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The Forrester Wave™: Wireless Local Area Network Solutions, Q3 2014by Andre Kindness, August 29, 2014

For: Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

Key TaKeaways

aruba and Cisco aironet solutions Lead The PackForrester’s research uncovered a wireless market in which Aruba Networks and Cisco Aironet solutions lead the pack. Aerohive, Motorola, Cisco Meraki, HP, and Xirrus offer competitive options. Ruckus Wireless, Fortinet, and Meru Networks lag.

Use The Five s’s To Determine The Best Networking Platform For your InfrastructureBuying IT solutions based on the fastest access point (AP) or the cheapest 802.11ac AP is dead. However, looking for wireless solutions for a particular business can be daunting due to a dizzying array of architectures and marketing buzz. Forrester recommends that you look for the following in a solution: scalable, shared, simplified, standardized, and secure.

The Presence Of Business Tools and Vertical-specific Capabilities Defines VendorsWith their focus on delivering business value, Aruba Networks and Cisco Systems lead the wireless vendors. Aerohive, Motorola, and others have started to deliver vertical-specific solutions that will help businesses win new customers and delight current ones. The other vendors are squaring off in other markets.

access The wave Model For Deeper InsightUse the detailed Forrester Wave model to view every piece of data used to score participating vendors and create a custom vendor shortlist. Access the report online and download the Excel tool using the link in the right-hand column under “Tools & Templates.” Alter Forrester’s weightings to tailor the Forrester Wave model to your specifications.

www.forrester.com

© 2014, Forrester Research, Inc. All rights reserved. Unauthorized reproduction is strictly prohibited. Information is based on best available resources. Opinions reflect judgment at the time and are subject to change. Forrester®, Technographics®, Forrester Wave, RoleView, TechRadar, and Total Economic Impact are trademarks of Forrester Research, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective companies. To purchase reprints of this document, please email [email protected]. For additional information, go to www.forrester.com.

For InFrastructure & operatIons proFessIonals

why ReaD ThIs RePORT

In Forrester’s 58-criteria evaluation of vendors that offered wireless networking solutions, Forrester identified 10 significant solutions in this category — Aerohive Solution, Aruba Mobility-Defined Networks, Cisco Aironet, Cisco Meraki, Fortinet Secure Wireless LAN, HP FlexNetwork WLAN, Meru Networks WLAN, Motorola Solutions WLAN, Ruckus Smart Wi-Fi products, and Xirrus Wireless — and researched, analyzed, and scored them. This report details our findings about how each vendor measures up against our defined categories and plots where the wireless solutions stand in relation to each other to help infrastructure and operations (I&O) professionals select the right partner for their enterprise edge.

table of contents

New wLaN Requirements are Coming From The Top

Use The ‘Five s’s’ To select your Next wireless solution

wireless LaN evaluation Overview

Vendors are Driving Toward Vertical Focus and Business Value

Vendor Profiles

supplemental Material

notes & resources

Forrester conducted lab-based evaluations in a six-month period in 2013 and interviewed over 10 vendor and user companies, including aerohive networks, aruba networks, cisco systems, Fortinet, Hp, Meru networks, Motorola solutions, ruckus Wireless, and Xirrus.

related research Documents

the enterprise network enables Business InnovationJuly 8, 2014

technology Management In the age of the customeroctober 10, 2013

Virtual network InfrastructureDecember 12, 2011

The Forrester wave™: wireless Local area Network solutions, Q3 2014the 10 Wlan solutions that Matter Most and How they stack upby andre Kindnesswith christopher Voce, thayer Frechette

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the Forrester Wave™: Wireless local area network solutions, Q3 2014 2

© 2014, Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited August 29, 2014

New wLaN ReQUIReMeNTs aRe COMINg FROM The TOP

Networking is on the cusp of transforming from a technology platform that connects personnel computers to servers and storage to one that helps embed a business into its customers’ lives and deliver customized products and services.1 Leading CIOs have already started the transformation. For example, Philips Healthcare and a US-based insurance firm have developed network strategies based on the business’ requirements — such as data center consolidation — and not immediate IT initiatives.2 In responding to these new business demands, I&O professionals will notice vendors gravitating toward being industry-specific solution providers, business departments and product managers wanting to drive some of the wireless requirements, business departments sponsoring wireless investments, and business metrics being placed on wireless investments.3

Customer experience Is Reshaping wLaN Priorities

While monetizing the network is a relatively new concept, the consumerization of IT already has reset design, deployment, and management parameters on delivering wireless, negating the haphazard manner of throwing up APs in lobbies and conference rooms that was so common. The deployment of WLAN has not kept up with demand. It’s taking longer because I&O professionals have to rethink:

■ Resiliency. While a lot of workers and customers are mobile, enterprises have only started to shift their employees’ primary connection from wired to wireless. Wireless infrastructures will have to be business resilient and ready since employees won’t be able to fall back on wired connections. Wireless coverage and redundancy requirements will increase the complexity by a magnitude or more.4 I&O professionals will have to think about extending resiliency to stairwells, elevators, and other places where radio frequency (RF) interference is high but business is still being done.5

■ Controls. Bring-your-own-device (BYOD) has been a rallying cry for wireless vendors to connect with their customers, who have watched a tidal wave of personal devices come through the company door. Onboarding the device is actually only half the issue, and it’s the easy part — I&O professionals will have to think about carving up a shared medium based on who the user is (e.g., employee versus customer), device, operating system, and applications. Even worse, personnel devices mix personal and work applications together; the wireless system must be sophisticated enough to discern personal applications, noncritical business applications, and critical business applications. By enabling controls up to the application layer, teams can wrap policies around connections, troubleshoot issues, optimize experiences, or enhance security.

