WHY IS A HIGH-PERFORMANCE AND RELIABLE NETWORK EVEN MORE IMPORTANT NOWADAYS? 

Neyt: "Whenever, wherever, however. Think more mobile users, and the stricter security requirements that this demands. In the past, employees only worked with fixed devices, now companies often have a BYOD policy. It has become much more difficult to control the risks. Threats no longer arrive only from outside the organization, but also from within the office walls. Another challenge is the arrival of the Internet of Things. That normally transmits over non-trusted devices that then connect to an internal company network, which creates new problems and concerns. It means that a modern network – that is easy to manage and make secure – has now become a must."

HOW DOES HPE ARUBA MAKE A DIFFERENCE?

Neyt: "HPE Aruba makes a difference at three levels: simplicity, security and mobility-first. They were a pioneer in the development of network products that are perfectly suited to greater mobility. For example: in terms of security, with HPE Aruba it no longer matters whether you are working over a cabled or a wireless network. Security is enforced at the point where a device connects to the network, such as a switch port or an access point. This creates a kind of security bubble around each device, which we call "Dynamic Segmentation". That makes it easier to protect a network. In addition, Aruba's Clearpass and Airwave simplify and automate a lot of repetitive operational work. The time saved here can be invested in more strategic initiatives."

WHAT ARE ARUBA CLEARPASS AND ARUBA AIRWAVE?

Neyt: "Aruba Clearpass is all about control. It is a handy and vendor independent Network Access Manager that you can use to automate the access policy for your network. You simply add rights per user, location, application or device. That is of huge interest against the background of the growth of IoT. There is also a guest module to allow you to grant guests automatic – but still secure – restricted access to the network. Clearpass also provides extensive options for rapid troubleshooting and simple security reporting. This last point is particularly handy in the context of the GDPR, the stricter European privacy legislation.