Aruba

Aruba launches development lab for WiFi

Lynnette Luna — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 23:42:33 -0400

Aruba announced Aruba Labs, an open development lab designed to promote research on WiFi networks to push new applications and capabilities as well as foster the idea of the all-wireless workplace.

The lab, which has been operating in stealth mode with educational institutions for the past two years, includes three separate initiatives: a Developers Program, an Advanced Directed Research Program and The Green Island Project, which looks at the implications of creating an all-wireless workplace.

The Developers Program distributes open-source software development kits and application programming interfaces created by Aruba Labs designed to help partners to rapidly prototype new wireless applications. These Windows and Linux-based tools enable developers to experiment with Aruba access points. Some products have already been commercialized from the program, including a 3G cellular modem interface that creates an instant branch office by plugging a USB modem into a WiFi access point, noted Michael Tennefoss, vice president of marketing with Aruba.

Another piece of Aruba Labs is the Advance Directed Research Program, which takes on challenging, blue-sky problems that explore the boundaries of wireless networking. Partners collaborate directly with Aruba Labs' engineers on sponsored research, joint development work, and grant-funded programs.

Aruba Labs' multi-disciplinary Green Island Project will sponsor research on the economic, environmental, and social ramifications of the all-wireless workplace. The project will tackle issues ranging from a building's architectural design as a result of an all-wireless workplace to broader public-policy decisions such as how wireless workplaces might impact city planning, Tennefoss said.

Aruba Labs' Developer's Program is open to all qualifying interested parties, while the Advanced Directed Research Program is available by invitation only. The Green Island Project is open to all K-12 and higher education institutions that are Aruba customers, and to commercial institutions on a case-by-case basis.

For more:
- check out this release

Related articles:
Aruba makes push into industrial WiFi market
Aruba to buy Airwave Wireless for $37M

Aruba adds new WLAN patent disputes to its feud with Motorola

Peggy Albright — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 20:38:59 -0400

Aruba Networks has lobbed another volley in the round of WLAN patent infringement suits and counter suits that Aruba and Motorola and Motorola's subsidiaries, Symbol Technologies and Wireless Valley Communications have been fighting over for more than a year. Aruba said it filed the new lawsuit, which concerns two Aruba patents for managing wireless computer networks and network security, after an unsuccessful attempt to negotiate a license with the Motorola companies.

The companies have been disputing several patents and patent infringement issues since August 2007, when Motorola and the subsidiaries sued Aruba, claiming Aruba's products infringed four patents pertaining to WLAN switching architecture, WLAN site planning and RF management. Aruba counter sued in October 2007, denying those claims while asserting Symbol had created the products based on details about Aruba's technology that Symbol had obtained access to in 2003 when it was conducting due diligence for a possible acquisition of Aruba. Aruba at that time also sought a review of the Motorola patents by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on the grounds Motorola subsidiaries had withheld vital information about Aruba's technologies from the patent office when the now-disputed patents were first reviewed.

Aruba's new counter suit against Motorola, Symbol, and Wireless Valley adds two more Aruba patents to the dispute. The first of these patents was assumed by Aruba in March 2008 as part of its acquisition of AirWave Wireless. The second was issued to Aruba in May 2008. Separate from the lawsuits, Aruba said that the USPTO recently granted Aruba's request for a re-examination of the four disputed Symbol and Wireless Valley patents. Customers of all of these companies will be watching to see how the new legal action, and this new review, all turn out.

For more:
- see the release

Related articles:
Aruba counter sues Motorola over WLAN patents
Motorola sues Aruba for alleged patent infringement

Cheap 802.11n could be the mantra going forward

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 06:59:58 -0400

Interest in the enterprise 802.11n market is certainly heating up. This week alone we saw Ruckus Wireless take a deeper plunge in the market with a self-configurable 802.11n package and Broadcom, a top player in the consumer 802.11n market, announced a new enterprise solution (see story No. 3). Other enterprise vendors are coming to market with new offerings.

