Adtran Releases New Infrastructure for Wireless Networks

ADTRAN has recently released a series of new wireless networking equipment, management and education-focused solutions worthy of note.

On the equipment side of things, ADTRAN announced the release of two new families of switches, “the NetVanta 1510 and 1550 families of Gigabit Ethernet switches.” The switches are geared towards cloud use and management.

Here’s the run down from the press release:

The NetVanta 1510 and 1550 switch families are the first in a series of many enhancements the company plans to reveal in 2015. These new additions to the ADTRAN VoIP switch portfolio continue ADTRAN’s tradition of guaranteeing superior voice performance at all times by making the solutions powerful yet easy to use. The NetVanta 1510 web-managed Gigabit Ethernet switches and NetVanta 1550 fully-managed Gigabit Ethernet switches are cloud-ready and can be managed via ADTRAN ProCloud service to make switch maintenance and monitoring even simpler.

Speaking of cloud management, ADTRAN also announced in a separate press release that the company’s cloud management solution, ProCloud, could manage the above switches as part of its service portfolio. The result for cloud management, according to the wireless technology solutions provider, is the “first Unified Service for Wired and Wireless Networks.”

Here’s more:

The addition of ADTRAN NetVanta Ethernet switches into the ProCloud portfolio provides IT departments with a complete view of both their wired and wireless LANs to ensure a high quality of experience. The platform provides a holistic, vendor agnostic visibility that provides real-time and historical information. The solution also simplifies ongoing administration through customized reporting and tiered access, and improves security through centralized configuration and firmware management. In addition to these management tools, organizations can also leverage ADTRAN’s technical expertise to further maximize IT resources for their network.

Here’s how ADTRAN is structuring payment for the cloud management solution:

Another benefit is the flexibility of an elastic, pay-as-you-grow infrastructure model with the ADTRAN ProCloud portfolio. The service is the industry’s only solution that mitigates against a stranded investment. Organizations have the option of choosing the level of service that meets their needs today or migrating network management to an internal IT organization in the future, all while maximizing their NetVanta switch investment. This provides companies the freedom to optimize the service to their changing business needs without penalty or loss of service.

Finally, ADTRAN announced a new wireless digital learning suite called ProCloud.edu, which aims to provide a “comprehensive services suite from the cloud to the classroom to create a dynamic, technology-infused learning environment.” The solution offers a number of key features:

• Cloud-managed wired and Wi-Fi networks for BYOD and 1-to-1 initiatives in school districts, consortiums, and individual school campuses
• Network security to restrict websites and stop incoming threats
• Classroom management software to facilitate learning through technology and gain back valuable classroom time
• Capacity planning to support school districts’ technology budget and planning efforts
• Student and teacher help desk support to address connectivity issues

This last solution is quite obviously aimed at competing more effectively with other top solutions providers in the education market. We’ll have to wait and see if that will be enough.