Aruba Networks and Meru Networks have been ranked at the top of the latest Vendor Matrix released by ABI Research, essentially tied for first place as the leading 802.11n Wi-Fi equipment vendors.
Motorola claimed the second spot in the company’s new evaluation of worldwide vendors.
The Vendor Matrix is an analytical tool developed by ABI to provide a clear understanding of vendors’ positions in specific markets, measuring the dual parameters of Innovation and Implementation.
“Aruba earned high marks for its flexible architecture, adaptive radio management, and management tools,” says vice president and research director Stan Schatt. “Meru’s mature products scored well in value-add features, many being a direct result of its unique architecture. These two vendors have shown major strength in the early adopter verticals of higher education and healthcare. Motorola emerged as the winner in Innovation, showing an 802.11n product portfolio with myriad inventive features.”
Although Aruba, Meru and Motorola topped these rankings, several other companies are hot on their heels in particular respects.
These include Cisco, which has done the best job of identifying key vertical market segments and then assembling partners in each key vertical; Trapeze, which edges out its competitors with respect to resilience and high availability; and Colubris, which offers the most compelling 802.11n value proposition when balancing features against the actual cost of the products.
For this particular matrix, under “innovation,” ABI Research examined products’ video handling, resilience and scalability, as well as the companies’ antenna offerings, and the benefits of their system architectures.
Under “implementation,” ABI Research scrutinized the following criteria: channels and early deployments, the products’ value proposition, their add-on features, the breadth of the product range, the firms’ migration strategy, and their planning and management tools.
Unfortunately, the ABI Research paper costs big bucks. Other enterprise Wi-Fi gear is reviewed at Network Computing, Network World, e-Week, PC Magazine, PC World, SmallNetBuilder and ZDnet.
The Farpoint Group predicts a massive shift to 802.11n is going to materialize soon, with complete dominance of the market by this technology by early 2009.
In other news, Nivis, an integrator of wireless network technologies, together with Cisco, are debuting an embedded wireless IP mesh technology at the Cisco Live technology showcase in Orlando, FL through June 26.
In the Cisco Live demonstration, a wireless mesh network of streetlights communicates with a parking meter. The meter communicates with a sensor ring in the parking space and the gleaned information is sent to a Cisco cell phone. As a result, the technology allows consumers using the Internet to see if a parking space is available while municipalities can identify expired meters and improve security.
.gif)