But could harder economic times hinder the growth of this market? Aruba has already been hit, Goldman Sachs recently noted. The enterprise WiFi vendor fell short of expectations for the second fiscal quarter. "In addition to U.S. weakness, the company is also seeing weakness in Europe, particularly northern countries such as the U.K.," the firm wrote. "While U.S. enterprise weakness is not a major surprise, weakness in European enterprise suggests that macro issues could weigh on the company longer than originally expected."

802.11n is not a straight sell for many enterprises, except those verticals that are seeing huge capacity demands. While the technology offers better throughput and capacity, an enterprise has to weigh those benefits in light of the fact that upgrading to the better technology isn't simply a matter of replacing existing WiFi access points with 802.11n access points. It often requires a complete overhaul of the network, meaning new end-user clients, upgraded switches and controller equipment, as well as gigabit Ethernet rewiring in most cases to handle the additional data throughput.

Most vendors acknowledge that 802.11n deployments won't be Greenfield deployments but add-ons or strategic replacements in high traffic areas. How it will be deployed will depend much on the budgets of enterprises.

That's obviously why Ruckus Wireless is so aggressive with its message that its SmartMesh product enables enterprises to deploy WiFi networks in half the time and half the cost to get three times the performance of typical WLANs. Broadcom says its single-chip solution consumes half of the power of competing 802.11n chipsets, reducing the cost of deploying or upgrading enterprise networks.

I suspect cheap 802.11n will be the mantra going forward as vendors work to convince the enterprise that 802.11n is worth their investments.--Lynnette

Ruckus makes aggressive push into enterprise WiFi

Mon, 21 Apr 2008 06:59:56 -0400

Ruckus Wireless is taking aim at the enterprise WiFi market, competing head to head with the likes of Cisco, Aruba and Meru with the introduction of SmartMesh--a WiFi meshing technology that the company says enables enterprises to deploy WiFi networks in half the time and half the cost to get three times the performance of typical WLANs.

Ruckus, most known for its WiFi platform that delivers IPTV, has been playing in the mid-market enterprise market for some time with a self configurable WiFi product designed for enterprises that lack extensive IT staffs. Now the company is moving up to compete with bigger WiFi enterprise players with a new class of WLANs that self-organize, self-optimize and self-heal, eliminating the costly cabling to every WiFi access point and complex RF planning, according to the company. Ruckus' SmartMesh technology includes the company's in-house developed smart antenna technology.

"During these economic times, systems like ours become more palatable and enterprises are becoming more willing to use them even though they haven't heard of us," said David Callisch, vice president of marketing with Ruckus.

Ruckus says the cost of a typical 500-user WLAN using the industry's most popular enterprise 802.11g WLAN systems is approximately $35,000. Ruckus' SmartMesh solution with 802.11n technology is under $15,000, says the company.

Lodgian, one of the largest independent owners and operators of full-service hotels in the United States, is among the first companies to deploy the Ruckus SmartMesh and 802.11n solutions.

For more about Ruckus' new SmartMesh technology:
- read this release

Related article:
Ruckus Wireless named to Fierce 15 list

ALSO NOTED: Motorola wins Saudi WiMAX contract; Aruba releases white paper on using WiMAX and WiFi; and much more...

Mon, 24 Mar 2008 07:59:51 -0400

> Motorola announced a $165-million WiMAX 802.16e infrastructure contract with Etihad Atheeb Telecommunication Company (Atheeb) in Saudi Arabia. Article

> AirDefense released a new version of its wireless intrusion-prevention software for enterprise wireless LANs. Article

> Aruba released a white paper on delivering broadband services using WiMAX and WiFi. Release

And Finally... CTIA spent just under $6.9 million on political lobbying in 2007, according to a disclosure from the Senate's public records office. Article

Aruba warns fiscal 2Q below expectations

Mon, 11 Feb 2008 06:59:56 -0500

Enterprise WLAN vendor Aruba announced its second-quarter fiscal results ended January would not meet Wall Street's expectations, blaming a delay in approval of the federal budget.

