towards the simpler solution. SASE provides streamlined simplicity as it consolidates network and security management into a single platform. eliminating the need to juggle multiple consoles. With SASE you can:

• Configure, manage, and report on the entire infrastructure from one interface
• Gain a holistic view of the network and security landscape
• Reduce time spent switching between different management tools

In the face of the growing complexity of business networks today, SASE streamlines the management experience, making it easier for IT to optimize the user experience.

Closing Thoughts

SASE is redefining how businesses approach network and security, offering a unified solution for protecting users, applications, and data across a distributed IT landscape. However, making the shift requires a thoughtful strategy and the right expertise to ensure seamless integration with existing infrastructure.

At WEI, we specialize in helping enterprises navigate this shift with tailored SASE solutions that align with your unique business goals. Our team of cybersecurity experts understands the complexities of modern IT environments and can provide the strategic guidance and hands-on support needed to ensure a seamless transition. Whether you’re evaluating SASE, planning an implementation, or optimizing an existing deployment, WEI is here to help.

Contact us today to start the conversation and unlock the full potential of SASE for your business.

Next Steps: What do leading industry analysts really think about SASE, its benefits, use cases and long-term enterprise adoption? As you’ve probably guessed from reading the title, industry analysts have widespread regard for SASE, with Gartner estimating that 60% of enterprises will employ a SASE strategy by 2025. But why? Read the form your own opinion of SASE based on analyst insights, and decide if SASE is a fit for your enterprise needs.

The post SASE In Practice: 7 Scenarios Where It Beats Traditional Approaches appeared first on IT Solutions Provider - IT Consulting - Technology Solutions.

In my previous article, I wanted to show people what SASE is, what SASE is NOT, what ZTNA 2.0 means, and how this architecture and mindset can benefit your organization. Here, I want to take things to the next step and discuss the common pain points that lead customers towards a SASE solution as well as help answer any key questions that may lead to a network/security/WAN transformation.

Finally, I wanted to remind anyone reading this article: The SASE help you need is here! Now, let’s dive in.

Customer Pain Points? Enter SASE!

Many enterprise networking environments today have legacy networking and security production environments, consisting of various point products (many of which are managed separately and do not correlate data together as a platform), mostly due to budget constraints and organic growth over time, with users and perimeters everywhere.

There are also greenfield, hybrid greenfield, and brownfield environments that need guidance and a solid framework to navigate today’s growing security concerns and threat landscape.

WEI Workshop: How SASE Will Transform Your Network & Security

Remember, we have an ever-expanding attack surface, an ever-expanding company perimeter (this includes every user and application), most employees are off site, and most of your data is off site and in the cloud/SaaS applications. Each of these factors produce data leaks, which results in one giant perfect storm when trying to secure data!

Today, there are many security and WAN/network transformation issues which companies are faced with, including:

• ZTNA (Zero Trust Network Access): You might have many security point products (firewalls, URL filtering appliances, IDS/IPS appliances, etc.) and wonder if these products in your environment are built upon the 5 pillars of ZTNA (least privilege access, continuous trust verification, continuous security inspection, protection of all data, and protection of all applications). , a viable SASE product ought to be architected and built upon the 5 pillars of ZTNA.
• Costs: Rising year-over-year costs for networking and security infrastructure, which only increases when you have to maintain many security appliance point products. This includes firewalls, outdated URL filtering appliances, explicit proxy appliances or services, WAN edge routers, an IDS/IPS appliance, a CASB (cloud access security broker), an RBI service (remote browser isolation/enterprise web browsing)…the list is endless. Admins need to upgrade these items, maintain patching, power, and cooling for appliances. Each device or service has its own licensing, configuration console, etc. These devices can be considered legacy, possibly missing the mark on security needs. Replace them, start the process today and downsize the number of manufacturers in your environment!
• Breaches: The looming fear of breaches/security events, issues affecting your environment, and not knowing if the products in your environment are secure or even industry compliant. Do you have the best practice security recommendations configured? Do you have a product that prevents known and zero day (unknown) malware?
• Client VPN
  • Having the need to replace legacy insecure client VPN solution(s): Legacy VPN solutions likely only have the ability to allow [mobile user traffic, whatever that is and where it is destined to], then ignores user traffic such that, once connected, the user can access anything in the enterprise networking environment. Further, these mobile users are not verified by technologies such as two-factor or machine authentication. Authenticating the actual desktop that the user is using to connect to your environment ensures that this device is a company certified asset prior to user authentication. What to do if the user has a BYOD device that is connecting to your environment? How do you posture check this device, how do you ensure that certain internal user groups only have access to certain applications (and not others) while other internal user groups only have access to other applications? What to do if the user is an outside contractor requiring limited access to targeted applications to only perform certain specific functions?
  • Infected Desktops: What happens if a VPN user connects to a corporate environment with an infected or non-compliant machine? What happens if VPN user’s desktop becomes infected while connected to the corporate environment?
  • Solid User Experience: Most client VPN connections in today’s enterprise network environments are backhauled to one HQ or data center site to a firewall. The data is processed from that egress point out to the Internet or to a remote branch. What happens if the user is in California then VPNs back to a data center in New York, only to then have the data go to a website in San Francisco? Or worse, what if the users are not in the U.S. but need to VPN back to one site in the U.S. just so that security can be applied? So, when a user connects to your corporate environment via client VPN, how do you mitigate adverse factors to ensure a solid user experience without latency, jitter, or delay? Because of this, admins opt to use “split tunneling” to improve mobile user experience. This way, the mobile user traffic can route back to a corporate office when needed, but go to the Internet via the mobile user’s home Internet connection. Problem solved, right? Not so fast! Now, the admin can no longer secure the mobile user’s Internet traffic (or at least making this more difficult, prompting the admin to buy yet another point product or cloud service to solve this issue). Also, there still might be latency getting to applications etc., but now the admin has zero visibility, bringing us to our next issue.
• Lack of Visibility: If mobile users encounter broken connectivity, intermittent jitter, delay, packet loss, or overall slowness getting to one application but not another, or latency when accessing all applications then how and where do go to you triangulate the root cause? What if you want visibility into user traffic, the applications they are using, and the applications they are experiencing latency in? You also may want to identify why the latency is occurring, when it is happening, and the frequency of the reported latency.
• WAN Transformation: What if, during your WAN transformation, you want a guaranteed performance increase/uptime for users and applications? There is an increasing need to completely transform the Wide Area Network (WAN) due to expensive leased lines (MPLS specifically), while eliminating single points of failure and building in resiliency which was never there before, while safeguarding against application brownout where chatty bandwidth intensive applications can “starve” out the traffic from other applications. This causes jitter/delay/latency or even outages with little or NO visibility into the root cause, while possibly bonding WAN links together as one overlay while securing traffic as it moves between networks (“East-West”) at each branch and data center.
• Staying or Going: Most companies, especially since the pandemic, have branches with expiring equipment, expiring licenses, expensive maintenance/upkeep/rent/real estate, etc. Are there branches you can “sunset”? If so, you can save on the aforementioned costs. If so, you’ve also increased your mobile user headcount.
• Expanding and Contracting Mobile User Headcount: Wouldn’t it be easier to have one service that is architected to sustain an expanding and contracting headcount of on-prem users and mobile users?
• Sprawling Corporate Perimeters: Today, fewer people travel to the office five days a week. This means one thing: more mobile users and increased reliance on private or public SaaS (software as a service) applications. When your users are working on the road or from home, each office is still a perimeter. But, now, each user becomes a corporate perimeter (multiplied by the number of users) because each desktop (and each individual desktop data connection to the Internet and back to corporate) must be secured. You also have SaaS applications with data containing your personal or corporate intellectual property. This is your company’s “secret sauce” which is simply “out there” living within applications that you have no control over. Your network and perimeters are now sprawling out of control with no strategy to “herd all the cats” to get all your data secured via one service, while doing so with as little latency as possible. Regarding the SaaS applications, what if you want to know who that information is being shared with and where it has gone recently? Does it contain malware? Who has rights to access it via download, who can upload data, or who should not have rights to access this information? Every user and every application is a corporate perimeter. Never forget that the frontline is everywhere…literally everywhere your employees are.
• Global Connectivity: WHAT IF on a GLOBAL basis, you want to interconnect all your mobile users/remote branches/data centers together while securing SaaS applications, while performing DLP for application traffic, while having visibility into all traffic traversing this service, WHILE doing all of this securely/preventing known malware and zero day malware with a product which is deployed GLOBALLY (so, wherever the user is, wherever the branch or data center is, the SASE service is local to YOU!), while managing this SASE service with one GUI?

Ask Yourself And Your Team The Tough Questions

• List out your current pain points about your network and network security. What keeps you up at night? What does the company really value and what is core to the business? What do you like and dislike about your current network and network security? What is preventing you from achieving your transformation and security goals?
• What does “ZTNA” mean to your organization? I defined ZTNA in my previous article, but what does it mean and how does it impact YOU?
• Does your organization have a consistent security posture which can be easily implemented for all users, all mobile users, all sites, all applications everywhere?
• Then, ask yourself: Why make changes based on your business initiatives? What is the technology gap you are faced with? How do those issues map to meet or miss business goals? What is your ideal business outcome and why solve it now? What is the risk of doing nothing vs. strengthening your network and security posture ASAP?
• Regarding the risk of doing nothing, always remember: an exploit (an attack sequence used by an attacker) targets a vulnerability (flaw in the software targeted by the attacker that, when targeted, produces a result intended by the attacker but unforeseen by the customer) to create a code execution (aka, deploy malware code and executables). What is your organization doing, right now, to prevent known and zero-day malware? And how do you know that it’s working? How do you even know whether or not you, your co-workers, or your entire organization has been breached? Typically, no one ever knows. If they do find out, it is typically a minimum of 60 days after the fact. Most breaches happen silently. Why would the attacker want to alert anyone? They don’t want to interrupt what they’re doing while they continually interrupt what you’re doing! Why let them leach off you for free? These people are on your payroll and you don’t even realize it. Fix the glitch!
• How can I proactively mitigate the inception and spread of zero day malware in real time at the “front door” so I can stop being reactive to the spread of malware?
• Are you drowning in log spam and have no way to figure out the alerts to focus on? Which alerts correlate together?
• Why are you considering one vendor vs. another and do they fully cover ZTNA 2.0? Do they fully mitigate zero-day malware?
• How many workers do you have worldwide? Including contractors, what is the projected number 3-5 years from now? Which geographic locations do they reside in? Where will they be in the future…traveling, perhaps? How many remote workers at peak times? Do workers need to “phone home” back to your company or do they access SaaS applications directly via the Internet? How is mobile user data kept safe while the user is at home or traveling?
• When a user is remote, is VPN enough security? How is a user and their device authenticated?
• Least Privilege Access and Continuous Trust Verification: Can I trust users (identity by User-ID and Group-ID) and devices to access specific applications and internal or Internet based corporate resources the entire time? Are users doing the right things while connected? How do you know? How do they know?
• How do you ensure that “X” group of users can only access “X” group of applications? Same question regarding contractor access to your organization! How do you police this?
• How many branches do you have, are all of them staying or going? Do you have legacy edge appliances at the Internet edge at the branches? How do you enforce security either way? How much bandwidth is needed at each branch? Do the branches need to access each other? How do branches access the data centers? Is that access sufficient or does it need improvement? Are you currently backhauling (user/branch) data connections and causing unnecessary latency? Are you prioritizing business critical and latency-sensitive application traffic?
• Can you perform micro-segmentation at the branch?
• Do remote workers need to access the branches and data centers, or just the data centers?
• How are you enforcing security when people and applications “scatter”? How do you know?
• How are you networking to and reaching applications in the Data Center/reaching Cloud or Internet applications?
• Most companies use SaaS applications. Which SaaS applications does your company use and rely on today? Is access to every application allowed for every user? Is access to all data in the application allowed for every user? Which applications are trusted and for which users/which applications are blocked for certain users and not others? Which applications are blocked for all users? Which applications are tolerated? How are applications used? How is the application set up and is it set up securely? Where is your data going? Is it being shared elsewhere? Does it contain malware? Do you know and do you have visibility into all of this? What about Data loss (leak) prevention? What about policy recommendations and compliance for applications and access to sensitive data?
• For Internet or cloud-based applications, do you have per-application/per-user visibility when things go wrong intermittently?
• Are you doing SSL/TLS decryption at scale without oversubscribing your resources?
• If you want to change your security and WAN architecture, can you implement this security quickly, everywhere, at hyper-scale, cost friendly, and without oversubscription?
• Lastly, remember: Most people feel that the product priced the lowest wins. This is exactly the wrong mentality when it comes to security. Think to yourself: what if the company gets breached? If so, the brand, the name, and the entire company is at risk and with it, all of our data is at risk. How much would you pay to secure your data, your intellectual property, the “secret sauce” of the products you sell? How much is all of that worth (hint: there’s no way to quantify this)? What keeps the owners of the company up at night? Does your current security solution keep pace with the threat landscape? The best idea is to buy a product that is scalable and mitigates zero day malware!

