Key Benefits of a Fully Managed Wi-Fi Solution

Key Benefits of a Fully Managed Wi-Fi Solution

By Saumya Sinha

The rapid rise of new disruptive technology trends - cloud, social media and mobility -has added a new dimension to business operations. Connectivity is now the most critical factor for running a competitive business. How will businesses support these devices? Turning to cloud-based Wi-Fi providers is one way. With an outsourced wireless solution, you can overcome many of the challenges of providing access to an ever-increasing number of mobile devices while keeping pace with wireless technology advances.

Wi-Fi providers that offer a hosted, cloud-based WLAN serve a wide range of businesses. Migrating to an outsourced model for wireless network management makes sense for any company that needs to provide wireless. Let's understand a few benefits of a fully managed Wi-Fi solution:

Geographically Dispersed Locations

The traditional wireless network uses a physical hardware controller to direct access points. However, if your business operations are distributed across locations, the traditional controller-based configuration is less desirable. In a cloud-based model, wireless LAN services enable plug-and-play capability for devices across all locations.

Ease of Business

The first and the most noticeable benefit of outsourcing WLAN management is the hassle-free access to connectivity. The IT team no longer needs to deal with the stress of network downtime and constant demands for accessibility from users spread across the company.

The entire WLAN ecosystem is managed by the technology partner, who takes care of all the Wi-Fi requirements of the company - from analyzing enterprise requirements, designing and installing a customized WLAN system to day-to-day management and operations of the system.

Risk management

Mitigating risk is important in all areas of business, and managing a Wi-Fi network should be no different. All businesses are concerned with addressing consumer privacy; however, there are unique considerations that must be addressed as they relate to the Internet. Consumer privacy expectations are an important topic in today's news. It is considered a best practice in implementing public Wi-Fi, so that a user must agree to a Terms of Service (ToS) that usually incorporates an Acceptable Use Policy (AUP). This opens them to a serious risk.

Customer engagement

Managed Wi-Fi offers business owners another way to reach their customers. Videos, promotions, surveys, and other types of content can be displayed on the page customers see when they connect to the network, serving as a digital engagement tool for a business to deliver messages. One of the biggest benefits a business receives by offering public Wi-Fi is the potential to develop deeper relationships with customers and the capacity to improve its understanding of customer interests.

Complete visibility

With a fully managed wireless network, companies gain an unprecedented level of visibility and control over the entire network. A cloud based centralized WLAN monitoring dashboard provides deep visibility of the entire WLAN infrastructure and provides application-level and user level control. Managers can control Wi-Fi usage by app category and make quick decisions with weekly or monthly reports.

Dynamic scalability

Managed WLAN services have the added advantage of being highly scalable. Organizations can rely on rapid provisioning and deployment of additional WLAN nodes to match sudden workload spikes.

IT Staffing Constraints

Many companies, especially small- and medium-sized businesses, have insufficient in-house IT resources to manage robust wireless networks. Yet, all businesses must embrace mobility to remain competitive. Service providers can provide the solution you need with access to advanced technology, tools and expertise. If you don't have sufficient in-house IT resources, you're still able to leverage critical mobility capabilities. If you do have in-house IT staff, you can refocus their efforts on other projects.

Growing Operations

A major benefit of working with service providers is the ability to scale your WLAN solution as your business grows. When network demands increase, your managed WLAN solution can scale accordingly. The ability to scale is especially critical for organizations that can't always predict demand, such as when internal staff and outside visitors require network resources for their own devices. Examples include educational institutions, health care facilities, hospitality companies, retail operations and any organization trying to manage unpredictable demand.

The last few years have seen the corporate work culture changing drastically. Employees no longer sit for hours in front of their desktops; mobile devices and laptops allow people to move freely and work from anywhere in the building. This dynamic work culture is perfect for enhancing teamwork and nurturing innovation and an enhanced WLAN ecosystem is an essential component of this new work environment.

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