Today at HPE Discover in Las Vegas, Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) announced several innovations to accelerate Intelligent Edge adoption with new edge solutions, partner program, and a research lab. These new offerings enable customers to leverage analytics and machine learning (ML) allowing them to adapt to changes in real-time. The new offerings and programs include major enhancements to Aruba Central, integrations and new turnkey edge-to-cloud solutions, and the Intelligent Edge and IoT Center of Excellence (CoE) and Labs.
Today at HPE Discover in Las Vegas, Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) announced several innovations to accelerate Intelligent Edge adoption with new edge solutions, partner program, and a research lab. These new offerings enable customers to leverage analytics and machine learning (ML) allowing them to adapt to changes in real-time. The new offerings and programs include major enhancements to Aruba Central, integrations and new turnkey edge-to-cloud solutions, and the Intelligent Edge and IoT Center of Excellence (CoE) and Labs.
The edge becomes increasingly more important as the Internet of Things (IoT) is leveraged more and more. IoT can change the way companies interact with the world while generating trillions in revenue. Organizations know that they have to not only work at the edge but to do so intelligently, hence the implementation of the Intelligent Edge (an architecture that is fully connected, secure, distributed and autonomous). The problem that arises is scaling the Intelligent edge while keeping it secure and not making it overly complex to manage. HPE is taking several steps in ensure the Intelligent Edge can scale securely and simply.
The first step the company has taken is making significant enhancements to Aruba Central. Mainly the enhancements include AI-powered network analytics that lead to improved security, and user-centric assurance for wired, wireless and WAN edge infrastructures from a single point of control. Other significant advancements include:
- Advanced AI-powered Analytics and Assurance capabilities based on NetInsight and User Experience Insight allow IT professionals to resolve infrastructure problems quickly before they impact the organization. Now integrated into Aruba Central’s cloud-based platform, Aruba’s Analytics and Assurance capabilities deliver IT professionals a way to quickly remediate intermittent network issues while also proactively identifying how to optimize customers’ infrastructure to ensure an optimal experience.
- Software-defined Branch (SD-Branch) and SD-WAN, managed on Aruba Central, is now enhanced with improved branch management and orchestration capabilities to centrally define business intent policies to meet the hybrid-cloud connectivity needs for distributed enterprise and reduce operational costs. The new SD-WAN Orchestrator in Aruba Central makes it easier for IT professionals to deploy flexible and secure overlay topologies in a large-scale edge infrastructure, connecting thousands of branch locations with multiple data centers. Aruba Virtual Gateways now available for AWS and Azure, combined with orchestration, cost-effectively extend network and security policies to workloads running in the public cloud. The new SaaS prioritization feature not only enhances the performance of SaaS applications but also provides visibility about end-user experience for business-critical applications, such as Office365 and Salesforce.
- Integrated in Aruba Central, ClearPass Device Insight provides IoT visibility and security via a single pane of glass, employing automated device discovery, ML-based fingerprinting and identification. Used in conjunction with Aruba ClearPass Policy Manager and Aruba’s Dynamic Segmentation security capabilities, networking and security teams can automate unique policy enforcement down to each device and user.
- New network management workflow enhancements are integrated into Aruba Central to accelerate device provisioning with an automated mobile app, deliver network health views and troubleshooting across all locations allowing IT to focus on delivering the needs of the business.
There is a lot going on at the edge. Sensors, cameras, and actuators and in constant contact with networks, applications, and infrastructures that run back from the edge to the core. Not only that, the edge units need to be able to survive in the potentially harsh environments where they reside. This can lead to potential issues. To combat this, HPE is launching pre-integrated turnkey edge-to-cloud solutions in partnership with key industry partners:
- The integration of ABB Ability Smart Sensor technology with Aruba access points is designed to deliver a scalable, high-performance wireless connectivity solution for operational technology (OT) equipment such as motors, pumps and machines. This allows industrial companies to capture valuable data and insights from their equipment to proactively monitor their condition and performance, and plan maintenance in advance in order to avoid costly and disruptive downtime.
- Jointly developed by ABB, HPE, Microsoft and Rittal, the Secure Edge Data Center for Microsoft Azure Stack is the industry’s first enterprise-grade edge appliance for Microsoft Azure Stack, enabling real-time intelligence and action in harsh industrial environments, while providing seamless integration with the Microsoft Azure Cloud. The appliance provides IP55-rated environmental protection, cooling, redundant power, and automated management – allowing customers to run high-end enterprise applications in locations such as factories or oil rigs.
- HPE Edgeline IoT Quick Connect dramatically simplifies the convergence of OT and IT, enabling customers to monitor and control OT equipment such as machines or motors in real time. Jointly delivered with Microsoft, HPE Edgeline IoT Quick Connect is based on the HPE Edgeline OT Link Platform, which connects OT devices, the HPE Edgeline EL300 Converged Edge System, and Microsoft Azure IoT, a collection of cloud services to connect, monitor, and control IoT assets.
- Fast Start Condition Monitoring enables customers set up condition monitoring within 90 days for a fixed price to ensure performance and availability of their OT equipment. An end-to-end solution delivered by HPE Pointnext, Fast Start Condition Monitoring is designed for customers who want to get started quickly with condition monitoring, but lack the skills to do so. HPE Pointnext helps define use cases, OT data sources and workflows, and implement pilots for proof of value, based on HPE Edgeline Converged Edge Systems, the HPE Edgeline OT Link Platform and PTC ThingWorx.
HPE is investing in its partner ecosystem as part of its plan to accelerate Intelligent Edge adoption. This goes hand in hand with its newly established Intelligent Edge and IoT CoE & Lab that provides critical capabilities and technologies to HPE’s partners and customers to accelerate Intelligent Edge adoption. It will guide partner activities, M&A and research in the following areas:
- Collaboration and knowledge transfer among HPE’s channel partners to accelerate market adoption of the Intelligent Edge – with the Channel to Edge Institute (CEI), a program which helps HPE’s channel partners gain the required expertise to effectively recommend, sell, implement and manage Intelligent Edge solutions for their customers. The CEI provides training on Intelligent Edge use cases and business cases, and will deploy joint go-to-market programs including HPE’s channel and ecosystem partners.
- Research programs to drive rapid commercialization of Intelligent Edge technologies that simplify edge-to-cloud management and OT-IT convergence, and enable new use cases – this includes, among others, a unified provisioning, policy and security management across wired networks, Wi-Fi and 5G; the next generation of HPE’s first-of-a-kind HPE Edgeline Converged Edge Systems and HPE Edgeline OT Link Platform; and real-time video analytics for quality, security, and customer experience applications.
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