Real World Examples

Let’s consider two scenarios: (1) a legacy enterprise network without SASE and (2) that same network transformed with the power of SASE.

Legacy Network

Please see the network diagram below. This diagram is a composite of several real-life legacy networks observed over the years.

(click to enlarge)

This is a complicated diagram. Simplifying it, let’s go over what we see:

• Mobile Users: Several hundred or even several thousands of mobile users using desktops of various operating systems. While at home, the mobile users have insecure, unfettered access to the Internet. The mobile users use client VPN to connect back to the “Boston” site. They are dispersed throughout various geographic areas in North America (average latency to connect to Boston from Southern California: ~70-one00ms), several in Europe (average latency to connect to Boston: one00-200ms), Asia and India (average latency to connect to Boston: 300ms). Most mobile users are internal “trusted” employees. Some mobile users are external contractors. All users need to connect back to the “Boston” site (corporate HQ) and the “Penn” (data center) site to access resources, such as private applications, remote desktop sessions, etc. But, these connections are backhauled, causing latency. Mobile users are allowed to connect, trusted, allowed, then their traffic and connections are ignored by admins.
• Branches: Branch users connect to the Internet via their local ISP. Two branches have “next-gen firewalls” (UK, Pakistan). Several branches either connect to the Internet via routers or legacy firewalls (China, India, Africa, Brazil). All branches connect back to the Boston and Penn sites via expensive MPLS connections. The global MPLS contract expires in 8 months. The company is trying to decide whether or not to keep MPLS. Several branches will be going away soon. All users at those branches will become mobile users. Branches connect to each other via site to site VPN if MPLS is down. Certain branches have full legacy SD-WAN connectivity to each other if MPLS is down, but they do not have backup connections to other branches. All branches backhaul connections to Boston and Penn sites, causing latency.
• SaaS Applications: All users (mobile users, branch users, Boston users, Penn servers) connect to the Internet via their local ISP. Consequently, they connect to their public SaaS applications via their local ISP as well. Most of the company’s intellectual property is “housed” within these SAAS applications with no security and no visibility into who is accessing what.
• Is there next-gen L3 through L7 security? Very little in this environment.

Now, let’s briefly dive into the issues with this network:

• Many different types of WAN edge devices at each branch. This is a cobbled WAN with no consistent WAN backup link strategy. Admins manage each device one by one, causing inconsistent security policies and complications leading to human error. When branches reach other branches (moving East-West), they do so mostly without firewall enforcement, meaning that a malware outbreak will be allowed to happen.
• Branches and mobile users backhaul connections to Boston and Penn. This causes network-wide latency.
• Branch WAN edge devices do not have the capability to route applications over specific links or apply QOS (quality of service) or any other type of priority based on mission critical or latency sensitive applications
• Branches connect to each other via MPLS. MPLS is an expensive legacy WAN technology. Further, branches could be connecting to each other using both MPLS links and Internet links, bonding both links together. Thus, there are expensive WAN links and very little security.
• Mobile users are allowed to connect to any resource on the Internet, to any branch and to any SaaS application. This is “allow and ignore”. This is a security breach waiting to happen!
• Each branch, data center, HQ, user desktop is a perimeter. Perimeters expanding out of control. There is no inline security inspection.
• If there is intermittent latency when accessing a SAAS application, it can be impossible to triangulate the root cause due to lack of user and application visibility.
• There is a long overdue, dire need for WAN transformation and ubiquitous next-gen L3 through L7 security with SaaS Security and ZTNA 2.0

The Same Network Transformed With SASE

This is the same network as above transformed with SASE. Please see the network diagram below.

(click to enlarge)

• Site-to-site VPN and WAN Transformation with SD-WAN: Backhauling site-to-site traffic is eliminated completely as all site-to-site traffic traverses the SASE service. Combining multiple WAN “underlay” links (ex. Internet and MPLS links, secondary and tertiary Internet links) as primary and secondary “overlay” paths while prioritizing mission critical and latency sensitive applications. Eventually, admins can remove expensive WAN links, replacing them with more cost effective links. All site-to-site WAN traffic traverses the FWaaS feature of the SASE service, preventing East-West malware outbreaks
• Mobile User Transformation: Although mobile users are geographically dispersed, the SASE service is local to each user within their geographic region. This eliminates backhauling of mobile user connections (client VPN, clientless VPN, SDP, explicit proxy etc.) to a regional headquarters site. Mobile user desktops are posture checked to ensure that they are trusted devices with software updated to certain patch levels, etc. Mobile users are authenticated, via a central user database, then challenged with “two-factor” authentication. Mobile user traffic to branches/data centers/Internet traverses the FWaaS, keeping mobile user traffic secured. Mobile users are segmented such that certain user groups can access certain applications while other user groups can access other applications but not applications used by another user group, etc. Contractors only have access to certain applications.
• Cloud-Delivered Next-Gen Security as a Service with ZTNA 2.0 (Least Privilege Access, Continuous Trust Verification, Continuous Security Inspection, Protect all Data, Protect all Applications over any protocol): Zero-Day Malware Prevention/FWaaS/SWG/Explicit Proxy* (depends on the vendor, not a requirement for SASE but a “nice to have”/CASB/client and clientless VPN)
• Scalable SSL/TLS Decryption: for your environment, globally, without risk of oversubscription!
• Operational Efficacy, via One Management Console: Your environment GLOBALLY and Local everywhere. Elastic, scalable, redundant, and five 9s uptime.
• Visibility with DEM: To help organizations monitor and improve application and user experience with the ability to triage packet loss, jitter, delay and latency for each user accessing each application while traversing the SASE service by monitoring each application session, testing performance and collecting data to be used to triage issues
• SAAS Security with CASB and DLP: Protection of SaaS applications from cyber threats/application posture/identity based application security/data governance. Sanctioning certain applications. Blacklisting unsanctioned applications. Tolerating certain applications. Inspection for data at rest, data in motion (upload/download), remediation of misconfigured security settings in sanctioned applications via continuous monitoring. Detailed application use analytics and visibility. Enforcement of who gets access to what data. DLP (data loss prevention) to prevent intellectual property from being accessed by unauthorized users/data discovery/who owns the data and policy for that data, who will get in trouble if that data is leaked? How is the data classified?

Help is Here!

All these issues can be solved by one SASE service which can deliver features such as: Firewall as a Service (FWaaS) to secure mobile user traffic/branch to branch/branch to data center/branch to Internet/mobile user to branch/mobile user to data center/mobile user to Internet traffic/prevent known and unknown malware outbreaks, delivering SD-WAN for optimal application prioritization and WAN transformation, CASB and SAAS Security with DLP, visibility into all traffic traversing the SASE service with “DEM” (digital experience management monitoring). This product can replace many appliances and point products. The product can deliver ZTNA 2.0 and can be managed via one GUI as one cloud-delivered, scalable, global SASE service. Imagine, one perimeter to meet your security needs to help you transform your network, while helping to solve and prevent security issues on an environment-wide globally scalable basis!

SASE takes your network from technologies that worked well in the 1990’s, the 2000’s, the 2010’s and earlier in the 2020’s, then systematically layers features on top of the service to arrive at the ultimate goal of YOUR enterprise network security built within the ZTNA 2.0 framework. SASE is “Networking and Security 2.0”.

Always remember: With SASE, the goal is SECURITY and WAN transformation, not simply access or set it then forget it! Oftentimes, network and security engineers connect their users and environment to a SASE service, add a few firewall rules, then call it a day. This is exactly the WRONG thing to do. Establishing connectivity to a SASE service is only the first step in your journey to achieving ZTNA 2.0.

Worth reiterating: If you’ve only deployed the “Secure Access” part of SASE, you have begun. But, never forget that you are only at the ground floor as far as accomplishing the ultimate goal, which is to the secure that edge! Do mountaineers stop climbing once they reach Everest base camp? No, and protecting an enterprise network environment demands collective action and trust is a vulnerability. Once connectivity has been established to a SASE service, you must take advantage of the “Service Edge” functionality or you are not using the product to its full advantage to protect “DAAS” (data, assets, applications and services). Keeping going until you have consumed all of the features at the “Service Edge” layer of SASE that you need for your environment.

When protecting your environment, do NOT forget about SaaS Security and DLP. Do NOT “kick the can down the road” on this. If you are not securing users, applications and the data which users can access, you are NOT and never will be doing ZTNA 2.0. Use the features at your fingertips. They work! And, they will not cause interruptions when deployed properly.

If your organization has these challenges, your organization should consider SASE:

• Geographically dispersed mobile users/need strict authentication/need posture checks/”allow and ignore” stance toward user traffic but has a desire to move towards tight mobile user security
• Need for secure, yet limited contractor access
• Several branches, data centers and HQ locations, all geographically dispersed and Backhauling Traffic
• Business Growth (users and locations)! Or sporadic growth at times (elasticity!)
• Need to remove or combine usage of expensive WAN links, but also want to do East-West Security across a WAN = Need for WAN transformation with micro-segmentation at the branch
• Branch or office downsizing = increase in # of mobile users and need for app security!
• Any customer who does not have consistent Security Posture everywhere or have a Security Strategy
• Need to secure SaaS apps with Visibility into user and application traffic
• Any customer whose attack surface is expanding (expanding perimeter) and they do NOT have a handle on it!
• Striving towards a ZTNA 2.0 security posture

Do you need help in your journey to SASE, SaaS Security, WAN transformation, ZTNA 2.0 or any of the features mentioned in this blog? Please reach out to either myself or any of our cybersecurity experts. Let’s meet in person for a conversation on how we can help. Thanks for reading!

Next steps: Watch WEI’s webinar focused on Prisma Cloud by Palo Alto

The post Deep Dive: How SASE Redefines The Enterprise Perimeter appeared first on IT Solutions Provider - IT Consulting - Technology Solutions.

Imagine this: you’re leading an important video conference presentation for a long-sought-after prospect. Suddenly, the call stutters, pixelates, and then drops entirely. To no fault of your own, your dynamite presentation and prepared notes are of no use as the prospect is left with a sour taste. This frustrating scenario, which many have experienced either during a virtual sales pitch or during internal team meetings, exposes the faults of a complex network environment.

Network growth, the increased usage of IoT devices, and evolving end-user behaviors are pushing traditional network management approaches to the limit. This leaves IT teams overloaded and struggling to keep up with day-to-day tasks. 

Thankfully, are revolutionizing the way organizations manage networks. Let’s explore how it proactively supports and empowers IT personnel by tackling these common workload challenges.

