How Aruba ESP Helps Your Business Gain a Competitive Advantage at the Edge

Aruba ESP helps businesses get ahead of the competition by enabling rapid and powerful data insights at the edge — without sacrificing security in the process.

The technological world is constantly evolving, leaving many businesses scrambling to get ahead and outperform the competition. Today, the latest evolution on most business leaders’ minds is the shift from cloud computing towards edge computing.

Unlike traditional cloud computing architectures, which centralize data processing and storage in a data center far away from the end devices producing the data, edge computing pushes the data processing power out to the edge devices themselves. As a result, only the results of this data processing — also called compute — need to be transported over the networks. This means faster data insights and significantly lower storage needs.

Though edge computing may not be the right choice for projects that require data to be stored long-term, it can be very beneficial for those that are a match. By only sending useful, post-processed information to the cloud, edge computing can eliminate the dreaded storage glut and save an organization thousands of dollars. Organizations that successfully harness their data through the use of edge computing can discover valuable insights and deliver new services to their customers. In other words, edge computing presents businesses with an opportunity to get ahead of the competition — but only if they have the appropriate tools to make the most of the edge.

Edge Computing Network Needs

As with any technological development, it’s important to remember that edge computing is only as good as the network and infrastructure it operates on. While corporate networks have always been essential for connecting people to their services and apps, edge computing makes the network more critical than ever, with requirements that extend beyond simple connectivity and access.

Consider the sheer quantity of devices now connecting to corporate networks. With the rise of the Internet of Things (IoT), it’s expected that 55 billion devices will be connected within the next two years. Those billions of devices are expected to generate 79.4ZB of data by 2025 alone. In combination with the rise of remote and distributed workforces — both as a result of the current COVID-19 pandemic and broader shifts away from in-person workplaces — that means that networks need more powerful tools than ever to keep up and make the most of all this data.

Tackling the Edge

While the edge is perfectly suited to optimize the performance of today’s low-latency devices, this shift will require businesses to adapt to new obstacles. Working at the edge comes with some unique challenges that make it difficult to use without the help of specialized tools. The biggest challenges are:

• Security Risks: New security threats are emerging every day. Security breaches can be incredibly costly — they are expected to cost businesses $6 trillion annually by 2021. This is particularly troubling because edge computing largely makes use of IoT devices, most of which are not equipped with the stringent security measures necessary to protect against hackers. When combined with the potential security risks associated with a growing remote workforce, it is critical that edge computing only be implemented with the aid of tools that make data security a priority.
• Lack of Visibility: As more of an organization’s infrastructure and its users move beyond the walls of a traditional office, it becomes harder for IT teams to maintain visibility into potential and existing problems. The information that comes from third-party tools often isn’t actionable, meaning problems are more likely to go unaddressed. This is particularly problematic at the edge, where there are often no on-site IT personnel to troubleshoot problems — even when they are aware of the issues.
• Siloed Management: Nearly half of all organizations use 11 or more tools to manage their extended networks, including separate tools for WAN, wired, and wireless networks. This disparate management style can create communication delays, and silos of monitoring, provisioning, reporting, and troubleshooting tools translate into a greater likelihood of service problems and outages.

The Edge Advantage With Aruba ESP

What these challenges really come down to is the question of how organizations go about centralizing management over a decentralized network of devices. For those that are able to effectively tackle that challenge head on, the edge presents many advantages. Most importantly, working at the edge enables new data insights that allow you to focus on what your business is truly good at.

That’s where Aruba ESP comes in. Aruba ESP is the first ever AI-powered platform specifically built to unify, secure, and optimize the edge. Along with Aruba Central, ESP offers a single watchtower from which network administrators can monitor all network operations across wired, wireless, and WAN locations. It’s specifically designed to help users maximize the benefits of decentralized edge computing, without sacrificing their cybersecurity and network performance.

Aruba ESP uses AIOps, Zero Trust Security, and Unified Infrastructure to help organizations:

• Preempt problems before they impact the business
• Protect against advanced threats — even on IoT devices
• Monitor and manage thousands of wired, wireless, and WAN devices across large or even remote worker locations
  Quickly deploy network services at scale

Making the Most of Edge Computing

Mastering the edge will inevitably help businesses stand out from the competition. With its continuous analysis of user, device, and network insights, Aruba ESP transforms information into knowledge to help organizations work faster and smarter.

That being said, Aruba ESP is a new platform that requires effort to be implemented and rolled out effectively. The best way to fully reap the benefits of Aruba ESP is to look to an implementation partner like Turn-key Technologies, Inc. (TTI) to help ensure that edge computing is working for you.

TTI is excited to continue its legacy of working at the forefront of IT infrastructure design and implementation by offering the industry’s first AI-powered platform built for the edge. Working with TTI can help you make the most of your new network analytics solution to start seeing immediate benefits across the board.

If you want to learn more about how TTI can help you find and implement the right Aruba solution for your business, contact us for a free consultation today.