Critical Capabilities for Wired and Wireless LAN Access Infrastructure

What You Need to Know

The vendors included in this research can be categorized into three general groups, identified below:

• Those that provide their own wired and wireless infrastructure connectivity, network service applications, and services, such as Cisco, HP Networking, Extreme Networks and Huawei
• Those more focused on a specific connectivity option and/or that address a specific set of market requirements, such as Aerohive, Aruba Networks, Motorola Solutions or Xirrus
• Those that use a strategic partner to provide a portion of the access solution, such as Dell, Juniper Networks or Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise

Nearly all vendors in this research meet the basic functional requirements across the various use cases. In addition, most organizations are pleased with their wired/WLAN access vendors.¹ Overall, there is limited differentiation between vendor offerings, which led to a clustering of scores within several use cases. Vendors that scored highest within a use case were able to demonstrate product differentiation in specific areas, including:

• Simplified and consistent management of products from a "single pane of glass" that can be delivered in multiple ways (such as on-premises or software as a service [SaaS]), as well as the ability to support management of third-party products
• Lower total cost of ownership, including hardware, software, licensing, maintenance and ongoing operating expenditure (opex) to manage the environment
• Feature depth and breadth and the usability of network service applications (onboarding, guest access, policy enforcement and so forth), as well as the consistency of these applications across both wired and WLAN portfolios
• Availability of form factors and port densities to meet specific wired switching requirements, such as fixed form factors, port extensions and chassis-based switches

Gartner observes that most end-user clients consider wired/WLAN access networking from the same vendor, but only about half actually deploy wired/WLAN solutions from the same vendor.²This is often due to mismatched refresh cycles, pre-existing relationships, and preference toward best-of-breed approaches and/or cost ramifications.

However, we believe that more organizations would benefit from a long-term strategy toward a unified wired/WLAN access layer to leverage, for example, improved provisioning, orchestration and management; reduced opex; improved onboarding; faster provisioning; and consistent policy enforcement.

Critical Capabilities Definition

Wired Access

This accounts for the vendor's wired switching solution, which includes hardware (port extensions, fixed form factor or modular switches, Power Over Ethernet, supported interfaces, and so forth) and integrated software.

Key components of this capability include performance, availability, scalability, interoperability, cost and the overall portfolio architecture.

WLAN Access

This accounts for the vendor's wireless access solution in traditional carpeted enterprise environments, which includes hardware (access points, antennas, wall jacks and controllers) and integrated software.

Key components of this capability include performance, availability, scalability, interoperability, cost and the overall portfolio architecture.

High-Density WLAN Access

This accounts for the vendor's wireless access solution in areas with a very high density of users and/or devices, such as stadiums, concert halls and conferences venues.

These venues often have user densities that are at least an order of magnitude higher than traditional carpeted office space, with spiky and unpredictable traffic patterns from a heterogeneous mix of client devices.

This capability includes hardware (access points, antennas and controllers) and integrated software. Key components of this capability include capacity, performance, availability, scalability, interoperability and cost.

Inclusion Criteria

This document is meant to be used in conjunction with Gartner's "Magic Quadrant for the Wired and Wireless LAN Access Infrastructure." Thus, the same inclusion criteria will be utilized (see below). As the market evolves, Gartner may re-evaluate the inclusion criteria separately between the Critical Capabilities and the Magic Quadrant as there are compelling wired-only and WLAN-only vendors in the space, such as Brocade, Meru Networks and Ruckus Wireless.

Vendors must be able to demonstrate a clear understanding of enterprise access layer networking requirements. They must have a minimum of $100 million in 2013 revenue in enterprise-class product revenue for wired and wireless access layer hardware and software solutions, of which a minimum of $40 million is derived from enterprise wireless LAN solutions. All hardware and software components must be available on the vendor's published price list. A minimum of 80% of access layer product revenue must be generated from vendor-manufactured or OEM components. Product revenue must be from enterprise office environments, which may include in-store retail, healthcare, and grade school, high school and university education. Product revenue may not include convention centers, hotels or cellular offloading for outdoor environments or public venues, including stadiums and train or bus stations. Vendors must provide factual details on how they meet these criteria.

