Cisco Homes In On Teleworkers: Page 2 of 2

Addressing most of the enterprise needs for simple, secure access for the employee--and taking the pressure off IT for such deployments--the solution also addresses higher-end needs for more sophisticated edge deployments, such as concurrent dual-band operations so devices can be segregated based on device and profile type, etc., says Mehra. There are a couple of similar solutions out there, including Aruba Networks' RAP products, but Cisco's offering will help its much larger customer base leverage this solution and make these teleworker deployments more pervasive in the enterprise.

Craig Mathias, principal, Farpoint Group, says that Cisco is catching a key trend toward telework here. "All that's really required for most knowledge workers, and potentially many others, is a secure, managed link to the corporate network--moving the edge of that network into the residence. That's what's happening here. As I've said for some time, work is something you do, not a place you go."

He says that other vendors have remote access points, and there are other teleworking solutions. "But given that Cisco is No. 1 in enterprise wireless LANs, this is a big deal."

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