Here's Who Made Gartner's 2015 Wired And Wireless LAN Magic Quadrant

HP Acquisition Of Aruba Shakes Up Field, Cisco Losing Share

Enterprise LAN vendors are providing new and differentiated capabilities that integrate wired and wireless hardware components with network applications. Customers increasingly prefer a single vendor that handles the entire access layer solution, which is changing the market, according to Timothy Zimmerman, lead analyst for the 2015 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Wired and Wireless LAN Access Infrastructure.

"The market is ripe for people to take some share that Cisco is losing, some of the areas where Aruba has kind of left its partnerships a little bit in the dust, as well as the growth of the market itself," said Zimmerman in an interview with CRN.

Fourteen vendors made the 2015 Magic Quadrant list, which represents the biggest vendors in the wired and wireless LAN market that provide hardware and software device connectivity to the enterprise infrastructure access layer.

Hardware Prices Decline, Vendors Focused On Software And Apps

Vendors are evolving their software, applications and hardware to provide a complete solution for customers, while the price of the hardware has lowered dramatically, according to Gartner.

"Historically, Cisco products would have come out at $1,495 and now we're seeing a similar capable access point set at $695," said Zimmerman. "Vendors are looking to make their revenue and differentiating capability on the network applications that govern the complete access layer -- both the wired and the wireless components. … Clients can save anywhere between $30,000 to $100,000 by consolidating some of these applications."

The market also is looking beyond the 1.3-Gb capacity of 802.11ac Wave 1 and planning to deploy 802.11ac Wave 2 radios with improved capabilities including multiuser multiple input/multiple output and more than 6 Gbps of higher performance at 5GHz, according to the report.

Wired And Wireless Research Methodology

Gartner evaluated enterprise LAN vendors providing converged access layer connectivity. The market consists of vendors that provide device connectivity to the enterprise infrastructure access layer -- including software network management, policy enforcement, wireless access points and wired switches.

The Magic Quadrant ranks unified communications vendors on their ability to execute and completeness of vision. Gartner places vendors into four categories: Niche Players (low on vision and execution), Visionaries (good vision but low execution), Challengers (good execution but low vision) and Leaders (excelling in both vision and execution).

Leader: Hewlett Packard Enterprise (Aruba Networks)

One of the biggest acquisitions of the year was HP's $3 billion purchase of Aruba Networks, which combined the No. 2 campus switching vendor with the No. 2 WLAN vendor, Gartner said. The combination of HP Enterprise's wired switching line with Aruba's WLAN and mobility products creates a strong solution in the market. Palo Alto, Calif.-based HP Enterprise is ranked No. 1 in vision and No. 2 in execution on the quadrant.

"The Aruba acquisition was a gem for HP," said Zimmerman. "HP recognized their current strategy wasn't meeting the needs of their constituency, largely the SMB-type market. … They can't get caught up in the quagmire of HP politics, which could slow them down. So the nimbleness that was historically attributed to Aruba needs to be maintained."

HP Enterprise

Strengths:

Gartner reported a "high degree" of satisfaction with Aruba's ClearPass that provides guest access, device profiling, posture assessment and on-boarding, while its FlexCampus switching is aggressively priced with a lifetime warranty.

"There's a 2 percent to 5 percent market share here that HP and Aruba could pick up through execution and through the ability of having the Aruba solution in diverse geographical environments because Aruba was not strong outside of the U.S.," said Zimmerman. "It looks to be a win-win as long as they focus on training the channel and getting it up to speed to execute."

HP Enterprise

Cautions:

HP Enterprise hasn't revealed a "committed" post-integration road map yet for Aruba, according to Zimmerman, which is impacting the channel getting up to speed on the execution front.

Gartner also anticipates continued changes in Aruba's existing partner relationships. Organizations using Aruba solutions via OEM partners -- such as Dell, ALE (Alacatel-Lucent Enterprise), Brocade or Juniper Networks -- need to consider sourcing from HP Enterprise directly, according to the report.