The company expects revenue for the quarter of between $40 million and $41 million with a loss of about 4 cents to 5 cents per share. Wall Street had expected revenue of $51.5 million and a profit of 5 cents a share.

In a press release, Aruba CEO Dominic Orr said the company in the quarter "experienced a significant decrease in revenues in the federal vertical in conjunction with the delay in the approval of the Federal budget." He expects the federal business to pick up in the second half of the fiscal year.

Orr also said that the company has seen "an elongated sales cycle" at some customers. He also said that a transition to a two-tier distribution system has taken longer than expected.

Goldman Sachs noted in a research note that the economic slowdown is weighing on Aruba's business. "In addition to U.S. weakness, the company is also seeing weakness in Europe, particularly northern countries such as the U.K.," the firm wrote. "While U.S. enterprise weakness is not a major surprise, weakness in European enterprise suggests that macro issues could weigh on the company longer than originally expected."

For more about Aruba's lower-than-expected results:
- take a look at this article from AP
- read this release

Related articles:
Aruba moving on up in enterprise WiFi Report
Aruba jumps on 802.11n bandwagon Report

Aruba makes push into industrial WiFi market

Mon, 04 Feb 2008 06:59:54 -0500

Aruba Networks is making a big push into the industrial WiFi market, announcing a new family of hardened and explosion-resistant access points as well as two partnership agreements with ruggedized device makers Panasonic Toughbook and Psion Tecklogix. It also announced a customer win with petrochemical company Amerada Hess.

Aruba decided to design access points from the ground up because current access points trying to serve the industrial market don't cut it in terms of being explosion resistant. The industrial market has been a difficult one for WiFi companies to crack given the interference problems the heavy metal interior of industrial facilities pose. Michael Tennefoss, head of strategic marketing with Aruba, said the company uses higher power radios--200 milliwatt instead of 100 milliwatt--to get better throughput in these areas and processes the signals through adaptive radio management to recover any lost signals. The access points can also be powered using solar power, a car battery, street light or power over Ethernet.

To read more about Aruba's push into the industrial WiFi market:
- take a look at this release

Related articles:
Aruba to use AirWave to drive its WLAN vision Report
Enterprise vendors put pre-802.11n stakes in the ground Report

Aruba to buy Airwave Wireless for $37M

Thu, 10 Jan 2008 06:59:55 -0500

Aruba Networks plans to acquire Airwave Wireless, a leading provider of specialized tools to centrally manage large, multi-vendor wireless LAN, mesh and WiMAX networks, for $37 million in stock and cash. The acquisition places Aruba, an enterprise WiFi network provider, in the multi-vendor network management business.

Aruba is preparing for the reality that 802.11n equipment will run alongside legacy WiFi equipment. The vendor says the AirWave platform eases technology transitions by extending the life of existing capital investments and enabling multi-vendor solutions to be run from a common, centralized network management system. Plus Aruba appears to be looking to usurp competitors such as Cisco by being able to manage their proprietary solutions.

To learn more about Aruba's acquisition of Airwave:
- check out this release

Related articles:
Aruba jumps on 802.11n bandwagon Article
Aruba moving on up in enterprise WiFi Article

ALSO NOTED: Top headlines from 2007

Thu, 20 Dec 2007 06:59:51 -0500

Top headlines from 2007

> Cisco buys Navini for $330M

> Verizon says it backs LTE, what's in store for UMB?

