Sue Ryder Improves Its Patients’ Experience By Deploying Meraki’s Cloud-Based Wireless LAN | SourceWire

Reading, UK, 29th November 2012- Value Added Distributor, Cloud Distribution, is pleased to announce that through its channel partner, Ecologic, it has deployed 90 MR16 Meraki wireless access points in Sue Ryder facilities all over the UK. Meraki’s cloud-based Wi-Fi solution has provided Sue Ryder with a secure, efficient and robust connection that offers its patients and staff unlimited access to the internet and invaluable contact with the outside world.

Scott Dobson, Managing Director of Cloud Distribution comments:

“Sue Ryder wanted to offer patients wireless internet access whilst undergoing palliative or neurological treatments in its residential care centres and hospices. It also wanted staff and patients to be able to access the wireless network simultaneously, without any risk to secure information or confidential patient records.”

Offering wireless internet access was a central concern for Sue Ryder because the team felt it was important for patients to have outside contact and mobile wireless access; to be able to move around rather than be restrained by a static point. Using Skype and social media channels would allow patients to keep in touch with family and friends Sue Ryder’s solution needed to provide a robust and quick connection- the faster the access the better- to ensure that patients could access the internet as efficiently as possible. It is also essential for the solution to be strong because many of Sue Ryder’s sites are remote and risk dropped connections if the technology is not robust enough. Fin Bavidge, co-founder of Ecologic, comments:

“Meraki’s ease of configuration and management made it a safe and reliable choice for Sue Ryder, as it has these capabilities without compromising on performance. The ability for users to move from site to site without needing to reconfigure the wireless key to access the network was also a strong benefit because many of the charity’s staff transfer between sites which are located all over the UK.”

Initially Sue Ryder purchased 90 Meraki MR 16 access points which are due to be fully deployed by the end of March 2013. It plans to more than double this amount to 200 and is currently working on securing the funds to ensure that every site has wireless access by the end of next year. Sue Ryder is confident that Meraki will help its facilities to sustain staff and patient satisfaction, by providing the former with real-time access to patient records at the bed side and the latter with high quality and reliable internet connectivity. David Ripper, Head of IT at Sue Ryder, concludes:

“Lots of our patients were requesting internet access as it is an invaluable benefit for those that can be with us for days, weeks or even months. Meraki was the right choice for us because patients and staff can access the internet at the same time and it offers the perfect balance between affordability and performance. What sealed the deal was the technology’s security capabilities, ease of use and great value for money.”





Sue Ryder Improves Its Patients’ Experience By Deploying Meraki’s Cloud-Based Wireless LAN | SourceWire

Accelerate revenue in 2013 with "Next Gen" networking & security offerings from Cloud Distribution

Cloud Distribution specialises in innovative and disruptive new technologies that VARs can take to market quickly and easily. As a next generation distributor, we focus on adding value with tailored vendor launch support packs to ensure an accelerated go to market. Our portfolio of disruptive networking and security solutions will help resellers to differentiate themselves from the competitor and create new markets to sell in. In short Cloud Distribution can help you to: TAKE NEW PRODUCTS TO MARKET QUICKLY Using our new vendor launch packs to build a real pipeline fast and effectively DIFFERENTIATE YOUR BUSINESS FROM THE COMPETITION Select the vendors and their solutions from our portfolio of disruptive networking and security solutions CREATE ADDITIONAL PROFESSIONAL SERVICES INCOME We have the in-house expertise to help you deliver additional professional services revenue around our product portfolio SECURE ANNUAL RECURRING REVENUE STREAMS We'll show you innovative ways to create annual recurring revenues WE'LL ALSO THROW IN ASSISTANCE FOR THE MARKETING, PRESALES AND COMMERCIAL SUPPORT YOU NEED TO GROW We make it our business to help you to sell more easily, quickly and profitably DISCOVER HOW EASY IT IS TO DIFFERENTIATE YOUR BUSINESS WITH MINIMAL RISK. TOGETHER, WE CAN HELP TO MAKE YOUR BUSINESS A MORE PROFITABLE ONE.
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Cornell University keeps commuter connected through rural cellular blackspots

Pepwave Helps Keep Cornell University Commuters Stay Connected

Ivy League Cornell University maintains a main campus in Ithaca, New York and a medical campus in New York City. To assist staff and students in travelling the 225 miles separating these campuses, Cornell offers an express bus service. While many commuters would prefer to get some work done during in the just over four-hour ride, the route is very rural and cellular connectivity can be somewhat hit and miss.