The Burden Of Network Complexity

As our dependence on connections increases, network complexity becomes a growing challenge. This manifests in several ways:

• Exponential Data Growth: Increasing data volume, applications, and mobile devices puts immense pressure on network capacity. This data surge creates bottlenecks, hindering network performance and overall functionality.
• IoT Integration: The integration of IoT devices adds another layer of complication. Each device contributes to network traffic and requires specific configurations, further straining IT resources and management time.
• Shifting User Behavior: User behavior is constantly evolving, demanding a network that adapts and delivers consistent performance. The rise of cloud-based applications, video conferencing, and bandwidth-intensive activities further strains traditional network infrastructure. Uptime is no longer the single measurement for network performance – it is the speed at which it delivers as well.

In turn, network administrators spend an inordinate amount of time on reactive troubleshooting, manually monitoring performance metrics, and configuring network settings. These tasks, while critical, are often repetitive and time-consuming, and leave little room for strategic planning and proactive initiatives. For an aspiring IT professional, this is not an ideal long-term scenario.

From Reactive To Proactive

AI analyzes network data and predicts potential problems before they arise. Imagine a network that anticipates congestion and automatically reroutes traffic, preventing users from ever experiencing lag. This proactive approach minimizes downtime and ensures a seamless user experience. However, the benefits extend far beyond mere prediction. AI is not a replacement for the human element in network management. Instead, it is a powerful tool that complements the skills and expertise of today’s IT professionals.

The combination of AI-driven automation and human intelligence allows organizations to achieve a level of network performance and efficiency by:

• Allowing Teams To Focus On Strategic Initiatives: IT personnel can dedicate more time to strategic initiatives like security assessments, network optimization projects, and exploring new networking solutions that align with business goals.
• Enhancing Skills: With AI handling mundane tasks, IT professionals can hone their skills in areas like network security, automation, and cloud networking. This upskilling allows them to contribute at a higher level and become true strategic partners within the organization.
• Improving Decision-Making Process: AI provides into network performance, enabling informed decision-making. IT leaders can leverage these insights to optimize network resources, prioritize projects, and make informed investments in network infrastructure.

AI Networking: Your Partner in Network Management

puts these concepts into action. This cloud-native platform leverages the power of AI in network management to enhance efficiency, streamline operations, and unlock new levels of productivity. This translates to significant benefits including:

• Automated Insights And Baselining: AI analyzes historical data to establish performance baselines for your network. Deviations from these baselines trigger alerts, allowing IT teams to identify potential issues before they snowball into major outages.
• Predictive Maintenance: AI analyzes network data to predict potential hardware failures. This proactive approach enables pre-emptive maintenance, minimizing downtime and ensuring optimal network performance.
• Automated Workflows: HPE Aruba Networking Central automates routine network tasks, such as configuration changes and security updates. This significantly reduces human error and frees IT teams from tedious chores.
• Intelligent Search And Troubleshooting: HPE Aruba Networking Central’s leverages Generative AI (GenAI) and large language models (LLMs) to understand your queries in natural language and deliver insightful results. This streamlines troubleshooting and empowers network analysts to resolve issues faster.

AI-driven networking solutions are ushering in a new era of proactive network management. This shift frees IT teams from the burden of tedious network maintenance. With newfound bandwidth, they can now dedicate their expertise to driving innovation and pursuing strategic initiatives that propel organizations forward. This is the true potential of AI networking: a future where IT teams are empowered to focus on what matters most.

Final Thoughts

As networks become more complex, AI networking evolves from a mere option to a proven strategic advantage. It unlocks a new era of network efficiency and growth, empowering businesses, and freeing IT teams for strategic initiatives.

WEI, with its expertise in AI and HPE Aruba Networking Central, simplifies your network operations to ensure reliable performance. Contact our team of experts today to unlock the transformative power of AI networking.

Next steps: Download our free tech brief, This tech brief identifies the three main components of HPE Aruba Networking’s powerful EdgeConnect Enterprise platform:

• Physical or Virtual SD-WAN Appliance
• HPE Aruba Networking Orchestrator
• HPE Aruba Networking Boost

This free tech brief also expands on:

• The Advanced SD-WAN Solutions of Today
• Breaking Down HPE Aruba Networking EdgeConnect Enterprise
• Why Basic SD-WAN Is No Longer Enough
• Why MPLS Hub-and-spoke Topology Is Obsolete

The post How Can AI Solutions Bring Network Operations Efficiency To IT Teams? appeared first on IT Solutions Provider - IT Consulting - Technology Solutions.

In the competitive world of technology, one of the biggest challenges for IT leaders is adapting to evolving tactics and changes in network connectivity. This is similar to professional sports, as offensive and defensive schemes often change during a season due to trending playbook wrinkles. Team leaders that deploy dated scheming eventually fall behind in on-field play and their win-loss record will reflect this. In the world of IT, outdated network architectures and middleware lead to more serious burdens with hindered device management and security. As a result, many enterprises can’t fully enjoy the benefits of cloud technologies and digital transformation.

Just as there are sports teams behind the curve, there are companies falling behind in the era of multi-cloud networks and hybrid architectures. These enterprises still rely on legacy network topologies, technologies, and middleware that served them well for more than a decade. Consequently, they are unable to fully exploit the benefits of their acquired cloud technologies. For instance, many organizations still rely on legacy hub-and-spoke networks that cannot accommodate the dynamic workloads and diverse data flows that dominate the modern enterprise. 

Other IT leaders are still relying on scattered VPN tunnels that are highly inflexible and reduce application performance. Many are also burdened with middleboxes, in the form of routers, firewalls, VPN appliances, etc. These elements require individual configurations and maintenance, adding to the workload of overwhelmed IT teams.

A New Game

IT leaders are searching for a new way of doing things. This includes routing traffic and robust security that doesn’t disrupt business operations. In this era of multi-cloud networks and hybrid architectures, Juniper’s provides a game-changing solution. The integrated service presents an entirely software-based platform to seamlessly merge with your existing setup, eliminating the need for complex and expensive forklift upgrades.

The Need For A Session Smart Network

With Juniper’s solution, your network becomes responsive and efficient, enabling seamless communication and data flow in your organization. This empowers your business to embrace cloud technologies, modernize your network infrastructure, and adapt to evolving challenges effortlessly.

Juniper Session Smart SD-WAN brings a plethora of benefits that can revolutionize your business and propel you ahead toward digital transformation. Here are some of the trending benefits that stood out for us:

1. Reduced Operational Expenses: Juniper Session Smart SD-WAN streamlines operations by minimizing labor-intensive tasks like manual configurations. As a result, companies enjoy significant cost savings.
2. Enhanced Network Structure: The platform facilitates easy access to SaaS-based applications through its efficient and effective network structure. Enterprises can then enjoy smoother and faster access to cloud-based services, enhancing overall productivity and user experience.
3. Streamlined Network Design: Juniper Session Smart SD-WAN offers an optimized solution for utilizing SaaS-based applications, ensuring data flows seamlessly and elevating the overall network performance. This opens the door to smoother and faster access to cloud-based services, improving efficiency and productivity across your entire network infrastructure.
4. Effortless Onboarding: The implementation process is quick and cost-effective. With zero-touch provisioning and an onboard process that automatically configures itself, your organization can seamlessly adapt to a new network setup.
5. Simplified Management: Network management is effortless with Juniper’s comprehensive LAN/WAN/SD-WAN solution, and the best part is all of it can be found in a single cloud platform. Their streamlined Wi-Fi points, switches, and SD-WAN gateway devices optimize resource allocation and empower your organization to focus on more strategic initiatives.

Juniper Session Smart takes routing to a new level by intelligently aligning workloads with session policies and network status, resulting in a 50% improvement in bandwidth utilization. Session Smart SD-WAN’s tunnel-free architecture ensures service-centered performance, simplified operations, and .

AI-Powered Network Assurance

Juniper AI WAN Assurance, powered by , is an extensive solution that brings real-time analytics, proactive anomaly identification, and swift issue resolution to your network.

Through continuous telemetry data collection and event correlation, Juniper SD-WAN directs sessions with performance and security SLAs in mind. This approach enhances network efficiency for an optimal user experience, making your business operations more productive and responsive.

Data from multiple sources, including Juniper Mist Access Points, Switches, Session Smart Routers, and Firewalls, provides end-to-end insight into user experiences. These devices work with Mist AI to optimize user experiences from client-to-cloud, covering tasks such as:

• Automated event correlation
• Root cause identification
• operations
• Network assurance
• Proactive anomaly detection

Additionally, – Juniper’s AI-driven virtual network assistant – empowers your team with deep insights and fast remediation for network teams. With Juniper AI WAN Assurance and Marvis’ assistance, your network gains real-time analytics. That way, your team can maximize network performance and address challenges proactively.

Final Thoughts

If your network is suffering from sluggishness and unresponsiveness due to outdated legacy architecture, it’s time for a game-changing move. With Juniper’s innovative solutions at your fingertips, you can bid farewell to the limitations of legacy systems and unlock the true potential of modern networking. Embrace Juniper’s Session Smart SD-WAN to revamp your network performance and ensure seamless responsiveness.

Speak with one of our experts at WEI to learn more about the power of Juniper’s Session Smart Network and AI-driven network assurance. We can provide valuable advice to empower your business with a more efficient and cost-effective network structure. Don’t let your network hold you back. Take charge and propel your business to new heights with Juniper’s Session Smart SD-WAN.

Next Steps: This white paper by WEI identifies how Juniper Networks’ location-based networking helps higher education institutes overcome complex technology challenges. Readers will better identify:

• Concerns of higher education IT professionals
• Why network infrastructure is a differentiator
• Challenge of improving remote experiences
• Value of a virtual network assistant

The post Top 5 Reasons to Embrace Juniper Network’s AI-Driven SD-WAN appeared first on IT Solutions Provider - IT Consulting - Technology Solutions.

It is no surprise most enterprises are prioritizing network modernization in the day and age of digital transformation. Outdated infrastructure harms productivity and hinders security, making it a challenge to build a future-ready network that meets evolving expectations. All too often, our team will assess networks based on traditional VLAN architectures that will 100% struggle to accommodate hundreds of thousands of users and devices. A modern network should seamlessly connect remote workers to physical locations, data centers, and the cloud, following an edge-centric and data-driven approach.

As organizations embark on their journey towards network modernization, one of the most promising solutions that have emerged is (NaaS). In this article, we discuss its significance and identify why its adoption is a promising solution for your network modernization effort.

Embracing NaaS For Network Modernization

The emergence of NaaS platforms is a game-changer in network modernization, enabling businesses to be agile with changing needs through flexible consumption models. However, on the other side of this, a move to NaaS also presents potential concerns, including financial risks and customer default through contraction or revocation of service.

Despite these common and preventable challenges, incorporating new products and services with desirable pricing models ensures ongoing evolution. Moreover, offering diverse server and storage options from the outset facilitates sustainable customer relationship growth.

Principles Of Network Modernization

Creating an agile network that accelerates your organization might seem like a huge undertaking, but it also makes for an incredibly positive difference in productivity. Here are five principles to keep in mind to help you manage network modernization effectively:

1. Connectivity And Scalability

Traditional virtual LAN (VLAN) architectures may face challenges accommodating the increasing number of users and devices. To address the evolving need to scale workloads, organizations should consider the following options:

• Subscribe to cloud-based services for quick and efficient delivery of a secure network.
• Add network overlays like Ethernet VPN (EVPN)/Virtual Extensible LAN (VXLAN) to the existing infrastructure to enhance network capabilities.
• Modernize WAN solutions with SD-WAN (Software Defined Wide Area Network)

2. AI-Powered Automation

Artificial intelligence for IT operations (AIOps) streamlines network management through automation. In fact, AIOps can help solve troubleshooting issues up to 90% faster, while reducing trouble tickets by 50% simply by seeing issues before the user does, according to HPE Aruba Networking. These complex technologies handle tasks like optimization and troubleshooting, freeing your workforce for more complex operations.

If you’re looking to implement AI, start small by testing solutions. Some vendors claim to have adopted AI in their platforms, but you will want to ensure their models have domain expertise and applicability across various organization sizes.