> It's official: Google to bid in 700 MHz auction

> Verizon Wireless embraces open access

> Aruba jumps on 802.11n bandwagon

> China continues to hedge on 3G

> AT&T makes $2.5B deal for 700 MHz spectrum

> FCC to continue white space testing

> Sprint launches femtocell service in two markets

> NextWave ships WiMAX chipset samples

> AirCell teams with American Airlines for in-flight WiFi

> Earthlink struggling with wireless initiatives

> Google pledges $4.6B if 700 MHz is open

> Amp'd Mobile to shut down service

> Muni-WiFi hit with delays and snags in several cities

Enterprise vendors put pre-802.11n stakes in the ground

Thu, 15 Nov 2007 06:59:58 -0500

The enterprise 802.11n market has officially taken off now that Aruba, the last major holdout, has entered the market. Things certainly changed in this market in a matter of months. Earlier this year, Aruba had said that 802.11n wasn't ready for the enterprise since the standard wasn't finished. Cisco also warned that the draft 802.11n product had no guarantee of working together. But Cisco jumped into the 802.11n space in September. Now many enterprises are pushing video services and looking for strategic replacement of of the wired Ethernet in certain areas of their businesses. 802.11n significantly improves data throughput and coverage of existing 802.11-based technologies, and vendors are convinced that the standard won't change much when it is finally ratified. They are also comfortable that the Wi-Fi Alliance is certifying these products.

Meru, the first vendor to announce Draft 2.0 802.11n plans earlier this year, said it plans to announce a number of customers shortly in verticals such as healthcare, retail, higher education and hospitality. Girish Baht, director of enterprise solutions with Meru, said Meru is in a situation where it can't often meet customer demand for 802.11n products. In fact, its recently introduced Video Unplugged Program, a video over WLAN partner program, which aims to certify video products and guarantee QoS, was introduced partly to take advantage of 802.11n's ability to handle larger amounts of data.

All of the draft 802.11n announced deals so far are in the higher education space. Meru has a deal with Carnegie Mellon, Cisco with Duke University and Meru with Morrisville State University. These are typically the entities that are less risk-adverse and want the latest cutting-edge technology.

How many pre-802.11n deals we'll see throughout 2008 remains to be seen. Stan Schatt, vice president and research director with ABI Research, doesn't expect massive adoption because most enterprises don't like the idea of using pre-standardized equipment. We'll likely see adoption in certain verticals that need lots of bandwidth or want to heavily take advantage of VoIP, he said.

After all, no vendor can make a 100-percent guarantee that the final standard will match what it is selling today. Even though most vendors expect a software upgrade, enterprises will have to foot the bill for a full hardware upgrade. As Schatt says, "Any time you lock up a bunch of engineers in a room, you just never know what is going to come out." -Lynnette

Aruba jumps on 802.11n bandwagon

Thu, 08 Nov 2007 06:59:55 -0500

Enterprise WiFi infrastructure provider Aruba Network, the last major 802.11n holdout, announced its is entering the 802.11n access point game. The vendor announced a new generation of multi-service mobility controllers to enable unified communications such as FMC, along with 802.11n access points.

Earlier this year, Aruba had said that 802.11n wasn't ready for the enterprise since the standard wasn't finished. Cisco also warned that the draft 802.11n product had no guarantee of working together. But Cisco jumped into the 802.11n space in September.

What has changed? Michael Tennefoss, director of strategic marketing, told FierceBroadbandWireless that the draft 802.11n standard is far enough along that the company is convinced the final standard won't deviate much from the draft standard. Secondly, the company was sitting on its new 802.11n access point since June, but it was waiting for the second generation of chips that showed improvement in power consumption.

My how things can change in the matter of months. Cisco and Aruba, the two biggest vendors in the enterprise WiFi space, had earlier declared that most customers didn't need the throughput of 802.11n. Now many enterprises are pushing video services and looking for strategic replacement of of the wired Ethernet in certain areas of their businesses. 802.11n significantly improves data throughput and coverage of existing 802.11-based technologies.

"We're now at a point that customer can choose which is better: copper or wireless," Tennefoss said. "N has leveled the playing field with copper with respect to connectivity and performance."

