HPE Aruba’s Retail Portfolio Is Now Infused With Juniper Mist For AI-Powered Networking

“Retail has to be built to support whatever may come from the business side,” he said. “The portfolio certainly allows us to go into a retail account and be confident that we’re going to be able to propose something that can support the business needs of a client,” one HPE partner tells CRN on the company’s enhanced retail-ready networking portfolio.

HPE’s retail-ready networking portfolio now has an even greater focus on enhancing retail infrastructure while self-driving networks thanks to the addition of Juniper Mist technology, the company told CRN.

HPE on Monday rolled out its enhanced portfolio of wireless retail offerings, one of the first portfolios that’s offering “cross pollination” between HPE and Juniper Networks technologies since the acquisition closed in July, according to the company.

The enhanced portfolio ties together the strengths of HPE Aruba Networking CX switching and Juniper Mist AIOps at the branch edge with the latest HPE Nonstop offerings — a business within the HPE Server group — at the heart of the portfolio, Gayle Levin, head of product marketing, wireless for HPE Aruba, told CRN.

“Retailers are relying on our solutions, whether it is at the store or at the warehouse or at the data center, across the whole retail chain of value. This announcement is really about how we’re pulling these self-driving networks together,” Levin told CRN.

The company launched the retail-ready networking portfolio last year, which includes HPE’s most modern connectivity technology, private 5G and edge computing.

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New to the portfolio is the HPE Aruba Networking CX 6000 Switch Series, the smallest form factor of the product line designed for small retail environments that includes new 8-port Power over Ethernet (PoE) and non-PoE models that securely connect point-of-sale (POS) terminals, IoT devices, and staff systems to the network. The switch can support next generation use cases, such as digital signage, smart checkout, and edge analytics, as well as advanced telemetry, IoT probing, and total system monitoring, according to HPE.

“This will give partners another way to go into maybe a smaller retailer and be able to deliver a very high performing, secure, enterprise-ready solution and allow them to connect point of sale, IoT, and even associate devices using the CX 6000,” Levin said.

Also new to the lineup is the HPE Aruba Networking User Experience Insight, part of HPE Aruba Networking Central, which acts as an early warning system for organizations modernizing their networks. User Experience Insight Sensors identify issues introduced by upgrades or network changes before users are impacted. IT teams can use the product to create a baseline for their network performance, continuously test network health, track trends, and plan for device growth and AI-native use cases, the company said.

User Experience Insight, Levin said, is one of HPE’s “best kept secrets” and now supports Wi-Fi 7.

“What HPE is doing is helping retailers, like the Gap and 711 and others, modernize their infrastructure, so that they can deliver AI at scale and they can deliver it with the high reliability and high performance that they need,” Levin said.

Riptide Technologies, a Portsmouth, N.H.-based solution provider and HPE partner, is no stranger to serving the retail space. The firm has been working with a large wholesale club chain with about 300 retail stores and distribution centers in the U.S. to support their technology evolution as the retailer rolls out new use cases centered on improving customer experience, including curbside pickup and an in-store mobile app that lets customers price check, clip coupons and complete express checkout. For the store itself, HPE’s technology is empowering things like wireless deli scales, handheld scanners and automated inventory tracking, according to Patrick Rahn, Riptide’s director of sales.

“Retail has to be built to support whatever may come from the business side,” he said. “The portfolio certainly allows us to go into a retail account and be confident that we’re going to be able to propose something that can support the business needs of a client in a way that’s not causing a headache to manage from the IT side.”

The tech stack that HPE Aruba is offering today supports a wide array of customer requirements, especially within certain verticals such as retail, said Jake Perron, Riptide’s principal network engineer.

“These warehouse-style environments [can be] challenging, like the frozen goods distribution centers that need to maintain temperatures below zero degrees constantly. HPE Aruba has various products that are able to support those harsh, challenging conditions,” Perron said. “HPE networking is able to match the needs of different environmental challenges.”

HPE NonStop

The HPE Aruba Networking CX 6000 Switch Series and User Experience Insight will join the existing retail portfolio, which includes AI Premium Analytics, which have been enhanced with Juniper Mist Marvis technology and HPE NonStop, the company’s product line of scalable server systems designed for mission-critical applications.

HPE NonStop now offers faster processors and enhanced security to ensure fault-tolerant transaction processing for retail customers, said Casey Taylor, vice president and general manager, HPE NonStop.

“When we think about credit card transactions, payments, or any kind of transaction, whether that be a payment or not, that needs to be continuously processed and you can’t lose a single transaction anywhere in that process, NonStop is the sweet spot for that,” Taylor said.

HPE has many use cases around the world in which NonStop technology is powering the retail experience, including convenience stores in Japan and grocery stores in Australia, she added.

“Statistics tell us around 90 percent of credit card transactions in the U.S. at some point have passed through a NonStop system,” Taylor said.

The HPE Nonstop Compute solutions and HPE Aruba Networking CX 6000 Switch Series are available now from HPE and its channel partners, the company said.