■ Deployments. Traditionally, AP deployments were based on the physical layout of the building, usually settling on a ratio of 8 users to 1 AP. Now IT teams need to think about the user, the job function, where wireless users need to connect, and the applications employees need to use. In a not too distant future, networks will need to serve the connected world, where hundreds to thousands of sensors will want air time even though they don’t have much data to transport.6




■ Users and connections. Guest and employee access have been the default configurations for wireless. As networks transition into business platforms, they will need to evolve into a more customized environment that serves up a multitude of engagement types. For example, brick-and-mortar retail locations will need to deploy a highly secure environment for the wireless point-of-sale machines, connections to inventory, and location information for partners who come in and restock shelves. They will also need to facilitate mobile moments with customers and employees.7

■ Management. With wireless vendors offering management in the cloud, more managed service providers (MSPs) and value-added resellers (VARs) have rolled out new wireless services for companies. In surveys and client engagements, enterprises have indicated that infrastructure managers are more willing to outsource that part of the network since their personnel don’t have the expertise in-house and see wireless infrastructure as more of an overlay.

■ Empowerment. Empowering other users and systems has three benefits: 1) letting others — within guidelines — harness the power that WLAN brings the business; 2) freeing up resources by taking responsibilities off of an overstretched networking organization; and 3) allowing other systems to connect to appropriate resources to support infrastructure automation.8 This concept has already made its way into wireless solutions: Guest access can now be granted by lobby administrators. Business professionals for retail, hospitality services, and many other industries could capitalize on the location information captured by wireless systems.

■ User experiences. Between employees’ and customers’ personal mobile experiences at home with their own wireless LAN and their cellular connection, employees and customers turn to their mobile device to accomplish work and personal tasks.9 They fundamentally believe they should have a good experience at work and now have little patience for a lack of a wireless blanket across the business. Networking professionals’ attitudes and design considerations will evolve to more mobile carrier characteristics.

a Marketplace Full Of New Choices

Customers continue to disconnect from their wired connections and are accessing more companies from their pockets and pushing them to deliver the right product/service wherever they are at the time they want it. Consequently, employees have the same expectations and demand the same freedom they have in their personal lives. An even more compelling argument to building a business wireless platform within the enterprise is to ensure that employees are on the same footing and in sync with their customers. In response to the growing wireless expectations, the market has gone through an incredible amount of changes since Forrester’s “The Forrester Wave™: WLAN Infrastructure, Q2 2007” report. Since then, WLAN solution providers have:

■ Rolled out new and higher bandwidth connections. Vendors have started to roll out 802.11ac, but they are only offering a slim selection of APs supporting the new standard. Much like 802.11n in the early days, it will take a year or more for the standard to reach its true potential as new chipsets get developed to support the second wave.




■ Injected Layer 4 through 7 services into wireless offerings. Software-as-a-service (SaaS) and “good enough” Internet connections have changed WAN architectures from a hub-and-spoke set of connections to a WAN fabric. Distributed organizations need more network services; as such, the wireless vendors have introduced network services — such as security and optimization typically found in the data center — into the wireless edge.

■ Relaunched wired and wireless unification. A little over five years ago, the traditional wired vendors, who started offering wireless solutions, touted the value of having a single pane for managing wired and wireless edge with their single management software. Then a few years ago, the wireless vendors started offering their own edge switches and claiming the same capability. Now some of the traditional wired vendors have altered and relaunched the unification story by eliminating a control and embedding the wireless functions in some of the edge switches.10 The wired and wireless hardware function as a single system requires you to buy both pieces from the same manufacturer.

■ Changed the direction of wireless architectures. The controller-based AP model — centralized data, control, and management planes — was the standard wireless architecture in the market for many years until Aerohive, Xirrus, and others started offering a distributed and coordinated AP model. Not only does this model not need a controller, the distributed model opens the door to harnessing cloud management while lowering the complexity of having controllers and APs at remote locations such as warehouses, manufacturing sites, hotels, and retail locations. In addition, this model will keep the wireless solution from being overwhelmed with the increased traffic that will come from 802.11ac APs. Some of the vendors are in the middle of changing their solutions and offer up to three different types of architectures.

■ Created new companies as others branched out. Ubiquiti and Aerohive are relatively new companies in the market compared to Cisco Systems and Aruba Networks. Simultaneously with the rise of new wireless companies, Fortinet and Dell’s SonicWall — which were longtime security companies — started to offer new wireless capabilities as part of their portfolio. In an interesting change of direction, more wired companies are choosing not to offer their own wireless, which requires a heavy amount of research and development. Instead, wired networking vendors are choosing original equipment manufacturer (OEM) wireless solutions from companies like Aruba Networks.

■ Launched business-specific features and products. With Wi-Fi blanketing malls, manufacturing sites, and hotels, companies can ascertain an immense amount of information that they could never get from carriers or their own apps. The various vendors have started to offer products that feed location information directly to clients to improve experiences or open up interfaces into the solutions. These interfaces can either allow business professionals to get in and gather data or partner business software with the wireless system to leverage the location information.




