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Modul Kasus5
As one of the largest independently owned online lenders in the United States, Balboa Capital uses state-of-
the-art technology to offer business owners a faster and easier way to access capital. The company
developed an intuitive and proprietary web-based platform that simplifies the entire financing process.
Applications can be completed online in a matter of minutes, sophisticated credit scoring technology
provides instant decisions, and funding of up to $250,000 can be provided on the same day.
“Technology is changing faster than ever, particularly in the business financing industry,” said Tony Vargas,
Senior Systems Engineer in Balboa Capital’s Information Technology Department. “New products and web-
based systems are making it easier and faster for business owners to secure growth capital. To stay ahead
of the competition, we replace outdated or obsolete technologies with those that are newer and more robust,
and that meet the needs of today’s business owners. The same strategy applies to the technologies that we
have in our office. We make a point of empowering our employees with the very latest technological
innovations that can increase productivity and make a positive impact on our bottom line. This is no more
evident than with our purchase of Aruba Central and Aruba Instant access points for our headquarters
office.”
“With our expanded Wi-Fi capability, our employees can conduct business on their laptop
computers, tablets, and mobile devices at our amenity-filled courtyard and campus lounge,”
“Aruba was the clear choice for our company’s needs,” said Mr. Vargas. “Aruba Central shows us what’s
happening in real-time on a robust dashboard and, because it’s cloud-based, we can add access points,
troubleshoot potential connectivity issues, monitor analytics, and generate detailed reports without having to
be on a local network. This saves us time and allows us to work more efficiently. Next, the Aruba IAPs were
proven to maximize mobile Wi-Fi performance and eliminate drops when users visit different parts of the
office. This is a tremendous benefit because many of our employees go from our 11th floor to our 12th floor,
and vice-versa, with their mobile devices.”
“With our expanded Wi-Fi capability, our employees can conduct business on their laptop computers,
tablets, and mobile devices at our amenity-filled courtyard and campus lounge,” said Mr. Vargas. “It features
social lounges, private patios, fire pits, and a food truck runway. Plus, our employees can use their mobile
devices to make personal phone calls or browse the Internet inside sound isolation rooms that are
conveniently located in our lobby.”
“It’s no secret that first impressions about our company are formed while guests are waiting in the lobby,
said Mr. Vargas. “By offering them a password-protected Wi-Fi connection, they can use their mobile
devices to catch up on important emails, surf the web, or respond to text messages while they wait. From a
business perspective, this is a nice benefit.”
“It’s no secret that first impressions about our company are formed while guests are waiting in the
lobby. By offering them a password-protected Wi-Fi connection, they can use their mobile devices
to catch up on important emails, surf the web, or respond to text messages while they wait.”
“Company events are a longstanding tradition at Balboa Capital,” said Mr. Vargas. “They are a great way to
keep everyone informed about our company’s developments and reward our employees who have excelled.
We recently invested in state-of-the-art audio and video recording equipment to record our company events,
and the Aruba network has taken our live stream quality to the next level.”
“Installing our access points was relatively simple and straightforward,” said Mr. Vargas. “We determined
where the IAPs needed to be placed, and we connected each one to a Power over Ethernet (PoE)
connection. We then logged onto Aruba Central, added the serial numbers of each access point, and
introduced them via the cloud. Once we finished the installation process, we conducted tests to confirm that
all the access points were recognized on our network, and we were ready to go.”
“One of the biggest advantages of Aruba Central, outside of its wide array of capabilities, is how easy it is to
use,” said Mr. Vargas. “There is no need to switch from one application or dashboard to another in order to
get the network information you need. With Aruba Central, everything you need is conveniently accessible
via the cloud on a single dashboard. It’s as easy as one-two-three. Lastly, we did not have to buy any
servers, which saved us both time and money.”
