Aruba Expands Global Channel Program to Accelerate Growth in SME Market

Enhancements for Aruba Partners, New SME-focused Channel Team, and Products Designed for the SME Will Help Tackle Needs of Small to Mid-Sized Enterprises

SUNNYVALE, Calif.--()--Aruba Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ: ARUN) today announced that it is expanding its Aruba PartnerEdge Program to better address the needs of small to mid-sized enterprises (SME) and the channel partners that serve them. With recently introduced 802.11ac products designed for the SME, a wide variety of new programs, promotions and SME enablement support, as well as a focused SME channel team, Aruba will target both the authorized and non-authorized partner community with a goal to bring new, authorized partners on board across the globe.

With its Aruba Central cloud management solution and Instant controllerless access points, Aruba has already experienced significant growth among SMEs who are looking for the critical performance and security features of enterprise-grade WLANs with the simplicity, scalability and affordability of controllerless management. The recently-announced 200 Series, a set of introductory-level dual radio APs that are ideal for medium density SME Wi-Fi environments and the 210 Series AP for high-performance requirements in medium density SME deployments, have further expanded the options for small to mid-sized enterprises looking to upgrade to 802.11ac cost-effectively. Furthermore, the addition of more than 200 channel partners – just since August 1st of this year – is expected to help Aruba expand its reach into the SME space.

“The traction we’ve experienced with Aruba Instant and Aruba Central, as well as the significant number of partners we’ve signed in such a short timeframe indicates that our Aruba Cloud Wi-Fi Solution is quickly becoming the WLAN solution of choice for SMEs,” said Karl Soderlund, vice president, worldwide channels for Aruba Networks. “Given this dynamic, we recognized that building the SME channel and ensuring that our partners have the right training, tools and perks to drive business opportunities was critical to our continued success.”

“As an Aruba platinum partner for nearly 10 years, we are continually impressed with their innovation and commitment to providing the best-in-class enterprise solutions,” said Ron Fowler, CEO of Structured Communication Systems, Inc. “The addition of new, relevant solutions for the small to mid-sized enterprise market enables us to expand our customer offerings and ultimately grow our business in multiple sectors.”

According to the Dell’Oro Group estimates, the annual SME WLAN market opportunity could approach $1.3 billion in several years, as SMEs and distributed enterprises seek to upgrade both from small office/home office (SOHO) class devices as well as toward higher-performing 802.11ac devices. For context, just over half of today’s SME WLAN market is served by enterprise-class devices, presenting a large sales opportunity.

With its Aruba PartnerEdge Program as a foundation, Aruba is adding training, promotions and sales enablement support for the SME market to ensure that new partners can quickly ramp and develop solutions expertise. Each partner will go through a 90-day onboarding cycle that includes the following:

  • Aruba Partner portal access and Aruba Quotient mobile application
  • Dedicated support from an Inside Channel Account Manager and Inside Channel SE
  • Demo equipment offers
  • Access to deal registration financial incentives
  • Preferred pricing and targeted promotions to drive incremental business
  • Cloud Wi-Fi training with a 30-day license to use Aruba Central
  • Free sales specialist training and certifications

Authorized partners will also receive a limited number of technical training vouchers each fiscal year to cover a wide variety of certifications that are required to progress within the Aruba PartnerEdge Program.

In addition, a number of promotions have been designed specifically for the SME channel. Aruba will offer SME customers a special, $50 Aruba Central introductory price, as well as a buy four, get one free Instant AP promotion. Aruba will also offer partners a K-12 promotion bundling Aruba Central or AirWave with Instant APs, a discount for new and dormant partners and a $20 per Instant AP spiff for partner representatives. Distributors can take advantage of a 10% back-end rebate on Instant APs and Aruba Central bundles.

To support this targeted SME channel effort, Aruba has adapted its internal organization, as well. A devoted SME channel team, based in Aruba’s Portland, Oregon office, will focus on the SME channel particularly in the areas of partner recruitment, enablement and demand generation. Aruba plans to expand the SME channel team globally before the end of calendar year 2014.

SmartLayer Business Solutions, a newly added authorized Aruba partner, provides customized services and advanced technology solutions for SMEs. “Our target customers are seeking enterprise-class mobility solutions and services that are easy-to-deploy and manage,” said Shivam Aggarwal, President, SmartLayer Business Solutions. “With Aruba’s wide range of advanced 802.11ac controllerless access points and expanded support infrastructure, we are able to attract more small to mid-sized enterprises with a mobility solution that is ideal for their specific business requirements.”

Additional Resources

About Aruba Networks, Inc.

Aruba Networks is a leading provider of next-generation network access solutions for the mobile enterprise. The company designs and delivers Mobility-Defined Networks that empower IT departments and #GenMobile, a new generation of tech-savvy users who rely on their mobile devices for every aspect of work and personal communication. To create a mobility experience that #GenMobile and IT can rely upon, Aruba Mobility-Defined Networks™ automate infrastructure-wide performance optimization and trigger security actions that used to require manual IT intervention. The results are dramatically improved productivity and lower operational costs.

Listed on the NASDAQ and Russell 2000® Index, Aruba is based in Sunnyvale, California, and has operations throughout the Americas, Europe, Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific regions. To learn more, visit Aruba at http://www.arubanetworks.com. For real-time news updates follow Aruba on Twitter and Facebook, and for the latest technical discussions on mobility and Aruba products visit Airheads Social at http://community.arubanetworks.com.

© 2014 Aruba Networks, Inc. Aruba Networks’ trademarks include Aruba Networks®, Aruba The Mobile Edge Company® (stylized), Aruba Mobility-Defined Networks™, Aruba Mobility Management System®, People Move Networks Must Follow®, Mobile Edge Architecture®, RFProtect®, Green Island®, ETips®, ClientMatchTM, Virtual Intranet AccessTM, ClearPass Access Management SystemsTM, Aruba InstantTM, ArubaOSTM, xSecTM, ServiceEdgeTM, Aruba ClearPass Access Management SystemTM, AirmeshTM, AirWaveTM, Aruba CentralTM, and “ARUBA@WORKTM. All rights reserved. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release may be deemed to contain forward-looking statements regarding Aruba’s expected growth in the SME space. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, as well as assumptions, which if they do not fully materialize or prove incorrect, could cause Aruba’s results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. The risks and uncertainties that could cause Aruba’s results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements include, among others: business and economic conditions and growth trends in the networking industry, changes in overall information technology spending, the effectiveness of Aruba’s new inside sales strategy,as well as those risks and uncertainties included under the captions “Risk Factors" and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis” in Aruba’s most recent Forms 10-K and 10-Q filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC, and available on the investor relations portion of our website at ir.arubanetworks.com and on the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov.

All forward-looking statements in this press release are based on information available to Aruba as of the date of this release, and Aruba does not assume any obligation to update these forward-looking statements to reflect events that occur or circumstances that exist after the date on which they were made.

Contacts

Aruba Networks, Inc.
Pavel Radda, Director of Corporate Communications, +1-408-419-0294
pradda@arubanetworks.com
OR
LSH Communications for Aruba Networks
Lori Hultin, Principal, +1-818-879-4651
lhultin@arubanetworks.com

Release Summary

Aruba Networks is expanding its global channel program targeting the small-to-medium enterprise (SME) market with a new SME channel team and new products targeted to the SME market.

Contacts

Aruba Networks, Inc.
Pavel Radda, Director of Corporate Communications, +1-408-419-0294
pradda@arubanetworks.com
OR
LSH Communications for Aruba Networks
Lori Hultin, Principal, +1-818-879-4651
lhultin@arubanetworks.com