Vendors will Need To hone The Business Focus Of wireless solutions

All these market changes have positioned wireless to support the business transformation. While there is still a lot of R&D ahead for wireless vendors, they have made significant gains in tackling BYOD, the need for connections and throughput, and unified management. Now companies have started to work on rolling out capabilities to support Internet of Things and Layer 4 through Layer 7 services. What’s more interesting and significant is that vendors are moving past just offering technology solutions to rolling out business platforms by building solutions to support the age of the customer tenets and helping the business harness the power of wireless with business-specific tools and interfaces.11

Use The ‘FIVe s’s’ TO seLeCT yOUR NexT wIReLess sOLUTION

Though wireless vendors have matured beyond their “speeds and feeds” focus, networking professionals still hang on to what’s familiar — the hottest new feature is still 802.11ac. In many instances, most of the “new” features are an insignificant piece of the overall solution. For example, an automobile owner can choose to put iridium rather than copper spark plugs in a car engine to increase performance, or he can take advantage of other mundane modifications: keeping tires at the right pressure, ensuring that the air filter is clean, changing out the exhaust, or putting in a performance chip. Any of those can create an enormous difference in horsepower and mileage compared with precious metal spark plugs — and for a lot less money.

Since the industry is in the midst of another wireless architectural change, I&O professionals shouldn’t get caught up in the arguments of one approach against another but understand what the pros and cons are for each, and how they fit with their businesses. This will help teams understand how the system can be managed and how the system manages users, connections, and traffic. From that point, I&O should evaluate the solutions against the 5 S’s: 1) scalable; 2) shared; 3) simplified; 4) standardized; and 5) secure (see Figure 1). Look for solutions that are:

■ Scalable. The scalability of a solution covers many different facets: AP data rates, amount of client connections to the AP, or APs meshed together. Networking pros should consider all the components that encompass scalability and be careful of placing too much emphasis on one feature over the others — such as 802.11ac, ratio of APs to controllers, or amount of spatial streams. If the back-end system can’t handle the throughput, if the solution isn’t controller based, or if the clients only have one spatial stream, 802.11ac and the other features don’t matter. Define the scalability requirements of the wireless solution based on the amount of users, devices, and applications that will be connecting four to five years from today and how it scales linearly from today based on both a performance and cost perspective.12

■ Shared. This set of criteria focuses on elements that will help release networking professionals from being solely responsible for controlling network resources and give more autonomy to other parts of their business.13 Within the data center, data center architects and operations already search for solutions that allow cloud administrators to move virtual machines and re-allocate network resources without network administrators’ involvement. In the wireless market,




vendors offer the ability for non-IT professionals, such as lobby admins, to grant network access without the networking team needing to do anything in the background. Overall, I&O professionals should examine how the solutions share information with the business as well as provide opportunities to share the resources with other IT teams, like what software-defined network promises to bring to the data center.

■ Simplified. Most companies don’t have the budget to hire more networking experts who specialize in wireless. Simplifying infrastructure and processes means greater efficiency and flexibility for the organization while allowing a company to tap into a newly open set of resources. Creating simplicity doesn’t mean fewer options because of fewer parts, but hiding complexity. For example, take the concept of the plug-and-play capability on consumer devices and apply it within the data center, where workloads, like applications, get discovered and the network configures the platform for the application.

■ Standardized. Standardized processes, infrastructure, and technology pushes teams to leverage a common resource base, thereby reducing waste associated with managing one-offs and associated side effects. For example, companies that have their employees use their Active Directory (AD) credentials for corporate- and employee-owned devices can minimize the amount of help desk calls. However, many teams are resistant to standardization because network professionals associate standardization with rigidity. In reality, networks are rigid because of infrastructure irregularities. If standardization isn’t in place, you can’t introduce automation.

■ Secure. Fundamentally, wireless solutions should come with a rich set of authentication modes and policy controls for wireless users and administrators by default. All wireless connections (guest or not) should be encrypted to the access point. As wireless users connect with more of their own resources, infrastructures will have to shift more network services, such as optimization and security, closer to the user since the end points are no longer the control points. According to Forrester’s Zero Trust Model, every device, user, and application should have micro-perimeters erected around them. Security controls need to be in place from the physical layer through the application layer, which means the solutions should have application visibility and controls.14




Figure 1 Evaluate Wireless LANs Using Five Simple Architectural Characteristics

Source: Forrester Research, Inc. Unauthorized reproduction or distribution prohibited.115916

Vendorterminology

I&O technical needs

• Support a variety of connection environments, conditions,devices, apps, and users with a multitude of software, hardware,and protocol options

• Linear cost model and architecture

• Built for multitenancy with differentiated user and services• Shared resources with business professionals, other teams, and

systems• Managed a single system

• Simple and intuitive interfaces• Self-forming• Wizards and templates for apps and business elements

• Standard interfaces• Orchestration integration• Standard processes and procudures for mobile users and

administrators

• Integrated network and application controls, overlaid identityand data

• Managed as a work�ow, not a singletechnology

Flexible/resilientScalable

SharedUni�ed/open

/programmable

Business wireless edge

Uni�ed/open/programmable

Standardized

SecuredSecure

AutomatedSimpli�ed

wIReLess LaN eVaLUaTION OVeRVIew

To assess the state of the wireless LAN market and see how the vendors stack up against each other, Forrester evaluated the strengths and weaknesses of top wireless vendors.

