Aerohive debuts 'FAST' approach to enterprise WiFi
Aerohive is backing artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) as technologies that provide greater insights into WiFi connectivity and features.
The company's new innovations use AI and ML as part of its cloud managed networking vision. That vision predicts that enterprises demand not just a 'fast' network, but also a F.A.S.T. future.
According to Aerohive, F.A.S.T. stands for flexibility, actionable insights, security, and technology innovations.
"The enterprise is facing a myriad of new challenges both in how they can deploy and manage their networks, and in the demands for client devices and applications," says Aerohive CEO David Flynn.
"Our vision for the future of enterprise networking, and these new technologies we're launching, tackle those challenges head-on. Aerohive is giving the enterprise the flexibility, insights, security and advanced technology they need for their networks to successfully support their growing businesses today, and tomorrow.
As a result of the 'F.A.S.T' direction, the company integrated AI and ML into its cloud architecture that delivers continuous learning, continuous operation, and continuous optimisation.
The company's two new technologies use AI and ML to provide behavioural insights that empower WiFi management and implementation decisions at scale. They are called 'Traffic Insights', and 'Maximum Client Capabilities'.
Traffic Insights gives administrators graphical visibility and analysis of sets of associated and passive WiFi and BLE clients for their connections and movement patterns across customer-defined zones.
Customers can also track an individual client or asset for their current location and their movement over time. Businesses can use Traffic Insights to analyse their asset usage patterns to optimise their business for layout, placement of their services and merchandise, and demand planning.
Maximum Client Capabilities enhances Aerohive's already existing, industry-leading AI and ML-driven management capabilities, such as Network 360 and Client 360. The technology alleviates the high OPEX and time tied to network specialists' dependency on manual, complex, and expensive equipment in order to capture, parse, and understand specific client device capabilities, one capture at a time.
Aerohive believes that these new insights will give administrators a clear view of how to unlock the full potential of their networks and clients with minimal effort.
"As businesses have become more connected, the WiFi network has grown in importance," adds ZK Research principal analyst Zeus Kerravala.
"Today, high quality WiFi is mandatory for success with digital transformation initiatives. The challenge for most companies is that WiFi has historically been difficult to troubleshoot."
"The 2018 ZK Research WiFi Troubleshooting survey found that 58% of network professionals spend more than 25% of their time problem-solving WiFi issues as people can no longer analyse data fast enough to stay on top of issues in highly dynamic environments. The use of machine learning and artificial intelligence to manage WiFi is the only scalable way to deliver high quality WiFi today."
