Hi Thomas,
so we sorta did this process backwards - we made the decision to switch from
Juniper to Aruba just a couple of weeks *before* the partnership was
announced. We were quite happy to be ahead of the curve when we read the
press releases =)
I don't have any full-fledged RFP doc, but here are some of the high points
that we made sure to check:
- Sufficiently high capacity controllers, both with respect to enough
throughput to handle our wireless network as a whole, and enough
per-controller AP capacity that we wouldn't have to buy a whole stack of them.
- Good controller clustering - ie, what is the user impact if a controller
crashes or loses power? (No one out there can match the Juniper clustering,
but Aruba comes closest.)
- A selection of APs at suitable price/performance points. Not everyone out
there has a selection of different 11ac units available. In our case, the
Aruba AP225 as a three stream ac for high use areas, and the AP205 for in-room
lower client count was a good fit.
- A good, reasonably priced outdoor model.
- A solid management platform, with good integration API available.
- A history of a fairly rapid software release cycle. It needs to be fast
enough to keep up with the ridiculously high rate of new standards, protocols,
and collections of client quirks (I'm glaring at you, Android!)
- A good guest management system is a plus. We currently use Smartpass,
which we're getting away from along with the rest of the Juniper wireless
portfolio, and needed something that was either part of the replacement
system, or a 3rd party one that integrated well.
If you're interested, I'd be happy to talk directly over email or phone about
our evaluation process and findings in more detail.
Frank Sweetser fs at wpi.edu | For every problem, there is a solution that
Manager of Network Operations | is simple, elegant, and wrong.
Worcester Polytechnic Institute | - HL Mencken
On 7/16/2014 12:25 PM, Thomas Carter wrote:
Our current wireless vendor, Juniper, is essentially getting out of the
wireless game. They’ve made a deal with Aruba, but I don’t want the agreement
to dictate the best vendor for my campus. So I find myself in the unenviable
position of choosing a new vendor. Is there anyone who has been through this
recently who wouldn’t mind sharing the RFP or RFQ they used for the process? I
have not been through this with wireless for many years and wanted to make
sure I didn’t miss anything.
Thomas Carter
Network and Operations Manager
Austin College
903-813-2564
AusColl_Logo_Email
********** Participation and subscription information for this EDUCAUSE
Constituent Group discussion list can be found at
http://www.educause.edu/groups/.
**********
Participation and subscription information for this EDUCAUSE Constituent Group
discussion list can be found at http://www.educause.edu/groups/.