Criteria Focused On supporting The New Business edge Of engagement

After examining past research, user need assessments, and vendor and expert interviews, we developed a comprehensive set of evaluation criteria. We evaluated vendors against 58 criteria, which we grouped into three high-level buckets:




■ Current offering. Our current offering assessment evaluates the completeness of the vendor’s wireless solution to support a scalable, secure, standardized, shared, and simplified platform. These criteria capture how the solution can enable the business to support Internet of Things, an age-of-the-customer strategy, and virtual network infrastructure (VNI) tenets. Forrester only evaluated wireless hardware, not branch office solutions that might encompass a converged router and wireless solution. Forrester feels that routers are typically a separate item provided by a service provider.

■ Strategy. Forrester evaluated the vendor’s strategy on two vectors — technology and business. From a technology standpoint, Forrester focuses on the vendor’s road map to look for indicators of an advanced technology strategy, such as onboarding Internet of Things devices; unifying user and network edge device management in a single system; the system’s ability to automate wireless functions and be programmed through standard interfaces, interweaving the Layer 4 to 7 services to its wireless connections; igniting network functions virtualization (NFV); and supporting the five S’s.

The evaluation also addresses the vendor’s strategy to serve a business technology agenda and help customers support the mobile mind shift, gain insight from big data, help businesses become a digital disruptor, and transform the customer experience.15

■ Market presence. Our assessment of market presence factors in each vendor’s overall financial viability, installed base of customers, revenue, community presence, partner ecosystem, and its number of sales, engineering, and implementation resources. Forrester also examined the organization’s dedication to the domain based on its focus of resources.

selected Vendors Balanced a Base Of Common Capabilities and Distinct Differences

Forrester included 10 solutions in the assessment: Aerohive Solution, Aruba Mobility-Defined Networks, Cisco Aironet, Cisco Meraki, Fortinet Secure Wireless LAN, HP FlexNetwork WLAN, Meru Networks WLAN, Motorola Solutions WLAN, Ruckus Smart Wi-Fi products, and Xirrus Wireless. Each of these solutions has (see Figure 2):

■ Components that were available for purchase as of February 15, 2014. Any feature or product releases after February 15, 2014, were not part of the product evaluation but were considered in the strategy portion of the evaluation.

■ A complete wireless LAN solution. To get the optimum value and rich set of features from the wireless network, the solution requires that the wireless network components — access points, any supporting hardware and software, and management platform — be designed and manufactured by that vendor. Forrester did not allow vendors to reference third-party tools, components, or solutions when demonstrating their solution’s features or capabilities.




■ A solution that can be managed under one management platform. Since vendors may have offered more than one wireless solution, Forrester evaluated each wireless solution based on only the components that exhibited the claimed capabilities associated with that particular solution. Features and functionality that were available in the vendor’s other solution were not evaluated. To differentiate solutions and capabilities within a vendor’s own product portfolio, Forrester required that all APs (and associated controllers) be managed under a single management platform. Each platform has to manage the underlining hardware in a more advanced method than simply transferring configurations over standard SNMP core protocol data units (PDUs).

■ Generated Forrester client interest. The vendor or its client management suite is frequently mentioned by Forrester clients or is the subject of a substantial number of client inquiries.

■ Generated more than $40 million (USD) in revenue in 2013. The vendor has more than $40 million annually in wireless products.




Figure 2 Evaluated Vendors: Product Information

Source: Forrester Research, Inc. Unauthorized reproduction or distribution prohibited.

Vendor Solution

Aerohive Solution

Aruba Mobility-De�ned Networks

Cisco Aironet

Cisco Meraki

Networkmanagement/wireless productsevaluated(managementsoftware,controllers —ifoffered — and APs)

HiveManager managing AP121 to 390 series APs

• Aruba AirWave managing ArubaOS controllers and APs (RAP-3 to 270 series), Instant Access Points, Remote Access Points• Aruba Central managing Instant Access Points

Cisco Prime managing Cisco Aironet APs (3700 to 600 series)

Firmwareversion for AP(and controllers)hardware

HiveOS 6.1r3

• All Aruba Mobility Controllersand Cloud Services Controllers: Aruba OS version 6.3.1

• All Aruba Instant APs: InstantOS version 4.0

• Aruba Central: Cloud-based

• Cisco Wireless Release 7.6(v7.6.100.0 released Dec. 2013) (For Cisco 8500 series, Cisco Flex7500 series, Cisco Wireless services module (WiSM2), 5500 series, Cisco 2500 series, Cisco Wireless LAN controller module for ISR-G2, and Cisco Virtual wireless controllers)

• Cisco IOS-XE Release 3.3SE(v3.3.2SE released Feb. 2014) (For Cisco 5700 series, Cisco Catalyst 3850 series, and Cisco Catalyst 3650 series switches)

Firmware Version 22

Managementsoftwareversion

HiveManager 6.1r3

AirWave Network Management: version 7.7

Cisco Prime Infrastructure: Release 2.1 (for Cisco IOS-XE Release 3.3SE and Cisco Wireless Release 7.4): Release 1.4.045 update 2 (for Cisco Wireless Release 7.6)

Cisco Meraki

Aerohive

Aruba

Cisco

Cisco Meraki

MR12 to 66 series APsCloud




Figure 2 Evaluated Vendors: Product Information (Cont.)


