It’s funny, but when working with a customer recently in the APJ region, we touched on the fact that many organizations in the region prefer on-premises over cloud-based solutions. There’s cost, security, and ultimately an aversion to risk. To them, on-premises just seems like the right thing to do. I am not convinced that’s true in all cases, but the one thing we agreed on is that if there’s a problem, people want to know what’s going on.
Because the customer’s IT team was dealing with older wireless access points, they reached out to talk about newer options, AIOps included. As the cloud allows for the continuous collection of telemetry, an easier way to view data for use in tuning AI models, and a way to augment an IT team’s workload, Aruba Central entered the conversation. This led to the discussion about using a cloud-based solution, or really the aversion to using the cloud in general.
After digging into what they were experiencing, we found a majority of the issues were specific to one building – the building where they hosted all public-facing events. The ability to provide visitors and VIPs with quality Wi-Fi was a priority for the IT team, yet their private cloud strategy coupled with perceived risk of the public cloud meant the organization was unable to realize the benefits of AI-based network operations. A new approach was called for: one that delivered results and minimized perceived risks associated with cloud-based applications.
Problem solved – a little cloud goes a long way
New Wi-Fi 6 access points for their buildings going forward made sense as it would future-proof their investment for years to come. They also focused on one building to use Aruba Central and AIOps—by just focusing on this one “hotspot” or site when using AIOps, they could contain the data sent to the cloud. A targeted model with on-premises management for the other buildings would keep things simple.
They felt they could convince their management team of the benefits without being overly aggressive, and they would learn how AIOps helps streamline troubleshooting and problem resolution, while gaining the benefits of performance optimization tips. This would provide the opportunity to experience the capabilities of AI, while minimizing risk. Additionally, the following points of interest for long-term use of Aruba’s AIOps would add value:
- Recommendations are only provided if Aruba knows with over 95% confidence that a change will have the desired effect.
- And, recommended changes will deliver a 15% or greater improvement.
This way of thinking was somewhat new for them, but shows an open mind and a willingness to use emerging technology – even if it’s just for targeted areas. Luckily, our Aruba ESP architecture is flexible, supports the ability to accommodate cloud and on-premises options, and lets them take advantage of a single access point for either scenario. It’s IT efficiency with AIOps and a little bit of cloud.
For further information about Aruba AIOps, visit www.arubanetworks.com/AIOps.
