Why Your Hybrid Workplace Should Be Powered by Aruba ESP

In this blog Xavier van Cutsem, Sales Manager at System Solutions, explains how Aruba ESP can help you harness the power of the Edge to accelerate change and to tackle new ways of working.

How does Aruba ESP respond to today’s circumstances?
“Today, the majority of employees is working from home. That was only 10% before the pandemic. It’s a fact that in the beginning, companies were concerned about the productivity of their employees. That’s not a concern anymore. Organizations really are aware of the potential contagion at work and the consequences of COVID-19. They need to keep their employees safe, at all time. That’s why the new normal is a hybrid workplace, powered by Aruba ESP. The architecture enables work from home, while the office will become a collaboration hub with colleagues and customers.”

How does the hybrid workplace look like with Aruba ESP?
“It is not with a laptop that you offer a hybrid workplace to employees. You really need to check the connectivity and network layer in order to be productive. If you don’t secure and don’t build a private or secure connection between the device and the organization, the risk of malware is high, and employees can consult potential websites that damage the device of the user or the network of the organization. With VPN and role-based policies Aruba ESP makes the connection secure.”

And what about the implementation of Aruba ESP?
“There are several solutions but the easiest to implement is the Remote Access Points (RAP). Aruba Access Points are shipped to the employees’ home. The employee plugs it in, downloads the configuration automatically from the cloud, and is ready to go! The IT team can provide everything in advance. They don't have to intervene at the time and don’t need to ask the employee to come back to the office, which is important these days. Also, IT can – with or without the help of System Solutions– fully manage the network centrally from the cloud with full visibility. And even if you have existing infrastructure and devices, Aruba ESP is layer that comes directly on the existing tools and will allow your organization to offer a flexible workplace to their user.”

Does Aruba ESP also support things like contact tracing or heat mapping to keep employees safe and productive?
“Yes, of course. For example, vaccination passes, or negative test results could be added to the Network Access Control tool in Aruba ESP to keep everyone at the office safe. Furthermore, via tracing or location services one can know how many people are at the office or in the coffee corner. But contact tracing can also offer other benefits.. Aruba's location services are already implemented at a major cultural institution in Brussels.

Does this mean that System Solutions can build specific architectures, meeting particular needs?
“At the end, every organization will need to transition to new ways of working. System Solutions has the professionalism and ability to build the right architecture for every customer. We have the right people inside with the right certifications and the right solutions to let companies adapt to the new normal.”