3. Security

In the era of digital transformation, modern data security threats are on the rise. To safeguard networks, businesses are focusing on enhancing their zero trust and SASE frameworks to close protection gaps and stay ahead of evolving threats.

When deciding on a provider, make sure SASE and zero trust frameworks are integrated with their solutions. Features like unified network access and security ecosystems are also important to ensure smooth integration into your existing environment.

4. Agility
As business objectives evolve rapidly, organizations need a highly-responsive network infrastructure to stay competitive and meet changing demands of users and the market.

To maintain an agile network, businesses should take time to:

• Assess the capabilities and scalability of current cloud-native network management tools.
• Adopt a versatile cloud-native service which can be deployed in the cloud and on-premises.
• Read the fine print and pay attention to licensing terms to avoid lock-ins and forced upgrades.

By following these steps, you can build a future-proof network that adapts to evolving needs and requirements.

5. Flexibility

Most organizations have limited budgets and IT staffing shortages which make it challenging to acquire and manage new network solutions. NaaS offers a modern solution.

This feature lets you scale workloads and use the latest technology without huge upfront costs. Luckily, there are providers available to help you find the perfect NaaS solution for your organization without overspending or overloading your team. 

Final Thoughts

HPE Aruba Networking is leading the era of network modernization for businesses at all stages of their edge-to-cloud journey through their unique features, including:

• : A secure, AI-powered edge services platform that offers faster connections, scaling, issue resolution, and operational insights with a cloud-native approach
• : Their management console, powered by AI-enabled insights and robust security features, streamlines network management and operations with a user-friendly single dashboard.

With support for Zero Trust and SASE frameworks, HPE Aruba Networking also provides full visibility and control across your existing infrastructure. A trusted IT solutions provider like WEI will guide you toward a network modernization solution that deploys network solutions in just minutes, not weeks.

Is it time for your organization to modernize networks? WEI understands the power of a modernized network to meet dynamic business demands. To create future-proof environments, we advise partnering with a provider experienced in agile networking. Contact us today to explore how HPE Aruba Networking’s NaaS platforms adapt to your specific needs and benefit your business.

Next steps: is the next logical step in progressing from owning and maintaining physical assets and moving to a highly flexible and service-oriented approach for all network components. That includes computer, networking, & data protection, and so much more.

The post Is Your Network Future Proof? Five Reasons You Should Embrace NaaS appeared first on IT Solutions Provider - IT Consulting - Technology Solutions.

Some secrets are worth keeping, but we’re here to spill the beans on reliable, secure network connectivity for fixed retail locations. Overall, the retail industry has some of the most advanced data centers and hybrid cloud networks within today’s IT landscape. But the corporate center is not where the majority of business operations take place as many retail transactions occur at the outer edge. Some of these edge locations are more remote than others, yet they still rely on the same level of network connectivity. Overall, retail edge locations face unique connectivity challenges that urban, metro, and suburban locations simply do not. These challenges include:

• A lack of traditional network connectivity options
• Limited IT support in the area
• Higher rates of IT literacy amongst staff
• Disaster recovery and business connectivity

Despite these inherent challenges, retail vendors must satisfy consumer markets because customers are mobile and expect the same experience regardless of location. This means that retail vendors must have networks that are just as mobile as their customers. They also need networks that can be implemented quickly enough to respond to emerging and shifting trends, and unexpected events. Clearly, the next phase of retail digital transformation is taking place at the edge.

The Challenge of New Store Locations

In many ways, the opening of a new retail location is like a Broadway opening. Store openings must meet strict deadlines to satisfy revenue and business goals, and the show must go on without a hitch, ensuring that new store patrons have an optimized customer experience. These coordinated store openings do not have time to wait on unknown local vendors to install the wired lines required for network connectivity.

Launching a new retail location is a tumultuous task on all fronts that must be completed in a highly compressed window. Openings are often handled by specialized teams that streamline the process. The network solution must be ready to go out of the box and duplicated repeatedly, regardless of location. The out-of-the-box experience is incredibly important because, in many instances, retail locations lack on-site technical professionals.

And then there is the challenge of temporary or seasonal retail businesses whose peak activity and operations fluctuate across the calendar year. These sites need temporary networks that can be unboxed and deployed whenever and wherever needed. Yet, while network connectivity may be fleeting, they must still offer the same robust security posture that protects permanent fixed locations. Wherever the point of sale is, it must be secure, regardless of temporary nature.

The New Wireless WAN

You may be expecting this discussion to steer towards SD-WAN technology, but we are touching on the evolving solution of wireless WAN with Ericsson Enterprise Wireless Solutions. To be clear, this isn’t just any wireless WAN that relies on fiber connectivity. Instead, this is a cellular wireless solution, built on LTE and that provide the low latency, high bandwidth capacity that retail business requires. Only cellular wireless has the agility and reliability to service retail storefronts residing at the edge or temporary pop-up locations with a defined service window. This is wireless WAN built to service-day connectivity and outdoor operations without the aid of on-site IT professionals.

A Full-Service Network

Retail locations at the outer edge need more than just network connectivity and wireless access. They require all the basics such as firewall protection, threat detection, access control, content filtering and security policy protection. That is what Ericsson’s cloud-managed, all-in-one deliver. Ericsson Enterprise Wireless Solutions has wireless edge networking solutions that can provide your outer edge point-of-sale location with all network services needed to ensure that every sales transaction goes through predictably and securely. Ericsson enterprise-class cellular routers include features such as:

• End-to-end encryption to protect every sales transaction
• Cloaked private address spaces
• Integrated security measures to meet most business or government requirements
• Application-aware firewalls and threat management capabilities
• VPN access to corporate or regional offices when necessary
• Policy-based routing that is centrally configured by your corporate IT team or solution provider to separate and prioritize traffic according to your needs.

Predictability

Enterprise Wireless edge networking solutions help safeguard predictability. Its zero-touch deployment means that you’re not dependent on physical infrastructure or local IT talent to set it up. The router is preconfigured ahead of time and shipped to the designated location. This makes deployments standardized so every implementation gets completed as planned and on schedule. If you want to ensure predictable performance in the event of a device path failure, simply add a redundant router, with each router linked to a different carrier or cell tower.

Predictability isn’t just limited to hardware. A cellular wireless solution from Ericsson Wireless Enterprise Solutions allows for standardized and consistent WAN pricing as you can use the same cellular providers across wide expansive geographical areas. No longer are you bound by the rates of each localized ISP. Now you can leverage your hundreds of locations to negotiate the best price across the board. The simplicity of Ericsson’s inclusive cellular wireless package means that there are fewer vendors, fewer devices, and fewer configurations, all contributing to the predictable nature of this easy to deploy, easy to manage solution.

Conclusion

Now, fixed and temporary retail locations have access to enterprise-class reliability, manageability, and security at the converged LTE or 5G edge. And with Ericsson, your edge locations can operate on a level playing field with your other retail location and provide customers a secure place to make transactions. WEI can guide you every step of the way with Ericsson’s next-generation WAN solution.

Next Steps: Watch our video to learn even more on why wireless WAN is the next step to replacing legacy WAN solutions for your fixed retail location.

The post The Secret To Network Connectivity For Branch Retail Locations appeared first on IT Solutions Provider - IT Consulting - Technology Solutions.

Enterprises everywhere are leveraging their computer networks to attain a competitive advantage for not just operational efficiency, but also employee satisfaction. Network information systems are being utilized to improve communication and collaboration amongst employees, increase productivity, and accelerate decision-making.

By collecting, storing, and analyzing large amounts of data, companies gain insights into customer behavior and market trends that allow them to act preemptively ahead of their competitors. In a time when economic inflation is on everyone’s mind, digital technologies are streamlining business processes to reduce costs, improve efficiency, and achieve pricing advantages.

Today’s Modern Campus

Being that WEI is a technology services and solutions provider, you may assume that our use of the word “campus” refers to the campus network that connects an institution’s devices within a specific geographical area. These campus networks are typically comprised of multiple interconnected subnets, each one serving a specific building or building cluster within a comprised area.

On the other hand, when we talk about today’s modern “campus” we aren’t just talking about technology. We’re also referring to the modern college campus. A traditional college campus requires connecting thousands of students with their instructors and peers to nurture ideas and promote learning. The modern college campus provides students and faculty access to shared resources such as computers and servers, as well as theaters, workout facilities, public gathering places, and sporting arenas. The campus network and the college campus have a lot in common: higher education institutions can maximize their effectiveness to engage students and ensure their success by fusing these two campus concepts together.

A Location-based Network And Community

The tentacles of a college campus is similar to a township that includes residents, retail businesses, restaurants, government services, administrative offices, and public gathering spots. There can be lots to do with so many connected experiences, and that’s what brings us to location-based networking (LBN).

LBN utilizes location data to connect people with other users or resources nearby. Anyone with a smartphone is familiar with the concept of using Google Maps for instance. You can find all the pizzerias within a five-mile area, identify their serving hours and average wait time. You can share your location with your closest friends who might be nearby. Many restaurants provide their customers the ability to pay their bill with their phone. This holistic experience is what students desire as prefer a digitally-connected community.

5 Ways LBN Helps Transform The Campus Experience

Prospective students have grown up with the concept of LBN whether they are technologically minded or not. They expect it, which is why colleges and universities must provide the LBN experience to attract and retain students. WEI has identified five ways that LBN improves and maximizes the campus experience:

1. Provide location-specific information such as the location of classes, events and services. Students can check the expected wait times for the local cafeteria or student services. They can reserve study rooms or check real-time availability. School service managers can also analyze traffic data to adjust hours as needed, saving the school both time and money.
2. Improve campus safety by allowing students and faculty to report safety concerns or suspicious activity quickly and easily. They can receive real-time alerts about potential safety hazards, impending weather, or area emergencies. Notifications can alert all connected users within a designated area of a building or campus area and provide instructions on how to respond.
3. Increase social connectivity and collaboration amongst students and faculty. Students can be matched with peers that share common interests while remote learning students can interact with their professors just as well as those in the classroom.
4. Improve resource allocation by providing real-time asset tracking to school administrators and managers, giving them the ability easily locate an asset and analyze its utilization history.
5. Increase participation rates for school events, clubs, and other offerings through push notifications to students based on their location and interests.

The Juniper Location-based Campus

Juniper Networks has proven success in developing and delivering LBN solutions to higher education institutions. Find out how schools such as and the are leveraging location-based networking to fully maximize and leverage the campus network to provide modernized, streamlined, connected digital experience for students and faculty. It is why every college needs the .

Next Steps: This white paper by WEI identifies how Juniper Networks’ location-based networking helps higher education institutes overcome complex technology challenges. Readers will better identify:

• Concerns of higher education IT professionals
• Why network infrastructure is a differentiator
• Challenge of improving remote experiences
• Value of a virtual network assistant

The post 5 Ways Location-Based Networking Improves The College Experience appeared first on IT Solutions Provider - IT Consulting - Technology Solutions.

Back in 2016, Georgia State University decided to address the annual phenomenon known as “summer melt” in which a sizable number of students enrolled during the summer session would fail to enroll in the fall. The school implemented a chatbot project called that was designed to regularly connect with incoming students. This practice, commonly referred to as nudge technology by reminds students of upcoming meetings and deadlines. Additionally, and in the interest of this blog article, nudge technology also uses AI to answer frequently asked questions that incoming students often have.

In its first four months, Pounce exchanged nearly 200,000 messages with students, a volume of work that equates to 10 full-time workers. Later, Pounce began monitoring student records to identify potential opportunities or issues that may impact their scholastic journey or educational performance. The project proved a resounding success as the dreaded summer melt was reduced by 21 percent. As an added bonus, first-generation students receiving the messages earned final grades about 11 points higher than their peers.

Colleges Competing For Fewer Students

According to the , four million fewer Americans in 2022 enrolled in college compared to 2012. Colleges are also losing too many students who have already started their academic journey. A showed that 32.9% of undergraduates fail to complete their degree program. But initiatives such as Pounce are working to reverse this trend, ensuring that students remain in school and earn their degree.