Vendor solutions must be able to address the following criteria:

• Vendor must minimally sell and support a 24- or 48-port Power Over Ethernet, chassis or stackable switch
• Vendor must minimally sell and support 802.11n and have a road map for 802.11ac.
• Vendor must support a guest access application, with the ability to minimally support:
  • Ability to provide Web authentication credentials via SMS, email or printout for Windows, iOS and Android clients
  • More than one captive portal
• Vendor must be able to minimally support the following security functionality:
  • Device authentication for Windows, Android and iOS devices via 802.1X, as well as an authentication method for supporting devices that cannot support a supplicant
  • Ability to detect wired or wireless intrusion
• Vendor must be able to minimally support the following policy enforcement functionality:
  • Ability to create access policies that minimally include device and user for wired and wireless connectivity
  • Ability to traffic shape/rate limit and content filter trusted clients, as well as for guest access connected clients; the solution may be internally developed or a strategic alliance
• Vendor must be able to minimally support network management:
  • Must be able to minimally discover and manage wired and wireless access layer infrastructure, including supported switches and access points

 

Companies included in study:

 

• Aruba Networks

• Aruba focuses primarily on enterprise wireless and derives only 3% to 5% of revenue from wired switching. The vendor supports both pay-as-you-grow pricing and mixing/matching of components across product lines. Aruba's networking equipment can be provisioned via its SaaS-based management offering (Aruba Central) or traditional network management software (AirWave), while network service applications are delivered via Aruba's ClearPass software. Aruba's architecture, product portfolio and pricing make the vendor ideally suited for all wireless deployments, ranging from SMB to large-enterprise and high-density venues.

• Avaya

• Avaya has a strong product offering across wireless and wired access, with an emphasis on the education, healthcare, hospitality and local/state government verticals. However, while the vendor continues to invest in its access networking portfolio, we see a decline in its enterprise data/access layer sales relative to the market. Network service applications (such as onboarding and guest access) and network multivendor management are delivered via the vendor's Identify Engines software. Avaya's unified communications presence provides a large installed base, which is complementary to its wired/WLAN network products. Organizations in Avaya's target markets, including education, healthcare, hospitality and local/state government, or an existing Avaya unified communications deployment (regardless of the target market), should consider Avaya for wired/wireless use cases.

• Cisco

• Cisco has a broad product portfolio in the wired and wireless access market and is the leading vendor by a substantial margin, when measured by revenue. Cisco can meet all access networking requirements but has multiple access layer architectures that lack a consistent management interface between them. For larger enterprises, Cisco delivers wired/WLAN network service applications via its Identity Services Engine, with network management via Prime. For midmarket customers seeking SaaS-based management, Cisco Meraki is a strong solution. Cisco should be considered for all wired and wireless access layer opportunities, including SMB, midmarket, large-enterprise and high-density venues.

• Dell

• Dell focuses on midmarket and larger enterprises, including higher education and public institutions. The vendor recently overhauled its campus wired switching portfolio, releasing N-Series fixed form factor and C-Series modular switches. The company delivers wireless via an OEM relationship with Aruba (rebranded as W-Series access points), but it does not support Aruba's SaaS-based management. Based on customer feedback, Dell is typically less expensive than leading competitors and has a history of providing strong support. Organizations should consider Dell for all access layer opportunities, particularly in the midmarket.

• HP Networking

• HP is the No. 2 wired switching vendor in terms of both revenue and port shipments, and its FlexCampus and FlexBranch architectures provide a comprehensive unified wired and wireless solution. The vendor provides integrated network and BYOD management, enabling device onboarding, provisioning, monitoring, policy enforcement and security. HP is developing a location-aware application to provide deterministic real-time location of wireless devices and assets on the network. Gartner typically observes HP's access layer solutions to be aggressively priced versus leading competitors. Large enterprises and SMBs globally should consider HP for access layer networking opportunities.

• Huawei

• Huawei's Enterprise Business Group (EBG) wired/WLAN access products can meet the needs of all enterprise use cases identified in this research. Huawei's solution has made good strides to offer a complete end-to-end campus networking solution. As with many vendors in the market, Huawei is able to meet the fundamental needs of the enterprise, but it struggles with differentiation. The vendor has a strong presence in Russia and the Asia/Pacific region, including Japan and India, as well as in China, where 72% of its access layer revenue was generated. Huawei's EBG targets healthcare, education, financial services and the public sector/government. Huawei should be considered for enterprise access layer opportunities where it has a geographical presence.