For more about Aruba's 802.11n plans:
- check out this release

Aruba counter sues Motorola over WLAN patents

Mon, 22 Oct 2007 06:59:55 -0400

Aruba Networks has counter sued Motorola over WLAN patents, bringing some interesting drama to the WLAN space. In August, Motorola's subsidiaries Symbol Technologies and Wireless Valley Communications filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court of Delaware against Aruba for alleged patent infringement. The suit concerns Aruba's alleged infringement of patents related to WLAN technologies. The four disputed patents relate to WLAN switching architecture technology and WLAN site planning and RF management.

For its part, Aruba claims Symbol knew enough about Aruba's products in 2003 to indicate they might infringe on Symbol's pending patents. Aruba also says both Symbol and Wireless Valley withheld information from patent examiners, making the patents invalid. In its counter suit, Aruba is seeking declaratory judgments that it has not infringed and that the patents are invalid and not enforceable. Aruba is asking that Symbol and Wireless Valley pay the costs of the suit and its attorney fees.

Interestingly, Symbol was close to acquiring Aruba in 2003, Aruba claims. During the first half of the year, Symbol had "essentially unfettered access" to information about how Aruba's products were made as the two discussed a deal, Aruba said in a filing. The inventor of two of the patents involved in the suit was one of the engineers inspecting Aruba's technology, Aruba said. A deal was never made because the two companies couldn't agree on terms.

To find out more about the counter suit:
- read this story from IDG News Service

Motorola sues Aruba over WLAN patents

Thu, 30 Aug 2007 06:59:55 -0400

Motorola's subsidiaries Symbol Technologies and Wireless Valley Communications have filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court of Delaware against Aruba Networks for alleged patent infringement. The suit concerns Aruba's alleged infringement of patents related to WLAN technologies. The four disputed patents relate to WLAN switching architecture technology and WLAN site planning and RF management.

According to Motorola, Symbol introduced the first modern wireless switch architecture, which significantly lowered the cost of deploying network infrastructure and of managing, maintaining and upgrading wireless systems.

The company also says that Wireless Valley introduced the concept of using a predictive design approach, a three-dimensional representation of an environment, and site specific information in the design, implementation and management of wireless networks in and around buildings.

Symbol and Wireless Valley want a permanent injunction against Aruba and monetary damages for using the patented technologies. Symbol has indicated that Aruba might not be the only company infringing its patents.

For more on the lawsuit:
- read this press release
- take a look at this article from EE Times

Aruba moving on up in enterprise WiFi

Mon, 20 Aug 2007 06:59:54 -0400

WLAN vendor Aruba has nearly doubled its market share since going public in March. Thanks to going public, customers are comfortable with Aruba's long-term viability, says Aruba founder Keerti Melkote. Aruba recently won a contract with Prudential Fox & Roach, the country's largest single-market real estate firm. It has landed several high-profile contracts, including a deal with the U.S. Air Force, Ohio State University and Microsoft.

Aruba reported in May that revenue increased to $34.7 million, up 30 percent quarter over quarter and up 65 percent from the previous year. It was the company's first break-even quarter since its inception in 2002.

However, Aruba has a long way to go before it catches up with heavyweight Cisco. According to research company Dell'Oro Group, Cisco's market share sits around 64 percent.

For more about Aruba's surge:
- check out this article from InformationWeek

SPOTLIGHT: Network Chemistry sells wireless security business

Mon, 23 Jul 2007 06:59:52 -0400

Network Chemistry has sold its wireless security business to enterprise WiFi vendor Aruba Networks. Network Chemistry said it intends to focus solely on its IT management business. For more than a year, Network Chemistry has been developing a major initiative to help organizations better manage IT through search and collaborative technologies. The company says it has developed the world's first on-demand search engine for IT, which uses search algorithms to find hidden relationships between data from different systems and devices. Release

ALSO NOTED: Nanoradio raises $27 million; VeriSign introduces managed security for WLANs; and much more...

