Intel takes a similar approach at its Jones Farm, Ore., campus. This location serves almost 6,000 employees using Cisco wireless gear. Intel started with an overlay network for wireless access, but as Wi-Fi caught on, it's become the first choice for employees. In addition to Centrino-based laptops (of course), Intel also uses Cisco Wi-Fi phones for voice services, as well as softphones and dual-mode devices.
Cisco has its own initiative, called the Connected Workspace. In line with its preferred converged approach, wireless is deployed everywhere, but wired ports for high-bandwidth communications needs, such as backups and video streaming, also are available. Still, the company has cut its need for copper by 60%. "The Connected Workspace encourages collaboration and reduces real estate and infrastructure costs, while accommodating different work styles," Cisco's Kozup says.
Aruba and Motorola have been the most vocal vendor supporters of the wire-free office. With no wired revenue to lose, they can only gain by stealing away dollars that would normally be spent on their competitors' Ethernet switches. With 802.11n offering comparable performance to a wired network, but with added mobility, they have a strong argument.
Of course, the wireless office is like the paperless office--though electronic documents and e-mail have become the main forms of information storage and redistribution, there's still paper exchanged in the postal mail. In the same way, wireless will become the primary connection only at the access layer. "'All wireless' is a bit of a misnomer," says Kozup. There will still be cables, but they'll reside predominately in the distribution and core layers of the network, unseen by the average user.
SECURITY MATTERS
The security breach at TJ Maxx parent TJX, where attackers took advantage of a wireless connection secured only with Wired Equivalent Privacy to capture credit card information on tens of millions of the retailer's customers, remains fresh in many CIOs' minds. The fact that the key element in that equation is "secured only with WEP" is a detail easily ignored by the security paranoid.
