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While having a high-quality network cabling infrastructure is undoubtedly still central to the success of a modern business in the digital age, there can be no question that tools like the cloud are having an increasingly important impact.
As well as storage, the cloud is now seen as a great way of providing various applications, which in turn can help to boost business operations and offer greater levels of flexibility for workers and members of staff.
Netgear is just one company to have recognised the importance of this trend and has recently released Business Central, which has been marketed as a new and secure cloud-based IT platform, specifically aimed at aiding smaller businesses with their efforts to effectively manage their networking services and devices.
One of the first service modules to come under the Business Central name is the Wireless Manager, which allows companies to centrally and securely manage wireless networks across multiple borders, cities and buildings, all through the power of the cloud.
Remote management
Wireless Manager allows for all of the management functions of a particular cloud platform to be undertaken remotely.
The management functions are all hosted on a traditional web browser, making the process far more flexible - a key feature in the modern-day business, with trends such as remote and mobile working playing a crucial role in helping to make the day-to-day activities of employees more efficient and productive.
Netgear has suggested that the tool could be an ideal solution for retail chains, coffee shops, small offices and restaurant chains, taking away the need to purchase and maintain expensive pieces of hardware needed to control the necessary access points.
Network demands beginning to surge
Peter Newton, senior director of product management for the Netgear Commercial Business Unit, claims the new platform will prove to be useful in helping to ensure businesses stand a greater chance of coping with the increasing levels of strain on networks in all locations, without having to rely on expensive pieces of hardware.
He said: “Having multiple standalone access points is no longer feasible as configuration changes become routine rather than occasional.
“What’s needed is a bridge solution between standalone access points and a controller, where flexibility, scalability and ease of use are standard and, more importantly, affordable."
Bridging the gap between hardware and software is a philosophy that is clearly at the heart of this new product, which works with five Netgear access points under the ProSAFE brand, including the dual-band WNDAP660, WNDAP360 and WNDAP350 and the single-band WNAP320 and WNAP210v2.