To keep the commuters online and productive, Cornell officials knew they needed a solution supporting multiple carriers and offering seamless failover. After considering the options, they chose the Pepwave MAX 700 multi-cellular router with SpeedFusion™ technology.

• Deployment: MAX 700 (bus) and Balance 380 (main campus)
• SpeedFusion bonds bandwidth from multiple wireless providers with seamless failover
• Winning factors:
• Provides a reliable, high-bandwidth mobile hotspot even in rural areas
• Eliminates dead zones and provides uninterrupted mobile Internet anywhere
• Top-level performance with ROI in two months

Learn Why the MAX 700 Gets an A+ in Mobile Connectivity
Fast, dependable, and tough, the MAX 700 is a complete mobile connectivity solution that keeps everyone productive on the road, even when travelling through rural areas. Learn more about the Pepwave MAX 700 or any of the other solutions available, contact your Cloud Distribution Account Manager or take a look here

A look inside: Meraki intrusion detection

With millions of packets flowing across the network every day, how do you spot potentially harmful traffic? Simple visibility of all traffic isn’t practical since the sheer volume is far beyond what a human could process. An intrusion detection tool, however, can identify malicious activity, categorize potential threats, facilitate reporting, and alert a network administrator when necessary.

Integrated Snort technology

The latest software update for the MX Security Appliances now includes IDS capabilities. We’ve taken Sourcefire’s Snort engine, the industry standard in network intrusion detection, and made it accessible to network administrators everywhere through the Meraki dashboard.

Snort IDS technology has been highly respected in the security community for nearly 15 years. It’s open source, so it’s continually tested, worked-on, and refined by a broad community of security professionals. Most importantly, in a world where new security threats emerge on a daily basis, the open nature of the platform means new threats are identified and added into the engine far more quickly than a handful of developers working in a closed proprietary system could hope to achieve.

Here’s a peek into how the MX’s IDS looks in the Meraki dashboard:

IDS timeline viewed by client

Intuitive, organization-wide reporting

When MXs receive their scheduled over-the-cloud upgrade over the next several weeks, network administrators will find a new reporting tool: Organization > Security report. Note this requires an Advanced Security license for the MX. This provides an intuitive GUI to the Snort engine, enabling organization-wide threat status to be established at a glance. Information is presented in real-time, with a configurable historical view that allows admins to quickly identify the regularity with which threats are being seen. Admins can search their organization by:

• Threat signature
• Network
• Client
• Source and/or destination IP

For large, distributed networks, the MX’s organization-wide reporting eliminates the need to log in to the security appliance at every site and check the IDS status at each. Potential security threats are ranked and summarized by severity, with details presented in a timeline, a pie chart, and in summary tables. For those digging for even more information, the complete list of events is also shown. The Snort Signature ID links to a detailed description, including suggested actions to remediate the threat. Intrusion Detection typically displays many false positives and negatives, so a detailed description helps the administrator to focus their energy on addressing the real threats as they emerge.

 

IDS event log

 
What was once only available to highly trained and expensive security experts can now be seen and analyzed with a few clicks of a mouse. Meraki’s IDS implementation is the latest example of how we’re revolutionizing the world of network administration and helping our customers achieve more with their precious IT resources.

You can learn more about Meraki’s Intrusion Detection and its role in our next-generation firewall here.

Meraki expands cloud managed networking portfolio with new hardware and enhanced security and management

Meraki, the leader in cloud-managed networking, announced today two new hardware products: the MX60W, a small branch security appliance with integrated WiFi, and the Z1, a wireless gateway for teleworker and remote enterprise users. These products complement Meraki’s large campus and branch offerings, adding flexibility in deployments suited to all-in-one solutions.

Meraki also announced a new software update for wired and wireless product families that adds Apple Bonjour Gateway support as well as enhanced security and network visibility.

All in one wireless, Ethernet, and security simplifies small branch and teleworker deployments

Since its introduction in early 2011, customers from Peet’s Coffee and Tea to Syracuse University have turned to Meraki’s MX series security appliances to secure and simplify their distributed networks. Today, Meraki adds the newest model to the MX family, the MX60W, which brings integrated 802.11n wireless connectivity to the MX platform in an affordable, compact, and easy to manage device. The MX60W is a complete access and security solution for small branches, providing enterprise wired and wireless connectivity, a next generation firewall, Auto VPN for one-touch creation of site-to-site virtual private networks, content filtering, and intrusion detection (IDS). With out-of-the-box PCI compliance, the MX60W is also ideally suited for retail stores adopting mobile point of sale or guest WiFi. The MX60W is available immediately for order through authorized resellers at a list price of $845.

