Recently, I had the chance to speak with Bruce Miller, the VP of Marketing for Xirrus, a provider of high-performance wireless networks.  I asked Bruce to give his thoughts on the growing challenge of BYOD, and to also give me more background on their EasyPass suite and how it helps.

VMblog:  First, can you give VMblog readers a little background on Xirrus?

Bruce Miller:  Xirrus is a leading provider of high-performance Wi-Fi networks. Xirrus' Wi-Fi solutions perform under the most demanding circumstances, offering consistent "wired-like" performance with superior coverage and security. Xirrus delivers innovative Wi-Fi solutions that solve the challenges with ever growing, ever-evolving Wi-Fi demands. Xirrus' unique architecture scales to quadruple the number of users and more compared to traditional solutions, without performance impact or the need for infrastructure upgrades. It's designed to evolve with the changes in Wi-Fi technology and standards so you won't need to replace your Xirrus network for years. Xirrus solutions are deployed in tens of thousands of networks worldwide, and we are proud to call some of the biggest companies on the market our clients.

VMblog:  It comes as no surprise that BYOD is bringing on a huge device management problem.  What does the BYOD problem actually look like today?

Miller:  Today, network administrators face the challenge of managing multiple devices per person on their Wi-Fi networks. And the problem continues to compound as evidenced by Gartner's estimate of 25 billion Wi-Fi connected devices by 2020, up from 5 billion today. This device explosion not only severely stresses Wi-Fi networks, but also the IT administrators who must support and secure them all. Bottom line, organizations are looking for solutions that ease the burden of managing all these devices.

VMblog:  You have a solution called EasyPass.  Can you tell us about it and how it helps?

Miller:  EasyPass is a suite of services that manages mobile device connections to Wi-Fi networks in the simplest way possible with minimal IT involvement. The solution streamlines device onboarding for employees and guests and requires up to five times less time and fewer steps than competitive solutions. It is the only device-agnostic solution on the market completely eliminating platform dependencies. As a cloud-hosted Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) offering, EasyPass provides IT complete control over the Wi-Fi network from a single console. Unlike other access solutions in the industry that are often highly complex, Xirrus EasyPass simplifies installation and management, requires no dedicated resources or training to implement, and works across all platforms and operating systems regardless of device.

VMblog:  What does the EasyPass suite include?

Miller:  The EasyPass suite of services includes three modules: EasyPass Onboarding, EasyPass Guest and EasyPass Voucher.

• EasyPass Onboarding provides device-independent, secure access for known users such as employees or students and ensures each user's connection is individually secured. This eliminates the use of shared keys found on many Wi-Fi networks that expose them to compromise.

• EasyPass Guest allows users to self-register without any IT assistance. This feature delivers fast and easy Wi-Fi access for anyone that wants to connect from anywhere, on any device.

• EasyPass Voucher enables guest access using pre-created voucher codes. As a result, organizations gain greater control over who receives Wi-Fi access to their networks and for how long.

VMblog:  What are the benefits of EasyPass for IT administrators and vendors?  And what about users?

Miller:  For IT administrators, EasyPass significantly streamlines IT operations and reduces help desk calls by letting users securely connect their personal devices to the Wi-Fi network on their own without need for deploying certificates or installing applications. For guest networks, users can self-register or use their social media credentials to connect. IT administrators gain full visibility into client activities and they can enforce access policies from anywhere through the cloud. End users benefit from the reduction in the time and complexity of connecting to the Wi-Fi network, as well as using secure connections to ensure privacy.

VMblog:  Finally, can you tell us more about Xirrus and the company's vision for the future of Wi-Fi?

Miller:  We were founded on the premise that "wireless would replace wired as the primary choice for network access" and we continue to hold that vision - transforming wired to wireless by providing the most powerful, scalable and simple wireless access solutions to organizations who depend on it for day-to-day operations. As wireless environments increase in density with the high-volume of connected devices, we will continue to innovate to deliver solutions that enable our customers to address their Wi-Fi networks today as well as adapt to the ever-changing wireless landscape of the future. 

##

Once again, thank you to Bruce Miller, Xirrus VP of Marketing, for taking time out to speak with VMblog and answer a few questions.