Mon, 11 Jun 2007 06:59:51 -0400

> Swedish WiFi chip maker Nanoradio said it raised $27 million in funding in a C-round led by Norwegian Venture Capital firm Ferd Venture. Article

> Aruba Networks released ArubaOS 3.1 and Mobility Management System 2.0 software to enhance WiFi network performance and scalability. Article

> VeriSign introduced managed security for WLANs. Article

> Wayport announced it has expanded its hotel footprint to include the Massanutten Resort. Release

> Motorola has accepted JiWire for the MOTOwi4 Ready Application Ecosystem. Release

And Finally... Some ferry riders in the Seattle area are feeling slighted because they don't have WiFi access. Article

Aruba CEO: Need for new WLAN security model

Mon, 25 Sep 2006 20:01:35 -0400

Dominic Orr, Aruba Wireless Networks CEO, says that enterprise WLANs are going to become less interesting because of the increasing commoditization of WLAN gear and the advent of the 100+ Mbps 802.11n standard. Both developments will combine to make wireless connectivity a routine part of the enterprise network infrastructure.

What will remain interesting and challenging, Orr says, are the corrections and improvements to traditional conventions and architectures for network authentication and security. "The security architecture for wired nets, based on using physical port-based conventions, won't work," Orr said. "You need specific, user-oriented identification, content and location data [to secure the net]," he said.

Orr predicts that eighteen months after 802.11n is standardized, the WLAN will no longer be an interesting business because it will be increasingly commoditized. This very commoditization, however, will create a very large hole in the traditional enterprise security model, a model which assumes that the person at the far end of a wire linked to a specific switch port is the person who is supposed to be sitting at that desk. Orr told Newsfactor that what was needed was secure mobility as a logical add-on to the enterprise network. This secure mobility will become more urgent as more enterprise workers become mobile: Currently only about 5 percent of workers are mobile, but this will increase to more than 20 percent in two or three years, Orr said.

This is where Aruba comes in. We note that most WLAN innovation has been at Layers 1-3, owing to the focus on wireless Ethernet connectivity. Aruba is focusing on Layers 4-7 in its WLAN controllers and accompanying thin APs. "Our goal is mobile access control: Who is this person [on the wireless link], what is his role in the organization, what device is he using, what applications?" Orr said.

Cisco and Check Point Software Technologies are addressing the issue of mobile security in different ways, but Aruba is not worried. "They're all Layer 1 and 2 networking devices," he said. "Cisco has initiatives in security, content networking and connectivity technologies. We just don't see how this will all come together." Aruba, though, cannot stand still or become complacent, and the privately held Aruba is, therefore, seriously exploring an initial public offering.

The last words are Orr's: "We create a mobile edge to the network...We are front-ending the network for network access control, security, authentication, user privileges. You want the network infrastructure to recognize the user, his role and profile, and then treat him accordingly."

For more on Aruba's secure mobility strategy:
-see this detailed Newsfactor article

Vendor-independent migration to switched WLAN

Mon, 24 Jul 2006 20:01:36 -0400

Who says you cannot teach an old do new tricks? If you could, this would be important, especially when the old dog cost a lot of money. Businesses would be delighted to know that Aruba and Airwave have teamed up to offer businesses with unmanaged legacy WLAN infrastructure a way to move to a centralized, switch-managed WLAN.

When WLAN came on the scene, the emphasis was on distributed, stand-alone, thick APs. There is a limit to what this type of architecture can deliver, and the tide has turned toward centralized, switch-managed design. Trouble is, many businesses have invested in the distributed scheme, and moving to a centralized system would be costly and disruptive. Aruba's Gary Singh says: "This tie-up is designed to protect firms' investments in second-generation legacy access points. We're offering to manage what you have in place this minute, giving a much smoother transition to a centrally managed architecture. This solution is not limited to any type of deployment."

It is estimated that there are about 5 million stand-along APs (some have taken to calling them "orphan" APs) around the world, and the Aruba-Airwave solution would offer the owners of these APs a vendor-independent migration path toward centralized switching. Infonetics predicts that enterprise WLAN sales will more than double by 2009 to reach $2.4 billion. Cisco is the leader in enterprise WLAN equipment, followed by Symbol, Aruba, 3Com, and Trapeze.