Students Value Technology-Driven Colleges

While technology can be used to effectively retain existing students, it can also be a great way to recruit new students. The desire for a personalized experience is as strong as ever. Two-year students enrolled in the 2021 fall semester

• 70% wanted more online courses.
• 57% desired hybrid course options.
• 63% wanted more digital materials and digital resources utilized in their courses.
• 59% wanted more technology for fully in-person courses.

Students Desire More Integrated Technology Options

Students want more than just digital curriculum resources. According to the 2021 Juniper Remote Workplace and Public Spaces Consumer Survey, 95% of surveyed consumers said they’d prefer to attend schools and public places that offer connected experiences over places that do not. In the Juniper Networks study, student age adults were asked about what digital experiences they valued:

• 40-45% were more likely to go congregate in public places that offer new wireless conveniences using their mobile devices.
• 45% much preferred the ability to automatically check-in without stopping at a check-in desk.
• 41% highly valued the ability to use contactless payment services at the register.

Whether its booking a computer in the library, getting a cup of coffee at the campus barista, or streaming a favorite movie in their dorm room, college students expect a seamless digital experience that stems from prior engagements with digital giants such as Meta, Netflix, and Google Maps.

How Juniper Networks Helps Higher Educational Institutions

To seamlessly connect your entire college campus and ensure that students benefit from the digital experience, a high-caliber IT network is required. To achieve this, many colleges and universities are turning to Juniper Network’s location-enabled network solutions that utilize intelligent automation for easy management and greater resilience. Recent examples include the following:

• The is the #15 top public university in the country according to S. News and World Report’s America’s Best Colleges. The school turned to Juniper to architect an ultra-fast agile network that would efficiently meet the exponential bandwidth needs of its campus. Juniper gave them the ability to automate routing configurations and validation tasks that improved reliability and network performance.
• The wanted to augment their network to achieve their new directives and business objectives. Juniper delivered a tenfold increase in network capacity that gave them the agility to move workloads between their on-prem location and the cloud. Juniper also delivered Wi-Fi infrastructure that blanketed their entire campus including high traffic public spaces.
• The was saddled with a legacy layer 2 network that was unreliable and was no longer able to support their expanding academic programs. Juniper refreshed its connectivity for all 35 campus buildings as well as its data center without interruption while also simplifying their network management processes.

Juniper has dedicated a lot of resources to learning about the challenges of higher educational institutions and provide solutions to overcome them. These solutions include SND-enabled universal routing platforms and low latency 100Gbe switches that feature modular designs and automation.

These solutions are also backed by Marvis, the Juniper virtual assistant that utilizes natural language processing along with natural language understanding that allow it to communicate and empower human IT support teams. Juniper has the technology, the innovation, and the understanding of high education to help your organization meet the stringent demands of students and customers alike now, and into the future.

Next Steps: This white paper by WEI identifies how Juniper Networks’ location-based networking helps higher education institutes overcome complex technology challenges. Readers will better identify:

• Concerns of higher education IT professionals
• Why network infrastructure is a differentiator
• Challenge of improving remote experiences
• Value of a virtual network assistant

The post Why Higher Education Turns to Technology to Meet Today’s Challenges appeared first on IT Solutions Provider - IT Consulting - Technology Solutions.

We’ve written plenty on how the professional world has changed since COVID-19. All industries experienced one significant change or another, and it can be argued that the IT sector was affected more than any other due to the many industries it supports. The IT landscape has witnessed vast shifts in workplace environments, devices, technology needs, and application hosting. This massive amount of change in a short period of time has made it challenging for IT personnel and organizations to stay up to date on evolving technology needs and issues.

Enter . This solution is surging in popularity as it offers a flexible way for enterprises to keep pace with innovation, meet business needs, optimize network performance, and improve user experience. In our latest blog article, I identify and discuss the key attributes driving NaaS adoption and how it can help your enterprise succeed.

Top Reasons To Adopt NaaS Now

The as-a-Service model has gained steam in recent years as more and more IT leaders have grown more comfortable with subscription-based managed services. My WEI colleague, Greg LaBrie, on this consumption model trend.

Does anyone remember the days of signing out a company laptop for those weekend projects? Some of us sure do. Remember, enterprises traditionally invested significant resources to IT specialists who designed, built, and operated their networking infrastructure. Employees regularly connected to networks in-house with devices owned by their enterprise. Hardware had to be procured, pre-staged, cabled, installed, and configured. Unfortunately, this model required vast amounts of financial resources to set up and maintain. Not only that, but it also made it difficult to stay up to date with the dynamic needs of technology and the business environment.

Enterprise networks have clearly evolved. Gartner estimates that in 2022 alone, worldwide annual network spending will increase 6.7% to $79.04 billion. Company budgets, however, are not limitless. There is a growing need for businesses to invest their money thoughtfully and strategically. The adoption of NaaS is one way to meet both the technological and financial needs of companies today. The following are the to adopt NaaS now.

1. Changes In Workplace Environments And Devices. Even before the pandemic, laptops and mobile devices allowed users to access enterprise applications outside the office on non-enterprise networks. When workplaces were forced to adapt to work-from-home policies due to COVID, more flexible, agile models were needed.
2. Evolving Technology. As a result of the shift in workplace and device usage, the way we connect to on-premises networks has evolved. The introduction of cellular, WAN, and SD-WAN solutions and constant innovation in technologies like 5G and Wi-Fi 6E have made it challenging to adequately keep pace. Equipment becomes outdated more quickly, and new technology requires trained personnel.
3. Application Hosting. The development and adoption of SaaS removed the need to connect users with physical in-house devices to centralized applications within a data center. Web-based applications now enable access anytime and anywhere and ensure connectivity for the edge is a top priority.
4. Hybrid Work Model. The pandemic instituted a remote work model that only a small percentage of knowledge workers had consistently experienced. And while the opportunities for people to work exclusively from home are , the hybrid model remains abundant. COVID changed the ways IT staff must plan and procure their networks. As remote work and access have continued, network priorities have shifted. Organizations are now looking to preserve cash, and large capital investments for strategic planning have largely been put on hold.

The Benefits Of NaaS

enables organizations to keep pace with innovation, meet rapidly changing business needs, and optimize network performance and user experience through a cloud-like subscription model. Further benefits of NaaS include:

• Financing Flexibility: NaaS offers a critical alternative to upfront capital expenditures (capex) with a usage-based model (opex). This allows organizations to address their business needs in a way that makes sense for them.
• Enhanced Security: The fast deployment of new features and functions enhances security and lowers operational risk. Enterprises can launch their services and capabilities faster, while keeping their organizations safe from security vulnerabilities caused by out-of-date requirements or configurations.
• Proactive Management: Risks are mitigated with proactive advisory and management capabilities. These capabilities include AIOps driven insights or highly skilled networking experts to ensure deployment of the latest product features, functions, or configurations.
• Scalable Centralized Management: NaaS cloud management capabilities enable organizations to scale networks easily. Added managed services can be implemented to oversee all network operations.
• Sustainability: NaaS helps alleviate security and cost-related fears associated with old hardware resources. The repurposing and proper disposal of equipment is important, but costly. Sustainable reuse and retirement are key attributes of a NaaS offering. This allows organizations to meet sustainability goals more easily.

NaaS With HPE Greenlake

HPE Aruba Networking’s NaaS, through HPE Greenlake, has reinvented network infrastructures by creating a simplified plug-and-play experience. It removes the heavy burden of long-term planning and budgeting by delivering necessary hardware, software, and services in a single, seamless monthly subscription package. Key benefits include:

• NaaS can be implemented on whatever scale enterprises feel comfortable with, and they can scale up when needed.
• On-premises and hybrid networks are managed through a self-service portal.
• Provides real-time data and security analytics, enabling a proactive approach where issues are identified and dealt with before they become disruptive.
• Aligning your budgets with network usage gives management insights to make strategic decisions.
• New businesses and startups can avoid costly capital expenditures and avoid the cost of supporting legacy infrastructure.

NaaS delivers network deployment, management, security, and performance while remaining agile, flexible and cost-effective. Contact WEI today to learn more about how HPE Aruba Networking NaaS with HPE Greenlake can take your network performance to the next level.

Next Steps: See why enterprises are catching on to the latest “as-a-Service” trend in our fresh whitepaper titled,

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Hybrid work is quickly becoming the predominant model for many organizations. Its popularity stems from the fact people can work from home, the office, or anywhere else. Approximately of employees in the U.S. prefer a hybrid work environment compared to fully remote or fully on-site. This creates the essential need for office networks to accommodate increased bandwidth and other adaptations. In this article, we cover the importance of a flexible wireless architecture and five strategies to help enterprises meet their needs with hybrid workforce solutions.

Why A Flexible Wireless Architecture Is Important

Flexibility is a relative term when it comes to wireless architecture. Having easy and efficient scalability is necessary to deal with unexpected increases in network traffic along with demands for new services. A flexible wireless architecture is also vital for Wi-Fi security. Your network should be able to support newer technologies like Wi-Fi 6 and Wi-Fi 6E, along with security frameworks such as zero trust, SASE, and network segmentation.

Flexible wireless networks can help organizations meet unexpected performance demands. As employees work online and switch from their laptops to their tablets or mobile devices, a flexible wireless architecture helps with the transportation of media from both on-premises and cloud environments. Here are five strategies that can help companies achieve these benefits and adapt their Wi-Fi networks to handle the constant change in hybrid work technologies.

1. Ensure a consistent and secure experience for a hybrid workforce.

Hybrid workers need consistent network performance and user experience to be able to work efficiently from any location. Wireless network security is also an extremely important aspect of hybrid workforce solutions. It should not only match the measures of protection that employees would have in the office, but your system should be able to secure personal data and cloud services across remote Wi-Fi networks.

Luckily, there are improved remote work solutions specifically designed to enhance user experience for a hybrid workforce. According to , “The ESG study found that 44% of enterprises have worked to deliver corporate Wi-Fi to home offices as a direct result of the pandemic.”

2. Adopt unified cloud-based management solutions.

Over 90% of enterprises have adopted at least one cloud-based application to deliver business services. Naturally, cloud-based network management solutions are the ideal architecture for almost any company. A flexible wireless architecture engineered for cloud-based network management has many benefits including:

• Efficiency in operations.
• Allowing remote IT staff to access a centralized cloud management portal.
• End-to-end management of multiple locations such as the office, home, and branch locations.
• Consolidating and anonymizing data sources to increase the speed of AI and machine learning integration.

3. Refresh, upgrade, or modernize campus Wi-Fi networks to address accumulated technical debt.

The pandemic brought a new surge in demand for Wi-Fi networks. It became necessary to innovate hybrid workforce solutions, such as making sure networks can accommodate heavy video and voice traffic without affecting network performance, scalability, security, and manageability.

It is recommended organizations upgrade their infrastructure to Wi-Fi 6 and 6E. This upgrade can deliver greater bandwidth that can help your network support IoT and edge computing solutions.

4. Implement a smart recommendations engine.

Distributed environments have made the job of manually resolving network issues exceedingly complex. Integrating artificial intelligence and machine learning with hybrid workforce solutions is necessary for optimized network performance and quicker problem resolutions, especially in an always-on environment.

5. Extend security models from campus to remote work.

When organizations have such a highly distributed environment, a larger attack surface is created. Having consistent and tightly incorporated security across all Wi-Fi environments, including on campus or in the homes of employees, should be a top priority for enterprises with a hybrid workforce. Instead of hiring new security professionals, organizations should deploy integrated capabilities to their Wi-Fi networks to support zero trust and SASE environments.

Hybrid Workforce Solutions

Many hybrid workforce solutions can truly enhance a flexible wireless architecture such as HPE . This innovative cloud-native architecture provides automated network management, edge-to-cloud security, and AI-powered insights necessary for hybrid workspaces.