A setup that puts your convenience first
Balboa Capital’s IT team members are busy managing mission-critical tasks for every department in the
company, including sales, operations, accounting, marketing, and customer service. As a result, these tech-
minded individuals cannot afford to waste time with complicated or lengthy setup processes relating to new
technology or applications.
“Aruba Central’s Installer App is user-friendly and designed to get you up and running right away after you
set up your company account,” said Mr. Vargas. “I didn’t need to contact customer support or look for help
online after the install was complete. I just imported our existing wireless network configuration and followed
the on-screen instructions to complete the process.”
“Aruba makes it easy to update firmware,” said Mr. Vargas. “All you need to do is click the Maintenance app
link in Aruba Central and click Firmware. If there is a new firmware version available, you just select your
devices and click the upgrade button. It’s the fast and easy way to improve device performance and
security.”
We occupy the top two floors of a modern, 12-story LEED-certified building that
has myriad wireless technologies and capabilities, but we needed to resolve
intermittent Wi-Fi connectivity issues, and expand our Wi-Fi reach to areas
outside of our physical office. Aruba helped us achieve these goals and
maximize mobile device performance, and they provided us with a cloud-based
solution that lets us manage everything from a single, easy-to-use online
dashboard.
TONY VARGAS, SENIOR SYSTEMS ENGINEER, INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY DEPARTMENT, BALBOA CAPITAL
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Customer Profile
The Hubert Company is the industry leader in providing merchandising solutions and
support products used in food service and retail businesses. Hubert North America
maintains an assortment of more than 30,000 in-stock articles, a 500,000 square feet
warehouse and employs more than 300 employees.
o Vertical: Manufacturing
o Location: Cincinnati, OH
o Email to a friend
o Minimizes dependency
on cabling and wired switch ports
across office and warehouse facilities
with reliable Wi-Fi
“With business units expanding their reliance on Wi-Fi, our existing infrastructure couldn’t keep up,” says Mr.
Schumacher, Network Architect and Security Engineer at the Hubert Company, which operates five
locations across the U.S. and Canada. “We needed an advanced, cost-effective and secure solution that
could be centrally managed by one person.”
“In addition to our corporate employees collaborating seamlessly, as an e-commerce retailer, we also
needed to blanket our distribution warehouses with wireless to improve fulfillment efficiency,” Mr.
Schumacher says.
Ultimately, Hubert selected a complete Wi-Fi and switching solution from Aruba, a Hewlett Packard
Enterprise company.
“Aruba listened closely to our needs and then offered us the best combination of capabilities in a simplified
and streamlined solution,” Mr. Schumacher says. “The proposed solution came at a cost savings of 25
percent, compared to the leading contender.
Hubert also evaluated the IAP-based network for carrying voice-quality traffic, concluding it exceeded the
quality of service requirements for the company’s planned adoption of a voice over Wi-Fi telephony system.
Additionally, the WLAN could evolve to meet future needs. “If we outgrew the controller-less configuration,
we could smoothly transition to a controller-managed set up in the future,” says Mr. Schumacher.
Deployments at Hubert’s Toronto call center and its 135,000 sq. ft. western region distribution center in
Reno, Nevada, proved equally straightforward.
“Once we completed the remote installations, we established VPN tunnels back to our
headquarters data center using a secure Internet connection,” Mr. Schumacher says. “This keeps
our telecommunications costs low and easy to manage.”
For Strong Security and Streamlined Access It’s a ClearPass
For secure network access control Hubert is leveraging ClearPass, which makes the process of layering on
strong security a snap.
According to Mr. Schumacher, after setting policies within ClearPass, the tool automatically began
identifying devices which allows for policy differentiation. “For instance, ClearPass won’t allow a personal
iPhone on our internal network, as we only permit corporate devices to access our internal systems,” he
explains.
On the other hand, Hubert’s company-issued laptops connect seamlessly, with ClearPass providing the
same experience regardless of an employee’s physical worksite. “This really enhances productivity for the
employees who regularly travel between our various locations,” Mr. Schumacher says.