Vendor

Fortinet

HP

Meru

Motorola

Ruckus

Xirrus

Solution

Fortinet Secure Wireless LAN

HP FlexNetwork

Meru Networks WLAN

Motorola Solutions Wireless LAN

Ruckus Smart Wi-Fi products

Xirrus Wireless

Networkmanagement/wireless productsevaluated(managementsoftware,controllers — ifoffered — and APs)

FortigateManager managing FortiGate with FortiAP (FAP 11c to 320c series) and FortiWiFi 30 to 90 series

HP Intelligent Manager Center managing MSM controllers, MSM310 to 466 series APs, M110 to 200 series APs, and 300 to 560 APs

E(z)RF Network Manager managing MC controllers and AP332 to 1010 series APs

AP 6511-7522 Series APs

Ruckus ZoneDirector manages Smart Wi-Fi products (ZoneFlex R700 to 7982 series APs)

Xirrus Management System (XMS) manages XR-500 to 7600 APs and Arrays

Firmwareversion for AP(and controllers)hardware

• FortiOS controller version 5.0.6

• FortiAP software version 5.0.66

Firmware v6.3 for MSM controllersFirmware for Uni�ed controllers

• HP6000-CMW520-R2507P14

• HP830-CMW520-R3507P14

• HP870-CMW520-R2607P14

• WX5004-CMW520-R2507P14System Director 5.3 for MC1550-6000 Wireless LAN controller

WiNG 5.5 that runs on all APs

ZoneFlex 9.7 and 9.8

Array OS 6.6

Managementsoftwareversion

FortiManager global management software version 5.0.6

HP Intelligent Management Center Enterprise Software Platform 7.0

E(z)RF Network Manager v4.0

WiNG 5.5

ZoneDirector versions 9.7 and 9.8.

• XMS-Enterprise6.6




VeNDORs aRe DRIVINg TOwaRD VeRTICaL FOCUs aND BUsINess VaLUe

Vendors have begun the shift from being technology solution providers in vanilla office environments to providers that help specific businesses win, serve, and retain customers — in whatever environment that might be. In general, the vendors offer robust and resilient wireless solutions that have little difficulty in supporting offices outfitted with laptops and wireless IT devices — even BYOD. While basic scenarios like that still drive sales, leading vendors have evolved solutions to cater to nascent but growing opportunities around particular markets that deliver specific vertical solutions — like big box stores, artisan hotels, or logistic centers. Our evaluation uncovered a diverse market in which (see Figure 3):

■ Cisco (Aironet) and Aruba lead the pack. The two vendors come from completely different backgrounds; Aruba is considered a 100% mobility vendor while Cisco offers network hardware across the entire network and market, but both offer a solid set of wireless products, options, and vision. The companies separated themselves from the other vendors by introducing wireless capabilities that can transform businesses and move wireless from a cost center to revenue generator. For example, Aruba’s location-based capabilities can help those in hospitality improve the way they engage with customers. Cisco is pushing deeper into supporting the connected world, where sensors, networks, and analytics software connect physical objects and infrastructure to computing systems, opening up new ways to enhance business and interact with customers.16

■ Aerohive, Motorola, Cisco (Meraki), HP, and Xirrus expand beyond the traditional office. All of the vendors in the Strong Performers category offer a solid wireless platform that can be successfully deployed and managed in any regular office environment. However, each builds upon that base and delivers something more for complex or underserved business environments.

For example, Aerohive’s wireless solution drives wireless configuration and operational complexity out in highly distributed environments — such as franchises — that require not just wireless and wired connections but integrated Layer 4 through 7 services. Motorola tackles the problems found in concrete areas that exhibit a wide range of environmental conditions, RF interferences, and business-specific tasks, such as those found in warehouses, retail stores, and manufacturing sites. HP’s wireless strength resides within Intelligent Management Center (IMC), which can manage disparate systems, HP wired devices, users, and third-party devices — useful in dual vendor environments. Cisco’s Meraki solution sets the standard in simple management with its cloud management system, which resonates with education and government organizations, where resources are severely limited. Xirrus brings connectivity to locations with dense connection rates such as conference halls, arenas, or large classrooms.

■ The Contenders — Ruckus, Fortinet, and Meru — serve different market segments. The Contenders have unique qualities that position them as worthy options for particular markets. Fortinet excels in environments such as retail stores, where wireless security is a top concern. Meru takes the complexity out of deploying wireless with its single-channel approach. Ruckus offers managed service providers and value-added resellers the ability to handle multi-tenant scenarios — meaning it can offer its customers managed wireless services.




This evaluation of the wireless network market is intended to be a starting point only. We encourage readers to view detailed product evaluations and adapt the criteria weightings to fit their individual needs through the Forrester Wave Excel-based vendor comparison tool.

Figure 3 Forrester Wave™: Wireless Local Area Network, Q3 ’14


RiskyBets Contenders Leaders

StrongPerformers

StrategyWeak Strong

Currentoffering

Weak

Strong

Go to Forrester.com to

download the Forrester

Wave tool for more

detailed product

evaluations, feature

comparisons, and

customizable rankings.