To cope with the massive amounts of data businesses acquire, it’s clear that today’s network architecture needs to be flexible to accommodate AI-powered and predictive tools. HPE Aruba Networking’s ESP is highly scalable and can help accomplish those needs as well as improve business agility and optimization. This platform can identify and fix problems at the network edge before they impact devices or applications. It is also an ideal solution for those working from multiple locations. With ESP, IT teams can see what is connected to the network no matter where they are working, ultimately giving enterprises the ability to do cloud-managed networking at a large scale.

Hybrid work will continue to evolve, and hybrid workforce solutions like HPE Aruba Networking’s ESP can provide more flexibility and freedom for people to work more efficiently from anywhere. To learn more about ESP and what a flexible wireless architecture can do for your organization, contact WEI today.

Next Steps: See why enterprises are catching on to the latest “as-a-Service” trend in our fresh whitepaper titled,

The post Top Five Strategies To Build A Flexible Wireless Architecture appeared first on IT Solutions Provider - IT Consulting - Technology Solutions.

When we talk about upgrading wireless infrastructure to the latest Wi-Fi 6E standard, it is instinctive to focus on client computing devices and smart phones. That’s because organizations want to optimize the user wireless experience for their employees and customers, and understandably so. However, for a growing number of enterprises, there’s another critical component to their wireless environment: IoT (Internet of things!). Organizations are integrating a growing fleet of IoT devices to take advantage of cutting-edge technologies. In 2022 alone, the to 14.4 billion active devices. If you’re only looking at optimizing the wireless experience for users, do not ignore IoT’s half of the equation!

Wi-Fi 6E Offers IoT Exclusivity

A primary benefit of Wi-Fi 6E is the exclusive access it provides to the newly approved 6 GHz bandwidth frequency. It has four times the bandwidth capacity of 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz and supplies 1,200 MHz of extra spectrum. In all, this nearly doubles the amount of delivered throughput to clients that support the new wireless standard. It’s not just the increased bandwidth that Wi-Fi 6E provides, however. It is the ability to separate your most critical user and IoT workloads so they don’t have to compete with noisy legacy wireless devices.

Imagine for a moment all the IoT enabled technology solutions that are parachuting into the healthcare industry. Already, the average hospital utilizes 10 to 15 medical devices for each patient. That constitutes as many as 350,000 devices per hospital and we have barely witnessed the tip of the iceberg. Eventually, longtime surgeons will use augmented reality to rehearse complex surgeries and systems will monitor critically ill patients. These are clearly the types of systems you will want operating within one exclusive frequency.

Of course, it works both ways too. Many legacy and current IoT devices don’t require a great deal of bandwidth to function. This makes them ideal candidates to remain within the 2.4 GHz band, completely separated from Wi-Fi 6E enabled user devices and critical sensory devices. All of this is no problem for Juniper Wi-Fi 6E access points such as the and routers. These tri-band access points support 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, and 6 GHz so they can handle the newest wireless stations on the market, while ensuring backwards compatibility with older devices that still serve their purpose.

The Need for Battery Life Extension

According to an EU funded study, 78 million batteries that power IoT devices will be dumped every day throughout the world by 2025 if nothing is done to improve a battery’s lifespan. Many IoT devices rely on batteries. Not only is a diminished battery life bad for the environment, but it also proves expensive to constantly replace them. The Wi-Fi 6E standard is helping aid this issue with its Target Wake Time (TWT) feature that reduces power consumption by empowering access points and wireless stations to negotiate their wake-up times to receive and send data. This not only saves power and promotes extended battery life, but it also reduces network congestion and prevents scheduled overlap in highly concentrated station environments.

Juniper IoT Assurance

While there are multiple companies today that provide Wi-Fi 6E solutions, only Juniper offers Mist IoT Assurance. Juniper Mist IoT Assurance is a cloud-based service that makes it easy for IoT devices to connect using a Multiple Pre-Shared Key (MPSK) mechanism in a secure fashion. Managing and securing the connection process for IoT devices has always proved challenging since the bulk of these devices are headless, meaning that they lack a GUI interface and operate without a keyboard or mouse. This hinders the ability to onboard, segment and manage IoT device credentials at scale. Juniper is changing all of that.

Unlike traditional solutions, its onboarding process doesn’t rely on MAC addresses. This makes it ideal for devices that utilize client MAC randomization. With its automatic PSK expiration that works in conjunction with automatic key rotation, organizations can now keep PSKs regularly rotated without the risk of service disruption regardless of deployment scale. Juniper IoT Assurance is 100% API programmable so you can easily integrate it with your preferred mobile device management solution to further streamline the provisioning processes for your fleet of IoT devices. Other features include location management and the ability to assign traffic policies based on PSK identity.

Soon, Juniper is expected to include built-in tools that will give customers the ability to create custom self-provisioning PSK portals that automatically generates PSKs according to user identity. Automatic client device provisioning will also be further simplified with QR codes or automatic Wi-Fi connection URLs without the need to install anything.

And Let’s Not Forget Marvis

Like other Juniper Mist solutions, your IT team can use natural language queries to communicate with Marvis. Marvis is a virtual network assistant that can perform help desk functionality at your verbal command. Marvis is always there working for you to determine the root cause of plaguing problems and perform automated remediation to solve them. It’s one more example of how Juniper is simplifying the management process of highly scaled IoT environments.

Conclusion

Wireless isn’t just about servicing user devices. Today, you need a wireless solution that provides equal functionality for IoT devices as well. Similarly, if you’re contemplating upgrading your wireless infrastructure to Wi-Fi 6, you’re missing out on the full set of capabilities available today with Wi-Fi 6E. Juniper and Wi-Fi 6E together is the complete solution to maximize your wireless enterprise.

Next Steps: Download our new white paper, to discover what critical capabilities your wireless network infrastructure is currently missing. This is information that every network administrator should read!

The post Level Up On IoT With Wi-Fi 6E appeared first on IT Solutions Provider - IT Consulting - Technology Solutions.

We’ve been talking a lot about Wi-Fi 6E this spring and summer season even though it was formally introduced by the Wi-Fi Alliance way back in January 2021. So, why all the attention now? There are a lot of groundbreaking aspects of this exciting new technology as Wi-Fi 6E allows for more devices to connect at greater speeds than any of its predecessors. However, it is only now that devices are rolling off the assembly line with Wi-Fi 6E capability. The urgency to upgrade to this new protocol will only grow for enterprises as time goes by.

Still, we must not forget the wireless elephant in the room: Better performance and faster speeds do not amount to much of anything unless your enterprise’s wireless sessions are properly secured. The security threshold of today should always be a determining factor when considering the new technology of tomorrow, especially for wireless environments.

Wi-Fi 6E Is Mandated for WPA3

If your wireless infrastructure primarily relies on Wi-Fi Protected Access 2 (WPA2) as its wireless security protocol, then your system remains vulnerable to attacks that have been present for nearly two decades. That’s because WPA2 dates back to 2004 – the same year the Boston Red Sox broke their 86-year World Series curse. They have since won three more World Series titles, three different US presidents have taken office, and the iPod is far from removed as the most popular personal electronic device. A lot has happened since 2004, and it was good to see Twinkies make a comeback”¦

While Wi-Fi 5, also known as 802.11ac, does include WPA3 as an option, it isn’t enforced, so client devices can revert to the less secure protocol. This isn’t the case with Wi-Fi 6E. The Wi-Fi Alliance mandates the use of WPA3 for Wi-Fi 6E devices that operate in the 6 GHz band. In other words, if you want to experience the expanded boundaries of wireless network performance, you must abide by the increased security parameters.

Why WPA3 Is More Secure

For those that utilize pre-shared keys (PSK) for access authentication, WPA3 removes the ability for hackers to connect to your network using dictionary attacks. This has always been a weak point for WPA and WPA2 as hackers throw thousands of passwords from a list until they get one to hit. Of course, one could always create a 63-character length key consisting solely of gibberish, but let’s face it – how many IT administrators actually do that?

WPA3 replaces PSK authentication with something called Simultaneous Authentication of Equals (SAE). While SAE still uses a passphrase, it isn’t sent between Wi-Fi devices during the SAE exchange. It also commits a device to one password guess for each authentication cycle by utilizing a new authentication handshake mechanism. This prevents an attacker from cycling through an endless password list in quick succession, making brute force attacks nearly irrelevant. While we do not recommend using “password123” or “qwerty” as your passphrase, WPA3 does help relieve the pressure of creating that perfect password.

For those organizations that currently use WPA2-Enterprise, WPA3 gives organizations the option of extending the length of the encryption key from 128 bits to 192 bits. It also requires the use of Protected Management Frames (PMF) that protects traffic from being eaves dropped and forged.

Open Access Now Means Encrypted Access

Providing wireless access to guest end users and the general public has always been tricky. Still, it is an expectation of the end user whenever visiting a business for a sales presentation or performing work in a cafe that requires internet access. Requiring PSK access requires some way to convey the passphrase to those who need it, while providing the convenience of wide-open access introduces austere security issues. Open wireless sessions are especially vulnerable to man-in-the-middle attacks in which an attacker intercepts the four-way handshake process of the unencrypted connection to lure users to connect a rogue wireless connection. The attacker can then intercept packets that traverse through their device. Wi-Fi 6E prevents this from happening by replacing open authentication with what’s called Opportunistic Wireless Encryption (OWE). OWE merges convenience and security together because all sessions are encrypted with a secret key, regardless of whether access authentication is required or not. In similar fashion to WPA3, OWE support is mandatory for any devices operating within the 6 GHz band.

These Security Features Are Available In Wi-Fi 6…Right?

Almost. Wi-Fi 6E is a technical extension of the Wi-Fi 6 standard that was released in 2019, and yes, WPA3, SAE, OWE and PMF are each available in Wi-Fi 6. However, there is one big thing that isn’t – the 6 GHz frequency band. Not only does the 6 GHz band offer enhanced capacity and throughput, but it also gives an exclusive pipe that Wi-Fi 6E clients can operate in. This means no interference from noisy legacy devices that also rely on legacy security protocols. Because the mentioned security enhancements are mandated with this private frequency band, organizations that work toward a full integration of Wi-Fi 6E are ensured greater security across their entire wireless spectrum. Hands down, mandated security is preferable to optional security.

Backwards Compatibility

Juniper Networks has embraced this new high caliber wireless standard and currently offers two solutions to get you closer to greater security and speed. The Juniper and Juniper are tri-band access points that support not only the 6 GHz frequency, but the 2.4 GHz and 5GHz as well. This makes them backwards compatible so that you can accommodate your current legacy wireless devices while you work to work to upgrade your fleet of devices.

Conclusion

Upgrading to Wi-Fi 6 from Wi-Fi 5 is only a half-step upgrade. With Wi-Fi 6E, you get enhanced security and high performance in one package. Wi-Fi 6E is the complete experience, and with backwards compatibility built into the Juniper infrastructure, there’s no reason not to take advantage of everything that Wi-Fi 6E has to offer.

Next Steps: Download our new white paper, to discover what critical capabilities your wireless network infrastructure is currently missing. This is information that every network administrator should read!

The post Don’t Sleep On A Wireless Network Security Nightmare appeared first on IT Solutions Provider - IT Consulting - Technology Solutions.

Wi-Fi 6E offers a lot of exciting features that can transform your wireless network environment. In fact, it is the only protocol that supports 6 GHz, so new clients don’t have to compete with legacy devices and experience interference from items such like security cameras, microwaves, etc. With four times the capacity of the traditional 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz, Wi-Fi 6E accommodates high-volume workloads and easily handles bandwidth-consuming streaming technologies. The new standard is governed by WPA3, which offers far greater security than WPA2, as the latter continues having its share of known weaknesses and vulnerabilities.