For guests and IoT, ClearPass also has it covered
Hubert also uses ClearPass to offer a separate guest network for visitor, personal and other device types.
“Completely segmenting traffic with ClearPass enables us to securely provide Internet access to any type of
guest device,” Mr. Schumacher says.
This also supports Hubert’s IoT strategy by allowing these types of devices to connect to its guest network.
Policies can also be created that allow some devices to connect to the internal network if needed.
Moving forward, Hubert plans to take advantage of even more ClearPass features, such as the Dynamic
Segmentation capability for adding policy-based access across their Ethernet switch ports.
“We look forward to leveraging Dynamic Segmentation to get the most from the Aruba 2930F switches
we’ve also deployed,” Mr. Schumacher says. “This can help us improve security while reducing network
complexity.”
“With AirWave, software updates can be pushed out across the entire network rather than needing to travel
to each location,” Mr. Schumacher says.
“We can also drill down to view real-time and historical data for a specific AP at any of our locations,” he
adds. “This enables rapid troubleshooting, even when I’m a couple thousand miles away.”
Freedom to focus on business-critical tasks
Overall, Hubert’s Wi-Fi has proven easy to manage and exceptionally reliable, freeing IT to focus on
business-critical initiatives.
“With Aruba’s robust and intuitive tools, I’m managing our entire network from a single pane of glass,” says
Mr. Schumacher.
“Intelligent infrastructure and management simplicity have given me back time to work on other things,” he
adds. “The productivity and work/life balance gains have been tremendous.”
At office locations, Hubert conference rooms include large-format smart TVs with Chromecast
devices for users making calls and delivering presentations on Windows and Android-based
devices. Similarly, AppleTVs enable collaboration among those with Apple devices. “Now our
users can quickly and more efficiently respond to customer and market demands,”
“I never get complaints from any of our locations,” he says. “Our Wi-Fi is that rock-solid. No matter what we
need to use it for, our wireless just works.”
Our new utility grade Wi-Fi is rock solid. No matter what we need to use it for, it
just works.
TOM SCHUMACHER, NETWORK ARCHITECT AND SECURITY ENGINEER, HUBERT COMPANY
Full Story
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Customer Profile
KEMET Electronics Corporation is a global leading supplier of high-end electronic
components. Established in 1919 and headquartered in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, its global
footprint includes 45 manufacturing and sales facilities and approximately 12,000
employees located in 22 countries in the Americas, Asia and Europe.
o Vertical: Manufacturing
o Email to a friend
based network management bottlenecks due to legacy systems collaboration across a global footprint
Strong demand for its components kept KEMET Electronics Corporation’s global manufacturing and sales facilities running at full
capacity, but further growth and operational innovation had stalled.
“We determined our aging technology infrastructure was the bottleneck,” explains George Hurtado, Director
of Global IT Infrastructure for the Fort Lauderdale, Florida-based enterprise with 45 manufacturing and sales
facilities spread across 22 countries. “Our legacy system wasn’t scalable, resilient or sufficiently secure. We
clearly needed a significant refresh.”
“We were unimpressed with the licensing model our existing vendor was pursuing,” explains Hurtado. “Upon
investigating alternatives and conducting internal testing, we decided to invest in Aruba for its proven
innovation, reliability and centralized management.”
KEMET’s comprehensive wired and wireless solution included Aruba APs, including Wi-Fi CERTIFIED 6
APs, managed by cloud-native Aruba Central, for unified network operations, assurance and security as well
as ClearPass, for policy-based network access control and 2930M access switches.
Expectations Exceeded from Day One
From the start, the deployment exceeded expectations. “With our previous vendor and controller-based
system, we had to manually right-size hardware and software infrastructure whenever network changes
occurred,” recalls Tony Krawczynski, Manager of Network Services.
“Using Aruba Central, we have a virtual controller that scales smoothly as our needs change,” he continues.