CiscoAironet

Aruba NetworksAerohive Networks

Motorola Solutions

Cisco Meraki

HP

Xirrus

Ruckus Wireless

Fortinet

Meru Networks

Market presence




Figure 3 Forrester Wave ™: Wireless Local Area Network, Q3 ’14 (Cont.)


CURRENT OFFERING Scalable Shared Standardized Simpli�ed Secure STRATEGY Product strategy Corporate strategy Maintenance cost MARKET PRESENCE Installed base Financial openness Revenue Revenue growth Services Employees Partners

Aer

ohiv

e N

etw

orks

3.673.452.354.003.954.60

2.961.854.505.00

2.954.005.002.004.003.321.802.00

Forr

este

r’sW

eigh

ting

50%20%20%20%20%20%

50%60%30%10%

0%20%

5%20%15%10%15%15%

Aru

ba

Net

wor

ks

3.573.553.403.303.404.20

3.743.654.502.00

4.434.005.005.003.004.345.005.00

Cis

co A

irone

t

3.423.953.002.902.854.40

3.904.503.003.00

4.705.005.005.003.005.005.005.00

Cis

co M

erak

i

3.342.851.953.903.204.80

2.631.304.505.00

3.573.005.005.005.003.352.202.00

Fort

inet

2.763.551.103.402.353.40

2.232.302.501.00

2.493.505.001.005.002.321.401.00

HP

3.243.153.203.202.454.20

2.552.502.503.00

3.252.505.004.001.004.663.204.00

Mer

u N

etw

orks

2.702.351.353.502.104.20

1.971.203.502.00

2.643.505.002.002.003.322.402.00

Mot

orol

a S

olut

ions

3.193.152.403.852.753.80

3.193.652.004.00

3.334.505.003.001.004.663.403.00

Ruc

kus

Wire

less

2.872.652.153.252.903.40

2.271.454.002.00

3.823.005.004.004.003.664.004.00

Xirr

us

3.503.502.454.003.154.40

2.270.954.005.00

2.523.001.003.002.004.321.602.00

All scores are based on a scale of 0 (weak) to 5 (strong).

VeNDOR PROFILes

Leaders

■ Cisco Aironet. Cisco brings customers an end-to-end solution from the data center to user edge.17 Besides being a Leader in Forrester’s WLAN Forrester Wave, Cisco has typically been first to introduce new technologies to the market, such as Clean Air, ClientLink 3.0, and 802.11ac. Its dominance in the wired arena has helped it attain the No. 1 spot in wireless market share. The company caters to markets ranging from large carriers to small businesses. With such a wide array of customers, Cisco has the largest edge portfolio: Aironet APs, Mobility Express, wireless controllers, switches, Integrated Services routers, Identity Services Engine, and Prime Management. Cisco’s solution has powered innovative change in stadiums, hospitals, and shopping malls with its Connected Mobile Experiences (CMX) solution.




■ Aruba Networks. One of the few remaining pure-play wireless vendors, Aruba transformed the wireless industry from fat APs to coordinated wireless systems — and is now the second largest wireless vendor. Aruba’s controller based and controller-less APs, Meridian applications, ClearPass Access Management System product, Aruba Mobility Access Switches, and Airwave Network Management System (NMS) management have helped hospitality venues evolve their network from a technology platform to a business platform. Its ClearPass and AirWave platforms support third-party hardware solutions; Juniper and Alcatel-Lucent resell its products.

strong Performers

■ Aerohive. As a relative newcomer in the wireless industry, the company has quickly grown by introducing simplicity in wireless. The company is also instrumental in shifting wireless from a centralized architecture to a distributed cooperative control one, which is effective in distributed industries like home owner’s insurance. Historically, Aerohive’s focus has been solely on wireless LAN, but its acquisition of Pare Networks gave it a unique set of branch office capabilities, while its customer demands pushed it into offering switches. Aerohive’s HiveManager, appliance or cloud based, sets the standard on simplifying network operations.

■ Motorola Solutions. Motorola has built a strong name for itself in areas that need industrialized products across multiple communication transports. Motorola’s Wing OS, AirDefense, and large selection of APs are core to its wireless solution. Motorola’s strength lies in creating a platform that enhances connectivity for non-traditional IT devices — such as bar scanners, kiosks, or point-of-sale machines — by manipulating RF signatures, altering transmit power levels, and accounting for receiver sensitivities. This helps in retail, manufacturing sites, or distribution centers. In addition, Motorola’s WLAN solutions ensure that its WLAN integrates into its broader portfolio of communication solutions.

■ Cisco Meraki. Meraki was acquired by Cisco in 2013. The company was first to create a cloud-based solution, which has been followed by most vendors. This model allows customers to rent, on a monthly basis, Cisco’s Meraki solution, which includes cloud-based management, security appliances, access points, and switches. The intuitive management interface makes it easy for customers to set up a wireless infrastructure across a highly distributed company and manage user policies. Meraki only requires the connectivity hardware to be placed at a location with an Internet connection. This approach is helpful in highly distributed environments such as restaurant chains or franchised businesses.

■ HP FlexNetwork WLAN solution. HP has a long history in offering wired and wireless products. The company has combined its 3Com wireless products (WX controllers and associated APs) with its Colubris (MSM controllers and associated APs) acquisition into Unified wired WLAN products (800 series appliances and modules), creating a large portfolio of wireless options. At the center of its solution is its Intelligent Management Center (IMC).




