Motorola RF suite provides dashboard for Wi-Fi planning

Motorola, Inc. has announced an integrated suite of management tools for enterprise mobility systems that address critical pieces of network management, including wireless LAN (WLAN) planning, monitoring, security, analysis and device management.

Available individually, or as part of Motorolas RF Management Suite, Motorola integrated management tools can share data and be accessed through a single console, providing one point of contact for end-to-end WLAN infrastructure and device management.

An IT manager who can see only one aspect of the Wi-Fi network at a time in fragments is not seeing a clear view of overall system health, said Sujai Hajela, vice president and general manager of Enterprise WLAN, Motorola Enterprise Mobility business. Motorolas RF Management Suite is greater than the sum of its parts when used together, providing a holistic view of the network, simplifying the complex task of management that ultimately helps to decrease the amount of time an administrator must spend addressing dissatisfied or frustrated mobile users.

Motorola created the RF Management Suite to address specific requirements for managing todays network for enterprise mobility systems, integrating four key components:

Motorola LAN Planner helps Wi-Fi network managers and systems integrators design a WLAN that rapidly delivers superior performance and is customized to an enterprises application and technology needs, deployment environment and growth strategies. Network managers can easily import a site map and input information such as throughput and coverage requirements, to create a Wi-Fi network design plan to minimize radio frequency (RF) interference issues. This saves time and money on multiple site surveys and trial-and-error deployments. Once the WLAN is deployed, systems integrators can simply export their design to the RF Management Software for ongoing monitoring and troubleshooting by in-house wireless teams
 
Motorola RF Management Software provides an intuitive, graphical representation of the WLAN. Used in conjunction with site plan data imported from LAN Planner, it allows network managers to see if the WLAN has been implemented as planned, and allows customers to monitor key network performance indicators. These visual representations offer an intuitive view of the network health at a glance, highlight issues for investigation and permit network managers to troubleshoot anything that looks suspicious all from a central location or from an administrators mobile device.
 
Motorola Wireless Intrusion Protection System (Wireless IPS) detects and locates rogue devices, prevents intrusions to a WLAN, and protects the network against denial-of-service attacks, providing a line of defense from wireless attacks.
 
Many corporate networks are subject to certain security-related government regulations and industry policies such as HIPAA, PCI and Sarbanes-Oxley that require companies to protect data. Each regulation carries different and hefty penalties for lack of compliance. A unique feature of Wireless IPS is the ability to provide compliance reporting by collecting historical data on system activity, and perform advanced forensic analysis of past network events. The ability to replay events and provide proof of compliance can save a company thousands of dollars in fines should a breach occur while the system is operating in compliance.

Motorola Mobility Services Platform (MSP) RF Management Edition is at the heart of the RF Management Suite, providing the interface to all network monitoring, analysis and security tools, as well as day-to-day management of all network devices. In addition to keeping track of the WLAN infrastructure, network managers can keep track of all the mobile devices that need access to the network. The network administrator can identify the location of all the mobile devices on the WLAN, as well as lock down specific devices in case of loss or theft.

Edcon, the leading clothing, footware and textiles retailing group in southern Africa started deploying Motorola enterprise WLANs consisting of WS2000 and WS5100 wireless switches, AP300 access ports and AP-5131 access points at 142 of its more than 1,100 stores in South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Swaziland and Lesotho. Additional locations will deploy Motorolas WLAN in 2008. Motorolas Mobility Services Platform (MSP) will manage the WLAN infrastructure and MC70 rugged enterprise digital assistants that retail staff will use for price and inventory verification to better service customers.

Security is a critical factor for a retailer, especially when planning and deploying a Wi-Fi network as the foundation for an enterprise mobility system. In evaluating vendors, only Motorola met our need for ease of deployment, an end-to-end mobility solution with a comprehensive set of planning and management tools, and a future-proof enterprise-class WLAN and mobile computers to conduct business in real-time at the point of activity, said Len Gardiner, Business Integration Manager, Edcon. For managing the network, security and devices, we required a single management tool that would lower the total cost of ownership, provide a consolidated view, and only Motorola was able to deliver this.

Motorolas Enterprise WLAN solutions enable seamless mobility within buildings and across campuses. Products in the Enterprise WLAN portfolio include thin, full-function and mesh access points, wireless switches and radio frequency (RF) switches that can manage up to 3,000 access points.

Enterprise WLAN is part of Motorolas MOTOwi4 portfolio of innovative wireless broadband solutions and services that complement and complete IP networks. Delivering IP coverage to virtually all spaces both indoors and outdoors, the MOTOwi4 portfolio includes fixed broadband, mesh, broadband over powerline, WiMAX and Enterprise WLAN solutions for private and public networks.

About Motorola

Motorola is known around the world for innovation and leadership in wireless and broadband communications. Inspired by our vision of seamless mobility, the people of Motorola are committed to helping you connect simply and seamlessly to the people, information and entertainment that you want and need. We do this by designing and delivering "must have" products, "must do" experiences and powerful networks -- along with a full complement of support services. A Fortune 100 company with global presence and impact, Motorola had sales of US $42.8 billion in 2006.