HPE’s Aruba launches AI analytics for smart digital workspaces

HPE’s Aruba launches AI analytics for smart digital workspaces

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) company Aruba Networks has launched NetInsight, an AI-powered analytics tool that’s designed to help organisations set up, monitor, and manage IoT-based smart workspaces.

“Monitor, analyse, predict”

IoT networks can be complex, and integrating kit from different suppliers can be a challenge. Managing and maintaining these systems can also be a problem.

That’s where NetInsight comes in, according to the company. The new system has been designed to monitor IoT devices automatically, and to deliver predictive analytics about how well they’re functioning.

Aruba claims NetInsight will identify performance lags, suggest what might be causing them, and recommend configuration changes. The aim is to find and fix these problems before they impact on workflows or system performance within networks and organisations.

Improving the user experience

IoT implementations are often deployed in dynamic and unpredictable environments. But while these have evolved over time, many of the tools that IT professionals use to manage them have changed very little, and lack focus on the user experience.

However, IT managers increasingly demand tools that give them better insight into both problems and fixes at a glance. This is why NetInsight has been designed within the Aruba ‘mobile first’ approach, which was conceived to deliver information that is both accessible and actionable, said the company.

One customer is the University of Washington, which has to manage more than 12,000 Wi-Fi access points and over 150,000 devices on its campuses, hospitals, and clinics. In that environment, the network management challenges of size, complexity, unpredictable usage patterns, and performance-sensitive applications are significant, according to David Morton, director of Networks and Telecommunications at the University.

“Using Aruba NetInsight, we have access to network data with flow visualisations and actionable analytics,” he said. “That helps us make critical decisions about where expanded and new coverage is needed – such as outdoor Wi-Fi for new constructions. We can also validate the ‘before and after’ impacts of network changes, so we can proactively deliver the best possible user experience.”

• Aruba has also announced an expansion of its Aruba Edge Technology Partner Programme to include new partners CBRE, Deloitte, and global furniture maker Herman Miller.

Internet of Business says

As the IoT spreads, analytics and management tools are a fast-growing area. And as ever with connected programmes, the subtext is always data – not just data about users, but also about how the system itself is performing.

Read more: SAS, Cisco claim first platform for IoT analytics at the edge