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In-house network management requires dedicated IT resources, and the strain on the network is only increasing as more users add more devices. For companies managing wireless LANs that are tasked with handling more and more important applications, users, and mobile devices, time and labor costs are rapidly increasing.

What if those companies could offload some of that network management burden via a cloud service that provides reliable uptime, always-on monitoring, and a predictable annual cost? The new Zebra Azara cloud-based WLAN management system provides that type of solution.

Centralized management of a WLAN infrastructure can both optimize the performance of the wireless infrastructure by allowing the system to holistically adjust settings (e.g., power) based on the condition of the entire network, and also improve the efficiency of managing, troubleshooting, and commissioning new assets on the network. However, traditional management tools are usually on-site and only provide control and visibility into one facility’s wireless network.

By moving this type of WLAN management to the cloud, Zebra Azara helps businesses launch their networks more quickly and with minimal investment in time and upfront costs. Azara supports Zebra’s WiNG 5 architecture, which eliminates the need for hardware controllers. It also integrates Zebra’s NSight network analytics and service assurance platform for visualization, historical trends, and analytics.

That support for additional Zebra products allows the cloud solution to leverage additional capabilities. The WiNG 5 architecture distributes controller functionality to each access point, so that even when there is an outage the network continues to run. Smart RF, meanwhile, maintains optimal cover and performance by allowing the network infrastructure to automate routine tasks, such as selecting channels and power levels to eliminate coverage gaps.

Zebra Azara provides policy enforcement, application visibility and control, site survivability, wireless intrusion prevention services (WIPS), and Smart (adaptive) RF to enterprise WLAN users. Because it is cloud-based, customers can manage multiple WLANs in different facilities at once; similarly, resellers and integrators can also provision and manage wireless LAN services for multiple customers via a unified dashboard view.

Using that central monitoring feature, administrators can check on critical network parameters in real-time, identify trouble spots, and examine highly granular, detailed RF statistics right down to the individual access point. With that visibility, network admins can quickly identify issues and proactively resolve the problem before it has a wider impact on the network.

Because no data actually travels through the cloud connection, the solution is highly secure. Each access point communicates with Zebra Azara using a secure tunnel (secured via SSL) over the Internet. The solution is also highly reliable, and provides 99.995% uptime with high survivability and resiliency.

Another important benefit of a cloud architecture is scalability. End users can scale up to thousands of access points with no limits on throughput or out-of-band network management. For customers with multiple manufacturing, retail, or warehousing sites, that scalability means that the wireless network will never outgrow the capabilities of the central management tool.

Network admin resources are scarce and, at many companies, already under strain from the increasing demands of keeping the WLAN effective and functional. A cloud-based tool like Zebra Azara provides a centralized way to monitor, troubleshoot, and address problems with the wireless network while simultaneously reducing the cost and labor associated with those administrative tasks.

By taking WLAN management into the cloud, enterprises can make their wireless networks even more productive and valuable.