{"id":937,"date":"2015-05-19T14:05:36","date_gmt":"2015-05-19T14:05:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/solutionsreview.com\/wireless-network\/?p=937"},"modified":"2018-02-23T09:58:54","modified_gmt":"2018-02-23T14:58:54","slug":"meru-and-westcongroup-release-wifi-as-a-service-solution","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/solutionsreview.com\/wireless-network\/meru-and-westcongroup-release-wifi-as-a-service-solution\/","title":{"rendered":"Meru and WestconGroup Release WiFi as a Service Solution"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Meru<\/a>Meru Networks<\/a> has announced<\/a> a new strategic partnership with WestconGroup<\/a>,\u00a0a value-added distributor of category-leading unified communications, network infrastructure, data center, and security solutions, to provide the next step in wireless network evolution: WiFi as a Service, or WaaS.<\/p>\n

The solution is based on Meru’s XPress Cloud<\/a>, which features 802.11ac XP8i Access Points, is geared for small to medium sized enterprises (SMEs), and can be easily and quickly set up by inexperienced, non-IT personnel. It is a cloud managed solution with 24×7 support, and users of the WaaS solution will pay a recurring subscription for it rather than buy the wireless network solution up front. That can make it easier to deploy a sophisticated wireless network solution for smaller and medium sized enterprises, who may not have oodles of cash ready burn on enterprise cost solutions.<\/p>\n

Don Trimble, vice president of WW Channels and Cloud Sales at Meru said the following:<\/p>\n

“SMEs require the security and reliability of enterprise-grade wireless networks, but they often do not have the luxury of large enterprise IT departments. By introducing this subscription-based WaaS model to the channel with WestconGroup, Meru is helping SMEs get affordable enterprise-grade Wi-Fi that can be seamlessly deployed and easily managed without substantial IT overhead.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Here are some of other features of Meru\/Westcon WaaS solution:<\/p>\n

-Management software hosted by Meru and delivered through industry-leading, highly-secure data center providers worldwide.<\/p>\n

-Only network management traffic traverses the cloud; all corporate data remains behind the firewall.<\/p>\n

-Complete white-label capability that can help resellers promote their brand to end customers by providing the XPress Service Provider (XSP) the ability to customize their unique content for their dedicated Managed Services Provider (MSP) Portal.<\/p>\n

Applying the recurring revenue model to the wireless network business makes sense on both ends, for both customer and vendor in my opinion, so it was only a matter of time before someone managed to figure out how to make it work. I will be interested to see if other wireless network solutions providers follow Meru’s lead.<\/p>\n

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\"wireless<\/a>For information on the top 802.11ac solutions,\u00a0check out our latest Buyer’s Guide:<\/strong><\/h4>\n