For organizations looking to extend secure enterprise connectivity to employees’ homes, Meraki is introducing the Z1 Cloud Managed Teleworker Gateway. The Z1 integrates networking, security, and high speed wired and wireless access in a compact and silent design. Built in an entirely new form factor, the Z1’s capable hardware platform offers dual-band, dual-concurrent 802.11n WiFi with a 600 Mbps radio rate and four Gigabit Ethernet ports. Feature highlights include Auto VPN, 3G/4G failover, and robust identity-based access policies. Scalable cloud based management and zero-touch provisioning allow IT organizations to extend corporate access to remote users without adding staff or management complexity. The Z1 is available immediately for order through authorized resellers at a list price of $195.

New software brings Bonjour Gateway, new security and management features

Meraki also today announced new software for its wired and wireless product families, bringing dozens of new features and enhancement to new and existing customers. Highlights include:
Bonjour Gateway - Apple’s Bonjour zero-configuration service discovery protocol enables applications like AirPlay and AirPrint on local networks. As Apple devices proliferate, especially with the adoption of Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) policies, Bonjour can pose significant challenges for large-scale networks: administrators must often choose between an unmanageable flood of Bonjour devices on a large, flat network, or a segmented network that prevents desired Bonjour access. Meraki’s Bonjour Gateway technology provides administrators with a powerful tool to manage networks used by Apple devices, selectively bridging Bonjour traffic across network boundaries.

Network-Wide Intrusion Detection (IDS) - This latest software update to the MX Security Appliance adds IDS, enhancing administrators’ visibility and control of security threats in branch networks. The MX’s IDS engine is built upon Snort, the industry’s leading IDS / IPS solution featuring signature, protocol, and anomaly-based inspection. Centrally managed through Meraki’s cloud based dashboard, the MX provides an intuitive visualization of security threats, and is easy to administer even in highly distributed multi-site networks.
Enhanced Traffic Shaper with Fine Grained Layer 7 Application Visibility - In 2010, Meraki introduced the industry’s first cloud managed Layer 7 traffic shaper, and is now the leader in application visibility and control for the wired and wireless access layer. Today, Meraki is introducing a dramatically enhanced Traffic Shaper, providing more precise, finer-grained classification over thousands of applications. A completely re-architected classification engine dynamically identifies web-based applications on the fly, giving administrators enhanced visibility over network behavior.

“With the proliferation of BYOD and cloud applications throughout enterprise networks, administrators are looking to cloud management to streamline their architecture,” said Kiren Sekar, V.P. of Marketing at Meraki. “These latest software features and hardware platforms provide administrators with new tools to simplify their increasingly dynamic network environments.”

“The key value proposition of Meraki’s MX series is manageability and simplicity,” said Chris Day, C.E.O. of Fully Managed, a leading managed-service provider in Vancouver that uses the MX line with customers and a beta user of the MX60W. “Meraki’s solutions are so simple to deploy, we’ve saved around $200,000 per year in labor costs and countless hours in training time. The competing products have a laundry list of features on their datasheets, but the implementation is far too complicated to be useful in practice. With a Meraki deployment, our customers get everything they need and everything works right out of the box just like it’s supposed to.”

Both the MX60W and Z1 are available for immediate order through authorized Meraki resellers, at list prices of $845, and $195, respectively. The software update, including Bonjour Gateway and the enhanced Traffic Shaper will be available at no cost for MX security appliances in October 2012 and MR wireless access points in late fall 2012. More information about the MX line can be found atwww.meraki.com/mx.

Meraki Press Releases

Solved IT scores goal with PFA - 05 Oct 2012 - CRN UK News

Premiership footballers will be among the beneficiaries of a new wireless LAN solution at the offices of the Professional Footballers Association (PFA) rolled out by VAR Solved IT.

Solved IT completed the deployment of a Meraki Cloud Managed Solution for the body in August. It is designed to allow staff using company-issued BlackBerry PlayBooks and bringing their own devices to connect securely to PFA data.

PFA guests, including professional footballers and dignitaries, can also gain secure public access via the connection.

Read more: http://www.channelweb.co.uk/crn-uk/news/2214830/solved-it-scores-goal-with-pfa#ixzz28PtNKOTw
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Solved IT scores goal with PFA - 05 Oct 2012 - CRN UK News