Leader: Cisco

The networking giant is the No.1 vendor in both access wired switching and WLAN, appearing on nearly all client shortlists. Cisco's two primary access layer solutions are the Cisco Catalyst/Aironet and Cisco Meraki Cloud Managed. San Jose, Calif.-based Cisco ranks No.1 in execution but is in the middle of the pack in vision.

"Cisco continues to lead in a lot of the functionality they bring. Their ability to execute with their 65,000 partners on a global basis really helps them," said Zimmerman. "Their downfall is today the Meraki solution and Aironet Catalyst lines operate in separate silos."

Cisco

Strengths:

Gartner said clients are providing very positive feedback regarding Cisco's cloud-managed Meraki solution due to its ease of use and price. Cisco was also early to market in shipping its proprietary multi-gigabit 2.5-Gbps and 5 Gbps-capable wired Catalyst Ethernet switches, according to the report.

Cautions:

The company has two access layer connectivity products lines developed by separate development teams with inconsistent user interfaces and different functionality for security, guest, network management and policy enforcement, according to Zimmerman. In addition, Meraki's WLAN access points cannot be migrated to Aironet WLAN deployments, limiting customers' flexibility to scale and change their deployments.

"They're not providing a synergy that allows a client to move between what is best depending on their business practices," said Zimmerman.

Challengers: Huawei

The only challenger in the field, China-based Huawei has a strong presence in its home country where nearly 70 percent of its access layer revenue is deployed. Its Agile Network Solutions offer end-to-end campus networking and it continues to extend its functionality and capabilities to meet new enterprise requirements. Huawei ranks third in execution but at the bottom of the pack in vision.

"They lack marketing and geographical presence to make it on the shortlist," said Zimmerman.

Huawei

Strengths:

Huawei has a strong foundation in switching and wireless offerings with a maturing reseller channel where 97 percent of its revenue is delivered, according to the report. It has expanded its network application support beyond guest access and on-boarding, and now provides location-aware capabilities and analytics. Its eSight management and network applications also support non-Huawei devices like HP and Cisco that simplifies orchestration within multivendor environments.

Cautions:

"A lot of people don't know who they are," said Zimmerman. "Unless they're known historically, they're not being asked to come to the table with their enterprise product."

Even with its 6,000 partners, marketing communications outside China is impeding enterprise awareness, according to the report. Only 28 percent of its revenue comes from outside Asia-Pacific.

Visionaries: Dell

Dell provides a completely unified access layer portfolio and is continuing to grow its wired switching revenue faster than the market, said Zimmerman. Dell, Round Rock, Texas, entered into a partnership with Aerohive this year to resell its WLAN offerings into small or midsize enterprise environments. Dell ranks fourth in execution and in the middle of the pack in vision.

"Dell has stepped over the line from a niche solution into visionary -- some of that is their focus from a marketing standpoint, but also the ability to deliver an end-to-end solution where historically they were really just reselling the Aruba solution," said Zimmerman. "We think that they're doing something similar here with Aerohive, but they've communicated there should be more synergy here that would allow more stickiness."

Dell

Strengths:

Dell updated its campus switching portfolio with X-Series Web-managed switches that target SMBs. The company's SMB-focused portfolio also added an N-Series fixed form factor switch intended for smaller businesses that will integrate Aerohive's HiveManager access solution to manage both wired switches and wireless access points, according to the report.

Cautions:

Since Dell has formed strategic partnerships for a complete solution, customers may go directly to the vendor partner until Dell creates differentiated value with the combined product offer, according to Zimmerman. Gartner said Dell also lacks focus outside the EMEA and North America markets.

Visionaries: ALE (Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise)

ALE became majority-owned by China Huaxin in October 2014, showing it is financially stable and ready to grow both organically and through acquisitions, said Zimmerman. Revenue for wireless LAN hardware is based on its OEM agreement with Aruba, and it reaffirmed its commitment with the company earlier this year. ALE is ranked fourth in vision and is in the middle of the pack in execution.

