Adtran Unveils Managed Services Program For Wi-Fi As A Service

The new program, called ProCloud, is part of a broader services program Adtran unveiled Thursday called ProServices. Other services in the program include ProStart and ProCare, which provide installation and maintenance services, respectively.

But it's ProCloud, according to Adtran, that will be an especially sweet spot for partners, allowing them to either expand or build from scratch their own managed network services practice.

[Related: Adtran Boosts Partner Benefits, Resources To Fuel WLAN Offensive ]

The ProCloud program is divided into two models. The first is targeted more at solution providers that don't already have a managed services practice, or they lack the bandwidth or resources to stand one up on their own. Adtran is touting this model as a complete turnkey managed services offering for partners, meaning Adtran not only host the Wi-Fi as a service in its own data center but also performs the actual management of the service on the partner's behalf.

"One of the things that really makes us unique in this space is that [partners] can start with a complete turnkey version. Literally, just sell a deal, order a part number and you're done. You're in the managed services business," said Todd Lattanzi, director of product management at Adtran.

Through this turnkey model, Adtran provides what it calls 99.99 percent-guaranteed infrastructure uptime, access to technical support at priority SLAs, next business day or four-hour hardware replacement, and proactive monitoring. That said, the partner is still the one that maintains the customer relationship and sells the services deal, Adtran said.

The second ProCloud model is called ProCloud Private Label and is geared more toward solution providers that already have, or are looking to launch, their own managed services practice. In this model, Adtran still provides the hosting, but the partner puts its own brand on the infrastructure-as-a-service offering and handles the management of that offering on its own.

"In this case, it's an opportunity for the partner to avoid an investment in infrastructure and setting up a data center and that kind of thing, but still allows them to manage their end customers' networks to whatever degree they see fit," Lattanzi said. "They can completely customize that offering. We are just the hosting provider."

Lattanzi said customers pay for the new ProCloud services on an annual subscription basis, but that Adtran may evaluate a monthly subscription model, as well, moving forward.

The new ProCloud services are built on Adtran's multitenant Bluesocket virtual WLAN (vWLAN) solution, which virtualizes control planes for the management of wireless infrastructure. Adtran added this vWLAN offering to its portfolio in 2011, through its acquisition of Bluesocket.

PUBLISHED JUNE 27, 2013