For more on Aruba-Airwave solution:
- take a look at this press release

Aruba-Juniper in enterprise WiFi deal

Mon, 19 Jun 2006 20:01:37 -0400

Good to see a partnership between the old and the new, or the big and the small: WLAN switch start-up Aruba Networks has entered into a partnership deal with networking big hitter Juniper Networks to sell WiFi security equipment to customers in the enterprise. Aruba's marketing VP, Keerti Melkote, told Unstrung that that the deal builds on Aruba's long association with security software provider Funk (Juniper acquired Funk last November for $122 million)

The agreement calls for Aruba to supply its WLAN controller and APs, and for Juniper to bring Funk client and server security software for both wired and wireless networks. The partnership will help both companies better compete with Cisco, the 800-pound gorilla in this game.

Juniper has been on deal-signing spree of late. It has a deal with Meru for VoWLAN technology, and a public access hot spot deal with Colubris.

For on the Aruba-Juniper deal
-see Dan Jones's Unstrung report

MORE: Aruba has just released an enhancements to its enterprise WLAN system. The company says that new enhancements, available this month in a new version of its ArubaOS Mobility Software, make Aruba's mobility controller the most scalable enterprise wireless system on the market: A single Aruba WLAN system is now capable of supporting up to 1000 simultaneous 802.1X authentication transactions per second. Press release.

Aruba prepares for IPO

Tue, 11 Apr 2006 20:01:37 -0400

Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan described the mid-1990s dot.com period as an era of "irrational exuberance." There is something exuberant--but certainly nothing irrational--about Aruba Networks' near-term plans. The leading independent maker of corporate WLAN gear has reshuffled top management roles in preparation for a potential IPO. The Sunnyvale, CA-based company said president and CEO Don LeBeau would take over as chairman of the company and be replaced by Dominic Orr, an original Aruba investor and its current chairman, who becomes CEO and president. "We want to keep a strong continuity going through the IPO," Orr said in an interview. "I feel quite rested and ready to go take another company through the IPO process."

Aruba is the biggest rival of Cisco Systems in the market for enterprise WLAN equipment. Cisco acquired Airespace last year for $450 million and currently has 25 percent of the enterprise wireless market, according to the Dell'Oro research group. Privately held Aruba is Cisco's major rival, with nearly a 20 percent share. Dell'Oro estimates that the market for centralized WLANs will be worth $4.7 billion by 2009. Aruba does not disclose its finances, but analysts say the company is fast growing and has a wide base of blue-chip corporate customers. "We recently turned in our first profitable quarter," Keerti Melkote, Aruba's founder and now its vice president of marketing, said of the second fiscal quarter, which ended in January.

Orr declined to give a time frame for a potential IPO, but he would not rule out filing to go public later this year. A public stock offering will give Aruba the resources to "pull away from the pack" and to become a "counterweight to Cisco," he said. Orr compared the company's strategy to Cisco's fixed-line network rival, Juniper Networks. "The keywords for me are predictability and visibility," Orr said. "Now that we have achieved profitability I want to make sure that we have predictable profitability and sustainability," he said, adding that Aruba will be ready for an IPO when the company can see ahead to four solid quarters of profitability.

Last year, Aruba signed a deal to build the largest corporate wireless network in the world for Microsoft. The deal involves replacing 6,000 network APs using older Cisco equipment with Aruba's latest gear. Aruba also counts eBay, Yahoo and Google as customers. Aruba has 250 employees.

For more on Aruba's IPO strategy:
- see this press release
- this San Jose Business Journal report

PLUS: CTIA and the Wi-Fi Alliance have agreed jointly to develop certification programs for converged WiFi/cellular phones. The industry groups will work together on the development of test programs for overlapping aspects of converged handsets. The partnership will initially focus on Radio Frequency performance mapping in a mixed network environment and later explore other issues associated with standard convergence. Market research firm ABI Research has predicted that the annual market for WiFi/cellular handsets will increase to 100 million units by 2009. Article