"They're one of the few vendors that actually will offer an end-to-end [service level agreement] across the entire network, which we expect to see more of especially as the growth of managed services continues to move forward as the market continues to emerge," said Zimmerman. "They need to define a little bit more their Aruba relationship because as a smaller player in the industry, you don't want to be bringing in one of the large players."

ALE

Strengths:

ALE has established plans for enhancements to the WLAN elements of its Enterprise Converged Network Solution, including a subscription-model, managed LAN and WLAN service. The company's application-fluent network strategy provides unified wired and wireless network access and control capabilities with its OmniVista 2500 Network Management System, according to the report.

Cautions:

ALE relies on Aruba's partnership for continued improvements to its WLAN technology.

"There's a little bit of a concern that Alcatel-Lucent needs to, if they're looking to advance and gain share, invest in a wireless product that gives them the ability to deliver the bread without bringing in high-profile competition into the account," said Zimmerman.

Visionaries: Extreme Networks

The global vendor's broad portfolio of wired and wireless products meets the needs of enterprises, SMBs and managed service providers, said Zimmerman. More than 80 percent of its revenue comes from North America and EMEA, with 88 percent through the indirect channel. Extreme is ranked No. 2 in vision, only behind HP/Aruba, and in the middle of the pack for execution.

"They went through management change in 2014 as well as a focus change," said Zimmerman. "They've made huge progress in their functionality, which historically was holding them back."

Extreme Networks

Strengths:

Zimmerman said Extreme's NetSight product is strong as a single console that provides multivendor, centralized management that can be deployed on-premise or in a public or private cloud. San Jose, Calif.-based Extreme is one of the few vendors that can fully optimize the access layer for any enterprise considering an "all-wireless office" decision, according to the report.

"They're really a solid player, they just need to continue to grow. … They have great potential," said Zimmerman.

Cautions:

Extreme has low brand awareness vs. its leading competitors and doesn't show up often on client shortlists outside its target markets. Its solutions are also not as aggressively priced, according to the report.

Visionaries: Aerohive

With 100 percent of its sales coming through the channel, Aerohive provides a controllerless architecture with a full suite of access applications from its HiveManager software now available both on-premise or as a cloud-managed service, according to the report. The Sunnyvale, Calif.-based company ranks third in vision and in the middle of the pack for execution.

Dell began to resell Aerohive WLAN solutions this year, which will help the company grow, said Zimmerman. "Great product, great vision, but clearly the issue for them has been sales execution," he said.

Aerohive

Strengths:

Aerohive is one of the most cost-effective solutions when it comes to enterprise deals, said Gartner, and customers cite simplicity and ease of use as key benefits compared with competitors. The company has a strong base in distributed enterprise deployments as well as in education and retail.

Cautions:

The company is one of the smallest players in the market and has a limited wired switching portfolio. Aerohive has limited visibility and success outside North America, EMEA and its core markets of distributed enterprise, education and retail.

"They seemed to have stumbled on the sales side and the ability to get their name out and make the sale," said Zimmerman.

Visionaries: Avaya

Avaya has a strong access layer network offering with multivendor network management, access control and automated on-boarding and network configuration, according to the report. The company also is continuing to improve the capabilities of its Unified Access solution, with approximately 87 percent of its overall revenue coming from North American and EMEA. Avaya is ranked among the middle of the pack in vision, but on the lower end for execution.

"They get good marks in their vertical markets where they are deployed as well as synergy with those telephony customers that are their current base," said Zimmerman. "But they're not expanding out in the market and taking some of the space that is either left as questionable because of Cisco, left as questionable because of the changing relationship with Aruba and its partners -- there's opportunity for Avaya but they're not capitalizing on that."

Avaya

Strengths:

The Santa Clara, Calif.-based company has updated its 9100 Series wireless access points with software programmability. Its marketing focus on cost savings through automation shows an understanding of the financial pressures facing enterprise customers, said Zimmerman.