HP IMC creates a single console for network administrators to manage users, HP’s wireless and wired products, and third-party devices. HP IMC is a core strength in its portfolio. HP FlexNetwork has been successful in education because of IMC’s ability to bridge architectures and legacy hardware with current hardware.

■ Xirrus. Xirrus emerged on the market with Wi-Fi Arrays to serve a dense amount of users —typically in classrooms, convention centers, and entertainment venues — which most readily available WLAN solutions struggled to do. The company’s modular array architecture can provide a large coverage area, serve a dense collection of users, and scale from two radios up to 16 within a single device. For smaller installations, customers can use Xirrus APs. Xirrus Management System (XMS) binds its APs, arrays, and switches and provides customers a solid set of user and device management features.

Contenders

■ Ruckus Smart Wi-Fi products. Ruckus focuses exclusively on providing carrier-grade WLAN solutions with its SmartCell and ZoneFlex APs and controllers, SmartCell Insight, FlexMaster, and ZonePlanner. Its expertise around capacity and performance make it an attractive vendor in both the carrier and enterprise space. Leveraging its interactions with telecom and service providers, Ruckus has brought to the enterprise market a unique solution to help companies monetize their networks with its cloud Smart Access Management (SAM) service. I&O professionals or resellers can operate as wireless service providers by creating their own public hotspots within the wireless platform — helpful in a shop complex, mall, or train station.

■ Fortinet. Built on Fortinet’s FortiGate UTM technology, the company entered the wireless market from a unique direction with its FortiGate wireless solutions — FortiAP solutions and Forti Wi-Fi product lines. The FortiAP solutions support firewall, VPN, intrusion prevention, application control, web filtering, and other security and network capabilities. Unlike most other wireless vendors, Fortinet provides a deep knowledge of PCI compliance, credit card security, and personal information protection. This helps Fortinet serve customers in banking and retail.

■ Meru. Meru entered the market with a unique value proposition that had nothing to do with the “fat versus light” architecture debates going on in the industry at the time. The company offered single-channel architecture as a way to simplify wireless networking, instead offering a controller-based system to simplify wireless management. While other long-term wireless vendors have evolved their architecture and offer multiple approaches, Meru has maintained its approach and has kept its portfolio consistent. Meru keeps processes and procedures standardized but hasn’t kept up with some of the other vendors in regard to some of the functionality that enterprises expect today. Meru has been successful in education and local and state governments, where organizations have limited resources (amount of staff, wireless expertise, or time) to deploy a wireless environment.




sUPPLeMeNTaL MaTeRIaL

Online Resource

The online version of Figure 3 is an Excel-based vendor comparison tool that provides detailed product evaluations and customizable rankings.

Data sources Used In This Forrester wave

Forrester used a combination of four data sources to assess the strengths and weaknesses of each solution:

■ Hands-on lab evaluations. We had the vendors run through a 1-hour demonstration of their product based on a set of requirements that Forrester created. The evaluation was positioned as the network administrator configuring access points, setting up employee access policies with corporate-owned devices, creating employee access policies with their own personal devices, and building a guest portal. We evaluated each product using the same scenario(s), creating a level playing field by evaluating every product on the same criteria.

■ Vendor surveys. Forrester surveyed vendors on their capabilities as they relate to the evaluation criteria. Once we analyzed the completed vendor surveys, we conducted vendor calls where necessary to gather details of vendor qualifications.

■ Product demos. We asked vendors to conduct 2-hour demonstrations of their product’s functionality. We asked them to show us what the experience was like logging on to the network for an employee who used a corporate-owned device, an employee with their own device, and a guest user. We asked them to show us what the experience would be like with a Windows machine, IOS device, and Android device. We evaluated each product using the same scenario(s), creating a level playing field by evaluating every product on the same criteria.

■ Customer reference calls. To validate product and vendor qualifications, Forrester also conducted reference calls with five of each vendor’s current customers.

The Forrester wave Methodology

We conduct primary research to develop a list of vendors that meet our criteria to be evaluated in this market. From that initial pool of vendors, we then narrow our final list. We choose these vendors based on: 1) product fit; 2) customer success; and 3) Forrester client demand. We eliminate vendors that have limited customer references and products that don’t fit the scope of our evaluation.

After examining past research, user need assessments, and vendor and expert interviews, we develop the initial evaluation criteria. To evaluate the vendors and their products against our set of criteria,




we gather details of product qualifications through a combination of lab evaluations, questionnaires, demos, and/or discussions with client references. We send evaluations to the vendors for their review, and we adjust the evaluations to provide the most accurate view of vendor offerings and strategies.

We set default weightings to reflect our analysis of the needs of large user companies — and/or other scenarios as outlined in the Forrester Wave document — and then score the vendors based on a clearly defined scale. These default weightings are intended only as a starting point, and we encourage readers to adapt the weightings to fit their individual needs through the Excel-based tool. The final scores generate the graphical depiction of the market based on current offering, strategy, and market presence. Forrester intends to update vendor evaluations regularly as product capabilities and vendor strategies evolve. For more information on the methodology that every Forrester Wave follows, go to http://www.forrester.com/marketing/policies/forrester-wave-methodology.html.