“Any modifications we make get pushed out automatically to the related APs. This is helping us move toward
a zero-touch model systemically, regardless how many thousands of miles a location is from our U.S. data
center.”
“Although we’re continuing to gain competence and deploy faster, even our early experience was game-
changing,” says Mario Luna, Network Engineer.
“For example, with two people, we configured and packaged 100 access points in less than two business
days,” he says. “Then we simply shipped them to the site and put them in place. Because we were able to
pre-stage the APs, an implementation process that would’ve formerly taken weeks, and disrupted the
production floor operations, was completed non-disruptively in days.
“We’ve also added the Aruba Installer app to our smartphones,” Luna adds. “It supplies tools that further
speed the process. Eliminating so much manual work reduces deployment stress considerably.”
“Another impact was manually authenticating individuals who travel, ranging from executives to sales team
members,” he continues. “It could easily take an engineer up to two hours to give a person access at a
distant facility, while our business talent simply waited.”
“Today, those headaches, and more, are gone,” Krawczynski says. “ClearPass automatically identifies and
classifies devices, based on multiple criteria, providing device and user access based on policies we set.”
Beyond automating and securing access, ClearPass supplies rich contextual insights – such as
device type, vendor, hardware version and behavioral attributes, like traffic destination and
communication frequency. This enables the manufacturer to quickly create fine-grained access
policies while reducing security risks and meeting compliance requirements, such as the EU’s
General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
“Our visibility and audit capabilities with ClearPass are unprecedented,” Krawczynski says. “In addition to
regulatory compliance, there are multiple other benefits. For example, if an individual is streaming videos
against a department’s policy, we can alert the appropriate manager before it impacts network
performance.”
“For instance, we’re leveraging Envoy, an established Aruba ecosystem provider for visitor management,
and its tight integration with ClearPass to supply streamlined, secure connectivity for our customers,
contractors, visitors and employee BYOD,” Krawczynski says.
“This ensures that we not only secure our network but also deliver exceptional experiences that support our
brand as a leading-edge innovator in our market,” he adds.
Just one example is faster label printing and handheld mobile scanners at KEMET’s manufacturing and
sales facilities. “Such tools enable getting products out the door rather than having them sit idle,” says
Hurtado.
Reducing manufacturing waste also significantly improves profitability. “Previously, small latency delays
added up, causing improper manufacturing on a regular basis,” Hurtado says. “If a single $40 product gets
thrown away at scale, that’s a considerable loss.”
“Whether it’s unproductive inventory or manufacturing defects, millions of dollars are at stake,” he adds. “In
other words, it’s difficult to overstate the bottom line benefits of the high-performance, reliable Wi-Fi.”
“We use Central’s insights extensively to optimize our network,” says Krawczynski. This helps KEMET with
becoming proactive to keep performance, availability and experiences high.
Although deployment, training and administration issues have been few, Aruba’s support response has
consistently gone above and beyond. “On the rare occasions where we’ve needed expert assistance, our
Aruba representatives assembled the right team to respond quickly and comprehensively,” Krawczynski
says.
“We’re interested in User Experience Insight for tasks like detecting when we’re having a DHCP server issue
somewhere in our footprint,” Krawczynski says. “Then we can resolve the problem before any significant
impact occurs.”
Other possibilities include expanding Aruba’s presence to standardize on wired switches from
core to edge while leveraging predictive analytics and location awareness to improve
manufacturing operations and inventory management.
Overall, KEMET sees unlimited strategic potential for its new networking solution. “We know we’re just
scratching the surface,” Hurtado says. “We look forward to taking our Aruba networking platform to the next
level.”
With Aruba and Aruba Central, our infrastructure can scale smoothly and
seamlessly worldwide. Overall, we’re only scratching the surface and look
forward to taking our Aruba networking platform to the next level.
GEORGE HURTADO, DIRECTOR OF GLOBAL IT INFRASTRUCTURE, KEMET ELECTRONICS CORPORATION