Cautions:

Only 6 percent of the company's revenue comes from access layer equipment, software and applications, according to Zimmerman. Avaya's managed services portfolio is not available yet to customers for the wired access network, he said.

"They have the ability to the deliver the solution with differentiation, but we're not seeing the kind of growth in the market that is allowing them to get market share," said Zimmerman.

Visionaries: Zebra (acquired Motorola Solutions)

New to the Magic Quadrant this year is Lincolnshire, Ill.-based Zebra Technologies, a global leader in WLAN within the in-store retail, hospitality, transportation, logistics and manufacturing verticals, said Zimmerman. "They own that space," he said.

Zebra has integrated the WLAN portfolio of the former Motorola Solutions' enterprise business, which the vendor acquired in 2014 for $3.45 billion. The company ranks among the middle of the pack in vision, but second to last in execution.

"They have their wireless LAN product as an extension of the Motorola acquisition, but it is very retail-centric, transportation-, warehouse-centric," said Zimmerman. "The vision piece they got … their Zatar product we really saw is addressing Internet of Things as well as applications in their vertical markets."

Zebra

Strengths:

Zebra's Zatar solution is a cloud-based application platform that allows enterprises to create applications that target customers seeking IoT solutions, said Zimmerman. Gartner touted the company's WiNG 5 Enterprise platform as a highly scalable WLAN offering with its NSight analytics that provides predictive management.

Cautions:

Zebra's termination of its WLAN OEM agreements with Extreme Networks and Brocade resulted in slower market growth in 2014, according to Zimmerman. Execution is also an issue as the company is not often seen on the shortlist for enterprise deployments.

Niche Players: Ruckus Wireless

Ruckus has a renewed focus on the enterprise network that resulted in 22 percent year-over-year growth for its enterprise business, with more than 96 percent of sales coming through the channel, said Zimmerman. The Sunnyvale, Calif.-based company was one of the first vendors to ship 802.11ac Wave 2 access points, while also forming a relationship with Juniper Networks to expand its ability to provide an end-to-end wired and wireless solution, according to the report. Ruckus ranks in the middle of the quadrant for both vision and execution.

"They have very strong messaging and are very vocal in the market and that gets them consideration and deals where they might not have gotten them," said Zimmerman.

Ruckus Wireless

Strengths:

Ruckus is focused on investing in flexible deployment options with its virtualized enterprise architecture available for on-premise deployment as well as public and private cloud services. The company is also expanding its managed services footprint through its public cloud offering that is managed by Ruckus but offered through its partners.

"Today, Ruckus is a 5 percent to 8 percent player … there is an opportunity at the edge that they're taking advantage of and I see them continuing to execute very well and perhaps gaining 1 [percent] to 2 percent market just based on aggressiveness and getting their message out there," said Zimmerman.

Ruckus Wireless

Cautions:

Ruckus does not have a wired switching portfolio and Gartner doesn't see the company on the shortlist for enterprise deployments due to its core verticals in education, hospitality and manufacturing.

"There are some improvements in some of the enterprise functionality that is going to be needed in order to address some of the large enterprises," said Zimmerman.

Niche Players: Juniper Networks

Juniper has enhanced its EX9200 core switching platform with new hardware modules while also releasing its new EX4600 high-density campus switch, according to the report. The Sunnyvale, Calif.-based company has its access networking EX Series wired switching portfolio, but stopped developing its WLAN portfolio beyond 802.11n and now leverages partnerships with Aruba and Ruckus. Juniper ranks in the middle of the pack for both vision and execution.

"Juniper's a little bit confusing on their marketing message," said Zimmerman. "They appear to be moving back to the [carrier service provider] space and focusing more on that as a solution, which is a direct dichotomy from the EX3000, 3200, 3300 switching line, which we feel is a very solid solution."

Juniper Networks

Strengths:

Juniper has a "superior reputation" for its products and technical support with its customers, said Zimmerman. The company is also aggressively pricing its campus switches against competitors and its portfolio includes several options in automation, including OpenFlow and Python scripting.