Skip Ahead To The Latest Wireless Network Standard

If your enterprise is still reliant on Wi-Fi 5, otherwise known as 802.11ac, it is time to upgrade from a technology that was first introduced nine years ago in 2013. While Wi-Fi 6 is certainly an upgrade from Wi-Fi 5, it doesn’t support 6 GHz and lacks the performance ability of Wi-Fi 6E. While few client machines support this newest standard, Juniper Networks has the infrastructure products required to make way for the stream of devices that that soon will. Juniper and Juniper are tri-band access points that support 2.4 GHZ, 5 GHz and the new 6 GHz frequencies. This gives them the ability to serve all clients, regardless of which frequency they need.

Simplifying Wireless Network Deployment

While there are substantial reasons to upgrade your current wireless network infrastructure, performing an extensive upgrade is never fun. Fortunately, outside of climbing onto a ladder and installing the access points to your office ceiling, Juniper has greatly simplified the deployment process. That includes the required maintenance, troubleshooting and optimization processes as well. Supporting Juniper’s Wi-Fi 6E devices is just as innovative as the technology it delivers – just plug the Juniper access point into your network and it will automatically connect to the Juniper Mist cloud. Once connected, it downloads its assigned configuration and joins the appropriate network. After that, it is ready to service wireless clients. No wireless controllers, no remoting into access points – you have a functioning wireless network in as much time as it takes to mount and connect the access points.

The ease of hands-free operation doesn’t stop after deployment. Firmware is automatically retrieved and installed to ensure that your access points are up to date with the latest bug fixes and security updates along with the newest features that bring added value to your infrastructure. The result is a wireless network that is stable, secure and predictable, allowing your internal IT team to focus on more important things than maintaining access points.

Juniper Mist Wi-Fi Assurance

While Wi-Fi 6E gives you exclusive access to the 6 GHz band, Juniper access points give you, well, access to something that no other wireless vendor can – At a high level, Juniper Wi-Fi Assurance is a cloud service designed to maximize the Wi-Fi experience while minimizing IT support costs as it incorporates machine learning driven by Juniper Mist AI. This provided level of assurance is made possible by the automation of traditional manual troubleshooting and maintenance tasks. Even more, Mist gives network administrators complete visibility into all aspects of their wireless network.

In addition to observability, it builds real network intelligence about your network as it scours your environment for anomalies. If an anomaly is detected, Mist identifies it and captures packets to analyze and generates event correlation to other events to identify problems and remediate them before they significantly impact your network. Additional features that Mist provides include:

• • Customizable Wi-Fi service levels allow for the ability to set, monitor, and enforce service-level expectations for key Wi-Fi performance metrics.
  • The Proactive Analytics and Correlation Engine gives you the ability to identify the root causes of plaguing problems with a few clicks of the mouse and to fix them permanently.
  • Analyze and extract network insights from up to 30 days of data across your wireless ecosphere.
  • A highly scalable guest access solution that provides external captive portal integration that supports multiple languages, customizable branding, and social login capability.

Meet Marvis

There’s one more critical piece that Juniper Wi-Fi 6E devices and the Mist platform each provide: a virtual network assistant (VNA). Marvis, who we have mentioned before in our blog, utilizes both natural language processing (NLP) and natural language understanding (NLU) to serve as the conversational interface for your Juniper systems. Marvis doesn’t just understand words and phrases, it can also understand user intent. Marvis can perform prescriptive actions upon command, but more importantly, it never stops learning about your environment to optimize the user experience of your wireless users. Marvis essentially becomes your help desk, solving problems without creating tickets for them.

Conclusion

There’s no doubt that Wi-Fi 6E is going to take wireless enterprises to the next level, and our team is prepared to help you do so. Learn how Juniper Networks’ Wi-Fi 6E product solutions can transform your wireless environment today.

Next Steps: Download our new white paper, to discover what critical capabilities your wireless network infrastructure is currently missing. This is information that every network administrator should read!

The post Make Your Wireless Network Upgrade Easy With Wi-Fi 6E appeared first on IT Solutions Provider - IT Consulting - Technology Solutions.

WEI recently had the pleasure of hosting a virtual conversation about Artificial Intelligence (AI) and its critical role in digital transformation and the intelligent network. This eye-opening exchange was led by , a professional speaker, author, corporate consultant, and innovative disruptor. In her 40-minute discussion, Linda touched on the power that disruptive technologies are having across the business spectrum. She presented an actionable blueprint outlining the proven AI strategies that companies should be implementing to succeed in this new age. Linda’s bold ideas centered around the need to rethink many of the traditional progressions that restrict our thinking, and ultimately, our success.

The Inversion Paradigm

The modern consumer, whether they know it or not, often identifies a product worth purchasing based entirely on the buying experience. In other words, we shop and browse in an era where the convenience of product availability, customization, and same day delivery are elements the producer has already accounted for. Companies can no longer afford to create a product, define its use, and then expect it to sell in the display window of your local outlet store. In fact, the idea of a product itself is too limiting by its very nature. Instead, businesses must survive by the innovation that is driven by people’s needs.

A classic example where technology was carefully tailored to quench people’s needs is Amazon Alexa, which is leaps and bounds ahead of it’s lesser known counterpart, Cortana. Both are virtual productivity assistants, yet Cortana is no more than a blip compared to the massive ubiquity of Alexa. This is because Cortana was a product, a feature set, that had its purpose previously defined within a computer. On the other hand, Alexa was created with no thought of limitations. No one imagined talking to a lightbulb when Alexa was first introduced to the market, yet millions of people do so today without a second thought. This idea of creating a needs-first mentality rather than a product-first mentality is what Linda identifies as the Inversion Paradigm and it is one that companies must embrace for survival.

The “Know Me” Economy

The Inversion Paradigm is more than just predicting the needs of customers – it’s about understanding what delights them, too. As mentioned above, people don’t want products anymore – they want experiences stemming from those products. For instance, the autonomous car isn’t just about getting the driver and their passengers to the destination. As the miles tick by, the car is also designed to improve their experience over time and adhering to the desires learned of its owner as the miles tick by. For a business to be successful today, it must delight its customers and it can only do this by truly knowing what they need.

The Progression of Disruption

The uncertainty of a disruptive and bold idea often triggers chaos. There’s no getting around it. Still, disruptive ideas have become a natural step in today’s enterprise world, and it is this type of idea that results in the creative innovation that businesses require for survival. The organizations that are willing to disrupt to innovate are becoming the leaders in their industries. You could go way back to the 1950s when McDonald’s first introduced the drive-thru window model as an easy example. The assembly line-like kitchen was designed to efficiently deliver on the consumer’s desire for a fresh and sanitary meal ordered just minutes ago. The convenient experience for the consumer was, and still is, just as important as the meal itself.

More specifically to Linda’s conversation though, we can also look at how Netflix disrupted the DVD rental industry with home delivery, only to further (and willingly) disrupt its own successful business model and offer digital streaming. It is all about rethinking, reimagining, removing restrictions, and resetting the mindset and core competencies of your business. To achieve disruptive change, you need diverse insight, and intelligence is what gives you the ability to harness those insights. That’s why businesses must learn to integrate intelligence into as many systems as possible through the power of AI.

The “What If” Economy

Success today is prevalent on more than just an innate understanding of people. You have to say those two powerful words, what if. Linda used the example of Honeywell, which essentially owned the thermostat market not too long ago. Then someone said, what if we connected the thermostat to the internet? That disruptive idea has been widely embraced as more than 50 million units have been sold to people that are enthusiastic about their Nest devices today. The what if mindset, however, is not about asking just once. While Peloton experienced great success early on thanks to a what if mindset, the company unfortunately failed to devise a follow up plan for when more people opted to spend less time at home due to eased COVID-19 mandates. The what if moments need to stick more than just once. 

The “Know Me” Intelligent Network

So, as an IT leader, you may be wondering what this all has to do with digital innovation, or more specifically, the intelligent network. Well, the network today is the center of everything and to ensure your enterprise’s ongoing success, you must know that your network will continue to be at the center of everything tomorrow. This requires a what if mentality and an understanding of what type of network services your users will need as they progress and adapt to life. We need networks that can quickly adapt to changing environments and changing demand patterns. That is where AI comes into play – leverage machine learning to make predictions and deep learning to create self-driving awareness.

Uptime Doesn’t Always Mean High Performance

While you may not know what the critical needs are of your users just yet, you do know they need your absolute assurance about network reliability and predictability. Organizations can no longer suffer one second of downtime. This means that the minimum expectation of “uptime” is no longer relevant, and no longer pertains to quality performance. In other words, your enterprise network can only be “good” if it provides the services that your users demand.

There will also be no time to wait for human intervention. Machines should be configured by machines. Everything should be automated, while integrated intelligence goes about predicting outcomes and problems before they can be derived by humans, thus creating the ultimate self-correcting and intelligent network.

You Talk To Your Lightbulb, So Why Not Your Network?

Nobody imagined talking to their lightbulb years ago, but now people recognize the value in doing so. So, why aren’t you talking to your network? You can with Marvis, Juniper Mist’s whose only function is to understand the needs of your network and delight those that utilize it. It is time to start planning the network of tomorrow and to also plan for the disruptive changes that will innovate your way to sustained success. We exist in the era of a new world with new paradigms that require a whole new network. The good news is that Juniper has those intelligent network solutions already available.

NEXT STEPS: To better understand why AI should be the next step in your digital transformation journey, download and read our new white paper,

It uncovers:

• Network operational benefits
• Where IT leaders stand after incremental implementation of AIOps
• Business areas where AI flourishes

The post Disruptive Change Ignites New Paradigm of Digital Innovation appeared first on IT Solutions Provider - IT Consulting - Technology Solutions.

These days, IT leaders are typically managing and securing their enterprise’s IT estate that is vast in size and pumping with computing power at the outer edges of the network. On top of that, employees are now dispersed across an ever-expanding remote workspace designed to replicate the primary office environment.

As a result of this proliferation of connected devices in your network, exploitable attack points and avenues are created. This opens the door for countless threat actors to pounce, which makes it nearly impossible for a traditional security system that relies on human intervention to do its job and protect your network. Undoubtedly, IT leaders everywhere are seeing that security and management duties are presenting huge challenges for today’s IT teams that currently work alone.

The Next Generational Power: Deep Learning

It’s no longer about IT boots on the ground to support your organization’s network management. Nowadays, IT support teams need to rely on Artificial Intelligence (AI) to drive their enterprise’s IT efforts. AI empowers software to perform a task that is on par with a human expert. Still, AI by itself is not enough. It must be paired with Machine Learning (ML), which allows systems to utilize powerful algorithms that leverage AI-driven network management systems to learn on their own without with being explicitly programmed to do so.

But even ML has its limitations when it comes to the expansive and complex enterprises of today. Deep Learning (DL) is the next evolutionary step. It applies to large data sets to draw information from countless data points that are strung across today’s immense hybrid networks. Deep Learning then parses that collected data much like the human brain does by categorizing it, learning from it, and acting upon it. The idea behind DL is simple: The more quality information you have, the better your decision making will be.

Now, imagine having the ability to analyze information that is delivered from each of your IoT devices and distributed edge devices. With boundless access to information relating to everything in your network, AI can do its job, but It’s not just about capacity – it’s about speed as well. AI-driven network systems can explore terabytes of data in just minutes, informing IT departments of abnormalities and potentially disruptive events or cyber threats long before they are humanly detected.

Envision Autonomous Network Management

Juniper’s Mist cloud services suite includes , , and to automate your IT operations for desired service levels and to ensure the continuity of workloads and network user experiences. Similar to how autonomous vehicle technology minimizes the dead time of actual driving, companies like Juniper are designing these AI-enabled solutions to create a self-driving experience for multiple aspects of the network. Many of the usual routines and tasks performed by network management administrators can be compared to driving on the interstate – there can be long periods of dead time and monotony. With Juniper, AI can take over these routine tasks and perform them just as well. Just as an autonomous vehicle ensures that its passengers arrive safely to their destination, AI and DL-driven tools ensure that network connected users have an enjoyable and efficient experience, too.

