'Wi-Fi Has Transcended Vertical Markets To Go Mainstream'

Ruckus Wireless is a relatively new company having started its operations in 2004. The company, however, has been growing and claims to provide a high-end wireless experience for enterprises today.

As opposed to the competition, the wireless solution provider is looking to reach deep within the enterprise with its solutions, which it claims are unique to the Wi-Fi market.

In a one-on-one with Biztech2, Sudarshan Boosupalli, country head, Ruckus Wireless, speaks about the company, the kind of penetration it has achieved within enterprises, and its plans for the sub-continent.

Could you brief us about Ruckus Wireless?

Ruckus Wireless is a technology innovation company focused on making Wi-Fi more reliable by transforming it from a technology of convenience into a ubiquitous utility. The company was formed in 2004 by two engineers and established itself early as the only supplier able to support streaming multicast IP-based video (i.e. IPTV) over standard Wi-Fi. Since then, the company has sold over one million Wi-Fi systems to carriers around the world and has now moved into the enterprise WLAN space.

How has the wireless networking arena evolved since Ruckus set up office in 2004?

Wi-Fi has clearly evolved to become the most pervasive and economic wireless connectivity mechanism of its kind today. Within this year i.e. 2008, over 170 million Wi-Fi enabled devices will be sold world over. As a result, expectations surrounding the technology have increased dramatically. This has driven the industry, regulatory bodies and suppliers to look at new ways to increase the speed, reliability and range of the technology. Advances in capacity through new techniques such as spatial multiplexing and the use of simultaneous Wi-Fi radios along with innovations in dynamic RF signal routing are driving the technology to new levels.

What are some of the upcoming areas that are most likely to utilise wireless solutions?

Wi-Fi technology is now so pervasive that it transcends vertical markets. It has become a mainstream technology that is being deployed horizontally across almost every industry. Having said that, we see a major need for Wi-Fi within markets where it is a ‘must have’ and not merely a ’nice to have’ solution. These include sectors such as hospitality, healthcare, education and retail – where business relies on reliable mobile connectivity.

What kind of value would you add to an enterprise that is using your wireless solution?

Our Wi-Fi system delivers almost two to four times the signal range as compared to conventional Wi-Fi solutions. This means fewer Access Points are required to cover a given area. More importantly, the Ruckus Smart Wi-Fi system is programmed to select the best path for every Wi-Fi transmission to a given client. This translates into being able to dynamically steer signals around interference and obstacles that cause packet loss and retransmissions. The result is better performance at range for lesser money.

What are some of the biggest pain points when it comes to establishing a wireless infrastructure, especially in a country like India?

Often, one of the biggest pain points is lack of a pervasive Ethernet infrastructure. For most Wi-Fi systems, every access point must be connected to an Ethernet network. This requires costly and cumbersome cabling. We offer a unique solution with smart mesh networking: the ability to deploy APs without having to plug each of them into a cable. Enterprises can now merely locate a power source, plug the AP in, and the system automatically self-forms and optimises without human intervention. Another big problem is site surveys to determine AP placement. These demands can take up time and can cost a lot too. And once they are met, if anything changes, they must be reworked.

How strong is the security threat when it comes to wireless networks? How can you help in mitigating this threat?

Security is always an issue with respect to wireless networks of any kind. Like many vendors, Ruckus supports state-of-the-art wireless (link layer) encryption, such as WPA-AES, as well as authentication. Scrambling data and authenticating users satisfies 90 percent of enterprise security requirements.

Our systems have the ability to blacklist misbehaving clients, to prevent peer-to-peer interactions and to detect unauthorised (‘rogue’) access points that have been installed on the corporate network.

Could you elaborate your product strategy for the Indian sub-continent?

Given the current world economic situation, enterprises are, more than ever, interested in solutions that deliver more features at less cost – as well as systems that are easier to configure and deploy.

Our product strategy is to deliver an enterprise-class solution that offers 90 percent of the capabilities of any alternative high-end system (eg Cisco) at a fraction of the cost. Our product strategy is focused on delivering next generation 802.11n systems (both indoors and outdoors) that are centrally managed, remotely controlled and deliver both speed and reliability. This strategy includes selling products to service providers, offering managed WLAN services to enterprises as well as distribution through major channels (such as Dell) that sell wireless LAN products to small and medium-sized enterprises. This strategy includes a key focus on latency-sensitive applications that other systems aren’t able to adequately support, such as voice and video.

With India specifically, we plan to double our revenue annually within the region (if not more).

Could you highlight a few trends that you see coming up in the wireless space?

Support for IP-based video applications will only become more important as video technology becomes cheaper and more pervasive. The trend towards more robust Wi-Fi systems that can support sophisticated applications like this is here to stay.

The deployment of Wi-Fi in ‘SmartSpots’ is also another strong trend. SmartSpots are hotspots that support multimedia with advanced technology that makes them easier to deploy and automatically manage.

Finally, the trend toward higher-speed Wi-Fi along with the ability to deploy Wi-Fi access points without Ethernet cabling (i.e. meshed) has tremendous appeal in the growing market.