Integrity Policy

All of Forrester’s research, including Forrester Waves, is conducted according to our Integrity Policy. For more information, go to http://www.forrester.com/marketing/policies/integrity-policy.html.

eNDNOTes1 On the flip side, business decision-makers are expanding by scouting for new revenue streams and

remaining relevant to their customer base. As a result, businesses are demanding that IT departments respond by helping them achieve two goals: Embed themselves in their customers’ lives and offer personalized products and services. See the June 21, 2011, “Why I&O Must Design A WLAN To Provide The Best User Experience” report.

2 For more information on the direction of networking infrastructures, see the July 8, 2014, “The Enterprise Network Enables Business Innovation” report.

3 For more information on companies like Home Depot, Philips, and BMW using the network as a business competitive advantage, see the July 8, 2014, “The Enterprise Network Enables Business Innovation” report.

4 For every network device that is added, a redundant one needs to be included for resiliency. Every new component has to be tested and configured against every other one. Consequently, failure calculations are based on number of devices (n = number of devices) to the power of the number of devices (n to the nth power).

5 In hospitals, more medical equipment is being connected to the network and travels with patients, doctors, and nurses as patients get moved around.

6 A technology revolution is brewing that uses sensors, networks, and analytics software to connect physical objects and infrastructure to computing systems, providing an unprecedented view into the status, location, and activities of products, assets, and people. By understanding the landscape of the connected world, business technology leaders can prepare their firms for the implications — positive and negative — of optimizing assets, differentiating products and services, and transforming customer relationships. See the October 31, 2013, “Mapping The Connected World” report.










7 The mobile mind shift is the expectation that your customer can get what she wants in her immediate context and moments of need. This shift means the battle for your customer’s attention will be waged in mobile moments — any time she pulls out a mobile device. Because mobile devices are pervasive in life and work, mobile moments have a pervasive impact on your company. See the January 24, 2014, “Re-Engineer Your Business For Mobile Moments” report.

8 Yet somehow network professionals feel as though they should be virtual security guards, controlling users on the network via network access control (NAC) — or the basic ability to detect when a device connects to the network to enforce security controls based on knowledge of the risk status of the device and/or its user’s role in the organization. But managing this type of locked-down environment is nearly impossible at scale; most NAC implementations rarely accomplish their original intent.

9 In the mobile mind shift, marketers must decrease the distance between what their customers want and what they get. See the April 19, 2013, “Marketing Strategy For The Mobile Mind Shift” report.

10 Cisco, Fortinet, and HP have solutions that integrate some wireless functions, such as the management plane, into the edge switch.

11 The age of the customer tenets focus on supporting the mobile mind shift, getting insight from big data, helping businesses become a digital disruptor, and transforming the customer experience. See the October 10, 2013, “Technology Management In The Age Of The Customer” report.

12 Automating systems can only be done by finding the mechanics of the system, like Reynolds Transport Theorem for modeling fluid flows. Consequently, knowing if the system performs as a linear function; step function; linear combination; continuous sigmoid function; or continuous tan-sigmoid function can have dramatic effects on acquisition costs and data center operations. While the prospect of total supreme network domination is exceptionally appealing to many, it is a function that is long overdue to be released back to HR and business managers. See the October 15, 2013, “A Tsunami Of Empowerment Will Hit Your Network With The Internet Of Things” report.

13 NAC is the basic ability to detect when a device connects to the network and to enforce security controls based on knowledge of the risk status of the device and/or its user’s role in the organization. And while the prospect of total supreme network domination is exceptionally appealing to many, it is a function that is long overdue to be released back to HR and business managers. See the October 15, 2013, “A Tsunami Of Empowerment Will Hit Your Network With The Internet Of Things” report.

14 For more information on Zero Trust and the architecture, see the June 5, 2014, “The Future Of Data Security: A Zero Trust Approach” report.

15 Empowered customers are disrupting every industry — and CIOs need to understand how technology management must adapt in this rapidly evolving world. This report outlines how the age of the customer will place harsh and unfamiliar demands on institutions, necessitating changes in how they develop, market, sell, and deliver products and services. CIOs and their teams will be called on to support these changes, widening their agendas beyond IT (infrastructure) to include business technology (BT) — technology, systems, and processes to win, serve, and retain customers. BT investments must include key capabilities for: 1) engaging customers undergoing a mobile mind shift; 2) providing superior customer experience in














all customer interactions; 3) understanding customers through big data and analytics; and 4) adapting to — and ideally driving — digital disruption. See the October 10, 2013, “Technology Management In The Age Of The Customer” report.

16 Forrester defines the connected world as one where “Technologies enable objects and infrastructure to interact with monitoring, analytics, and control systems over Internet-style networks.” Connected world solutions link physical assets to analytics and control systems through the Internet, allowing firms to take action based upon comprehensive and real-time understanding of situations. See the October 31, 2013,

“Mapping The Connected World” report.

17 Though Cisco and Aruba are tied at the second decimal point (3.66), if we carry it out further, Cisco does edge Aruba out with a score of 3.660 to Aruba’s 3.655.




Forrester Research (Nasdaq: FORR) is a global research and advisory firm serving professionals in 13 key roles across three distinct client segments. Our clients face progressively complex business and technology decisions every day. To help them understand, strategize, and act upon opportunities brought by change, Forrester provides proprietary research, consumer and business data, custom consulting, events and online communities, and peer-to-peer executive programs. We guide leaders in business technology, marketing and strategy, and the technology industry through independent fact-based insight, ensuring their business success today and tomorrow. 115916

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