Avaya Extends the Automated Campus to End the Network Waiting Game

SANTA CLARA, CA--(Marketwired - Apr 1, 2014) -

• Survey reveals that network complexities delay business system improvements by nearly a month, affect employee productivity, business analysis and sales efforts
• Fabric Connect reduces the network waiting game with a new application-first Wireless LAN offering that brings the Automated Campus to the wireless edge. 
• Fabric Connect powers InteropNet with 1/10 the resources of previous years

Network complexities cause significant delays in the ability of IT departments to improve systems and negatively affect an overwhelming majority of businesses today according to a recent Avaya survey. To help end this network waiting game, Avaya has dramatically simplified network infrastructures with Fabric Connect technology driving the Automated Campus, which now extends to the wireless edge with the introduction of a new series of Wireless LAN solutions.

Supporting the next generation Wi-Fi standard (802.11ac), the Wireless LAN 9100 Series can further reduce end user waiting time by offering faster gigabit Wi-Fi throughput. The WLAN 9100 Application Control feature recognizes over 1,000 of the most popular business and personal applications and allows administrators to create granular policies to block, restrict and/or prioritize specific applications so that business-critical applications come first.

The Avaya survey also showed that companies wait almost a month (27 days) -- most of the time on a maintenance window -- before they can make a significant improvement to a business system. At an average of 10 changes a year, businesses can wait up to nine months for improvements that can help their company grow, increase employee and sales productivity and improve business analysis. Bottom line, network complexity increases wait time; wait time affects margins and decreases the ability of IT to provide the company with a competitive edge.

Avaya's networking portfolio can eliminate the need for maintenance windows required by the majority of traditional networks underlying businesses today. Avaya Fabric Connect automatically configures the distribution and core switches, so IT personnel need only configure edge devices. Avaya's Fabric Connect now extends to the new Wireless LAN 9100 series for zero-touch provisioning of access points and edge-only provisioning of services. IT departments save hours if not days and reduce the potential for errors that cause outages that impact business agility, revenues, and IT professionals' careers. 

Avaya has deployed Fabric Connect in many of its largest customers -- including the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics -- and is the backbone for its third InteropNet. For last year's InteropNet, the Avaya Fabric Connect network required only 1/10 the resources of prior years. Tours of the Network Operations Center are available to participants at Interop 2014.

Avaya will be demonstrating these and other award winning capabilities at Booth 2151 at Interop Las Vegas.

Quotes:
"Previously we needed six weeks for network changes; today we can implement them in days."
-Albert Knoll, Network Operations Manager, Fujitsu Technology Solutions on their recent, flawless implementation of Avaya Fabric Connect

"We find that IT departments go to impressive measures to mitigate risk. The 'maintenance window' model of the '80s is methodical and precise. We have no issue with the process, but what we have done is remove the reason for the model." 
-Marc Randall, SVP and General Manager, Avaya Networking

"With many wireless infrastructure solutions, the actual applications that users are running over the network are invisible to IT. However, this information is critical to profiling and managing network usage. Avaya WLAN 9100 allows IT administrators to apply application-specific policies to manage network performance and security. The end result is a high quality user experience." 
-Alan Hase, Vice President, Unified Access and Identity Solutions

Additional Resources
Why Wait Survey Infographic

About Avaya:
Avaya is a global provider of business collaboration and communications solutions, providing unified communications, contact centers, networking and related services to companies of all sizes around the world. For more information please visit www.avaya.com.

Survey Methodology:
Avaya surveyed 210 IT professionals in large organizations (250+ employees) within the United States, Canada and United Kingdom to understand how much revenue was lost in total as a result of all the downtime incidents caused by core network changes in 2013. The surveys were completed in January 2014 in coordination with Dynamic Markets (UK).

Certain statements contained in this press release are forward-looking statements. These statements may be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "anticipate," "believe," "continue," "could," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "may," "might," "plan," "potential," "predict," "should" or "will" or other similar terminology. We have based these forward-looking statements on our current expectations, assumptions, estimates and projections. While we believe these expectations, assumptions, estimates and projections are reasonable, such forward looking statements are only predictions and involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond our control. These and other important factors may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. For a list and description of such risks and uncertainties, please refer to Avaya's filings with the SEC that are available at www.sec.gov. Avaya disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

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*Tags: Avaya, networking, fabric networking, Fabric Connect, virtualization, Shortest Path Bridging, SPB, wireless LAN, network infrastructure,