Fix A Problem Just Once

How many times have you rebooted a device to temporarily fix a problem? Network management support personnel often solve problems temporarily because they lack the information needed to properly determine the root cause of an issue. Conversely, AI uses data mining techniques to fully analyze problems by correlating events and discovering underlying patterns to determine the true root cause of a problem. Juniper refers to this as client-to-cloud root cause analysis. With root cause analysis, you can fix a problem once and for all. In fact, Juniper’s systems will learn from this analysis and self-correct similar events in the future, saving additional time and money for your team.

The Smart SD-WAN

One solution that Juniper is utilizing to gain control of today’s vast network architectures is through their automated SD-WAN solutions. Their Mist WAN Assurance service provides your IT team with deep visibility into the workloads that cross throughout your WAN’s arteries and it also offers end-to-end analysis of all traffic types. In short, Mist WAN Assurance offers:

• Visibility into WAN user experiences with application-based context
• End-to-end user impact analyses based on WLAN, LAN, and WAN telemetry data
• Automated identification and correction of gateway misconfigurations and faulty interfaces
• Health insights into Session Smart Routers, SRX Series Services Gateways, and WAN links
• Simplified configuration and deployment of Session Smart Routers

This solution is API driven, which means it can integrate and automate all network and security operations across your sites. And of course, there is Juniper security that includes the delivery of advanced next-generation firewall protection, advanced threat protection, and security intelligence that identifies underlying suspicious behavior patterns.

Simplistic Communication

Juniper breaks down the complexity of your enterprise and makes it manageable. It also retains this newfound simplicity within its communicative interface through the magic of , the virtual network assistant that utilizes a conversational interface thanks to natural language processing. In the same way you can tell the autonomous car where to go, you can ask Marvis questions about the wired, wireless, or SD-WAN components of your network. Marvis serves as the SDN orchestrator of you network on a 24/7 basis. With Marvis, your network is never left alone or unmanaged.

Conclusion

The growth and evolvement of networks have outpaced the human ability to manage them. Because your network operations are mission critical in today’s digital world, IT leaders can’t afford to fix a problem once it’s happened. You need to anticipate it ahead of time by enabling the ability to self-correct. That is why companies are transforming their enterprises to AI-driven networks in which structured and unstructured data can be used to make network predictions and create tomorrow’s self-driving network. This is not science fiction – it is real and available from Juniper.

NEXT STEPS: To better understand why AI should be the next step in your digital transformation journey, download and read our new white paper, It uncovers:

• Network operational benefits
• Where IT leaders stand after incremental implementation of AIOps
• Business areas where AI flourishes

The post Enhance Network Management With AI Technology appeared first on IT Solutions Provider - IT Consulting - Technology Solutions.

Just as the AI-driven app on your smartphone navigates you to a new destination, IT leaders also believe there should be an AI-driven app that assists with managing a self-driving network. Well, turns out there is such an app available for that, and it is called , a recognized leader in AI for IT operations (AIOps).

Mist AI utilizes AI and machine learning (ML) to automate many of the meticulous tasks that are traditionally performed manually by network administrators. It goes one step further than automation, however, because it is also driven by the intelligence that allows it to proactively address network issues before they arise. It doesn’t take long to draw the similarities between Mist AI and the smartphone you are using to read this blog article:

• Just as a navigation app offers you the visibility to see accidents and traffic delays ahead of you, Mist AI provides insights into your network operations throughout your entire hybrid IT estate. Mist alerts you of potential problems and bottlenecks before they result in network outages.
• Like your smartphone, Juniper Mist maps your network traffic using the most efficient route to help ensure optimized workload performance.
• In similar fashion to your navigation app, Juniper Mist AI utilizes natural language processing (NLP) that includes a conversational interface along with prescriptive actions.

In other words, the same empowering intelligence that you depend on to maximize your driving experience is now available to IT leaders to help improve the experience of network devices, operators, and end users. In fact, you can even use the Marvis Android app to obtain a client-level view of your network.

Full Visibility for the Road Ahead

While there are similarities between the two, Juniper Mist AI goes much deeper than event notifications and problem alerts. It offers root cause analysis of a problem so that you can properly eradicate it in efficient fashion. As a result, this eliminates having to surf through endless logs trying to identify the hidden clue to a persistent issue that plagues the network. Causal relationships are identified, saving countless hours for your IT support staff.

Imagine having a cloud service for your enterprise that integrates with all wired and wireless network infrastructure devices. This would give you increased visibility and manageability of your switches, IoT devices, and wireless access points. Juniper switches, such as the , are cloud-ready and can be managed exclusively through the Juniper Mist portal. This simplifies the onboarding and configuration processes. This type of cloud-based management system is imperative for today’s complex networks that incorporate hybrid architectures and accommodate remote work strategies.

More Than Just Visibility

The complexity that hybrid architectures and remote work strategies have added to enterprises today have created other challenges other than visibility. Controller-based monolithic management systems cannot accommodate the expansive number of workspaces found in today’s networks. Fortunately, AIOps is about more than just visibility, anomaly detection and intelligent alerting – it also provides the automatic remediation of security or IT service problems. No more calling in personnel for a problem that has been identified during off-hours – Mist AI displaces your dependency on manual troubleshooting tasks, resulting in a network that is more predictable and features measurable network performance gains.

Take Network Performance to the Next Level

IT leaders used to measure network performance by its percentage of uptime, but those metrics have exceeded far beyond just connectivity. Just as drivers today won’t tolerate sluggish performance when it comes to their automobile, end users today are no longer tolerant to computing latency. You need a network that is optimized with AIOps to enhance the user experience. According to Juniper, there are three types of dramatic results you can witness in a self-driving network driven by AIOps:

• A reduction in IT support tickets by over 90%
• The ability to configure 500 sites in less than 5 minutes
• A reduction in technical staff visits to branch locations by 85%

Today, network performance is no longer based on just uptime. It is about network-driven performance. The success of a network is only measured by the satisfaction of its users.

Interact With Marvis

One might incorrectly assume that such an all-encompassing management service driven by ML analytics would require a highly technical command line or scripting interface. Instead, it’s as easy as talking to In the same way that consumers are growing accustomed to verbally interacting with Alexa or Siri, Marvis silently drives Mist AI in the background. Marvis understands simple questions and addresses them with from years of enterprise troubleshooting experience. IT staff members can query Marvis without prior knowledge of the management dashboard because Marvis reacts to verbalized intentions, not CLI commands.

Marvis can quickly become an extension of your IT team, augmenting their capabilities by taking over repetitive and routine tasks, allowing your IT staff to focus on more value-driven activities. Marvis gathers data from across the enterprise spectrum to provide client-to-cloud insights regarding baselining and anomaly detection. Marvis empowerment is transforming how IT teams engage with the enterprise today.

Conclusion

Gone are the days of relying on your coffee-stained road map to get you from A to B with no real indication of required drive time. The infusion of AI at the consumer level has changed the way we lead our lives and the smartphone apps we rely on. Thanks to AIOps, the approach to how IT leaders manage their networks has also changed. Self-driving networks are here to stay, as we continue to witness its unquestioned benefits. It is time for your IT team to discover how AIOps can transform your company with the self-driving network experience as well.

NEXT STEPS: To better understand why AI should be the next step in your digital transformation journey, download and read our new white paper, It uncovers:

• Network operational benefits
• Where IT leaders stand after incremental implementation of AIOps
• Business areas where AI flourishes

The post Discover the Self-Driving Network That Juniper Mist Delivers appeared first on IT Solutions Provider - IT Consulting - Technology Solutions.

More than 20 years ago in 1999, Salesforce launched its customer relationship management (CRM) platform at salesforce.com. Little did we know that this would kickstart the realization of Software-as-a-Service. And roughly ten years ago, Infrastructure-as-a-Service came on the scene to become a standard deployment method of servers. It is safe to say that enterprises have come to recognize the great benefits that “as a Service” models offer.

Now, there is one remaining component of the datacenter to fill in the blank, and that is networking. While the global market of Network-as-a-Service (NaaS) was valued at just over $8 billion in 2020, it is $45 billion by 2026. That’s a compound annual growth rate of over 33%. Below these staggering numbers is a story that substantiates this accelerating growth rate. If you are unfamiliar with the NaaS story, here are six reasons why you should become familiar with it. Like many other “as a Service” offerings that came before it, NaaS is ready for takeoff.

1. NaaS Offers an Effortless, Pristine Environment

Users and support personnel alike just love SaaS applications. It grants users immediate access to the latest innovative features and capabilities. SaaS also helps IT support personnel because they don’t have to muddle with the monotonous ordeal of patching and updating those applications. Not only can internal IT personnel rest easy knowing that the latest security vulnerabilities have been secured, but they can also reclaim countless hours of their workweek to apply toward projects that create greater value for the organization. This same level of benefit and comfort is also available with NaaS. There are better ways that internal IT departments can spend their time other than updating the hundreds of networking appliances across your IT estate. Aruba NaaS with can remove all those mundane undertakings from their already busy plate.

2. NaaS Enables Faster Product Refreshes

Product life cycles are shrinking due to the relentless pace of continued innovation. Unfortunately, it is difficult to take advantage of this trend because replacing your switch infrastructure is a laborious process. First, there’s the paperwork involved in keeping track of which appliances are associated with each product cycle. Another issue is the time consumed by planning cycles in which IT managers must outline and plan the next refresh. Finally, there is the gargantuan progression of unboxing, configuring, mounting, and implementing the new equipment as well as the disposal process for the outgoing appliances. But with NaaS, it doesn’t have to be this way. An Aruba team of specialists can refresh each product cycle for you while your own IT team goes about their business of supporting your network.

3. Elimination of Learning Curves

New networking products often come with a new operating system. That’s a problem because while your network support personnel are experts on your existing technology, they must also contend with the learning curve of digesting new commands and policy methodologies. Aruba NaaS technicians are experts in the latest technology, thus enabling new deployments and setting configurations to be performed faster and more efficiently.

4. The Convenience of Self-Service

People see great value in convenience today. They pump their own gas and scan their items at the store checkout. Imagine having the convenience of having all the information about your network infrastructure at your fingertips. An Aruba NaaS subscription allots you a self-service portal, which provides you insights and visibility into your network and billing processes. No more toggling between remote console sessions and management tools – NaaS provides one self-service interface for everything.

5. NaaS Can Right-Size Your Environment

Imagine you have 96 ports of access fully utilized in one of your IDFs. Now, you need to deploy a few more access points and PoE cameras. What to do? Buy a small switch that may lack the features of a larger model, or overprovision your current needs with a new 48-port switch? With an Aruba NaaS subscription, you can always right-size your network to fit the exact needs of your environment because you don’t pay for the hardware – you only pay for usage.

Additionally, you can also start out your subscription on whatever scale you want. A natural place to begin is with your network edge locations that often lack on-prem support personnel. If you find that NaaS brings the anticipated value to your enterprise, you can expand its coverage from there.

6. A Zero-Ticket Experience

All enterprise computer users have one thing in common: They want a faster online experience. Less than optimum network speeds are due to latency in some shape or form. But where is it coming from in your network and how do you find it? The Aruba NaaS professional technicians assigned to every subscription account are specialists in their field. They are highly trained and experienced in optimizing your product configurations and streamlining the routing of network workloads that crisscross your network. Because they are actively monitoring their assigned environments, issues are often identified before they even become a problem. When problems do arise, however, they are solved in quick fashion.

NaaS is a Growing Service Model. Let’s Start the Conversation.

If your organization utilizes cloud services such as SaaS or IaaS, then you have come to realize the added value that these innovative methodologies have brought to your enterprise. Network-as-a-Service is no different. An Aruba NaaS subscription can deliver speed, agility and scalability, streamline performance, and offer predictable costs. Get in touch with WEI to start maximizing your network performance and budget. Find out more about the value that is substantiating the explosive growth of this new service model!

Next Steps: See why enterprises are catching on to the latest “as-a-Service” trend in our fresh whitepaper titled,

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