Juniper Networks

Cautions:

There is concern about the company's long-term commitment to support enterprise campus network environments because of confusing messaging and shift from its own WLAN products to a partner-focuses wireless strategy, according to Zimmerman.

"They've had issues with wireless and being able to deploy an end-to-end solution; they bought the Trapeze [Networks] product and that didn't go well," said Zimmerman. "In between the Ruckus and Juniper relationship, Ruckus probably would get more business out of it because they have a stronger marketing organization."

Niche Players: D-Link

The Taiwan-based company addresses the lower end of the market with 71 percent of its business coming from its wired switch portfolio, primarily from outside North America. D-Link's message is geared toward ease of management and affordability in the education, retail and hospitality markets for both large enterprises and SMBs. The company ranks second to last in vision and in the middle of the pack in execution.

"D-Link tends to be geographic-centric, largely in Asia, trying to make inroads in North America with most of it being in the lower end of the market," said Zimmerman. "They tend to be more of a follower and a slow follower because their market doesn't always need that kind of capability from a vision standpoint."

D-Link

Strengths:

The company offers a broad wired and WLAN hardware portfolio and remains a low-price leader. Gartner said it sees list prices for some of D-Link's unified access hardware sometimes lower than the discounted prices from other vendors for equipment with equivalent functionality.

Cautions:

Zimmerman said D-Link's differentiation in the market as a provider of its own end-to-end solution is being eroded as competitors form new strategic partnerships that more closely integrate their wired and wireless access layer capabilities.

" They don't have anything leading from a vision standpoint and that's hurt them," said Zimmerman.

Niche Players: Brocade

San Jose, Calif.-based Brocade is new to the quadrant this year, coming to the market as a "very strong wired vendor’ with a full portfolio of fixed form factor and modular access switches delivered through its HyperEdge Architecture, said Zimmerman. The company doesn't offer a WLAN solution but has alliances with partners including Aruba, Aerohive and Ruckus. Brocade is ranked at the bottom of the list in both vision and execution.

"They're very strong on the wired side and on the switching capability, but they need to pull in differentiating capabilities for the applications, the network management, guest access, policy, analytics, etc. for how they can differentiate that as an end-to-end solution that clients are looking for," said Zimmerman.

Brocade

Strengths:

Brocade's campus switches are appealing to organizations seeking long switching life cycles and its new ICX switches allows for a high degree of performance, scalability and investment protection, according to the report. Gartner said the company's stacking and distributed chassis capabilities simplify network operations by reducing the number of management touchpoints.

Cautions:

Brocade relies on partners for WLAN and may not be able to respond as quickly to customers' requirements for unified access compared with its competitors, according to the report. Zimmerman said the company is also not a top 10 player when measured by 2014 port shipments regarding its switching architecture.

Niche Players: Allied Telesis (new)

Another new player to the Magic Quadrant this year is Japan-based Allied Telesis, which provides campus switching and a wireless solution. Although the company sells direct to end users, 75 percent of its sales are through the channel, with nearly half of its revenue from the Asia-Pacific region. Allied Telesis acquired Israeli-based WLAN vendor Extricom at the end of 2014, which it plans to integrate into its wireless product line. Allied Telesis ranks last in both execution and vision.

"They have been more vertical market-focused with some of the network management very highly tied together, but not a general-purpose enterprise wireless solution," said Zimmerman.

Allied Telesis

Strengths:

Gartner said the company has a cost-effective solution with basic functionality that focuses on the access layer total cost of ownership, while all of its hardware components are tightly coupled.

Cautions:

Although the Extricom acquisition might help, the vendor has a limited WLAN portfolio representing a very small percentage of its overall revenue, according to Zimmerman. Allied Telesis does not have advanced applications that address client on-boarding or access layer policy enforcement.

We don't see them in some of the environments where the advanced functionality is needed or we don't see them from a vision standpoint providing new capabilities," said Zimmerman.