Enterprise LAN (local area network) providers are a critical part of any business infrastructure. The best providers offer the reliability, security, and scalability businesses need to keep their operations running smoothly.
What is Enterprise LAN?
Enterprise LAN is a local area network designed for use in a corporate setting. Enterprise LANs are typically much larger and more complex than home or small office LANs, and they often feature a wide range of advanced features such as voice over IP (VoIP) and video conferencing.
Enterprise LANs are also typically built using high-end networking equipment designed to provide reliability and performance. In many cases, enterprise LANs are also connected to wide area networks (WANs), allowing employees to access resources outside of the office.
In addition, enterprise-level providers often have redundant network infrastructure in place to ensure their clients always have access to a reliable connection.
Finally, enterprise LAN providers often have extensive experience working with large businesses, so they can offer a range of specialized features and services.
Overall, enterprise LAN providers offer a comprehensive and reliable solution for businesses that require a high-performance network.
How to Select an Enterprise LAN
When it comes to top enterprise LAN providers, there are a few key criteria to consider.
- Well-Entrenched in the Market: This ensures the provider has the experience and resources necessary to meet the needs of even the largest businesses.
- Proven Ability to Scale: This is essential for businesses that are rapidly growing or that have fluctuating demands.
- Innovations: This includes both new products and improvements to existing offerings.
- Customer and Partner Support: This ensures that businesses can get the help they need when they need it.
Based on these criteria, the following companies are the best enterprise LAN providers in the market today.
Best Enterprise LAN Companies
- Extreme Networks
- Juniper Networks
- Cisco
- Hewlett Packard Enterprise
- Ubiquiti
- Huawei
- Fortinet
- Arista
- VMware
- Nokia Networks
Extreme Networks
Extreme Networks is a market leader in enterprise LAN solutions. The company has more than 25 years of experience, having been in business since 1996, and offers a comprehensive portfolio of products that includes switches, routers, wireless LAN, and security solutions. The company made it to the 2021 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Enterprise Wired and Wireless LAN Infrastructure.
Performance on key assessment criteria
- Entrenchment: Extreme Networks employs over 2,500 staff. It has a global presence on five continents and over 20 countries.
- Ability to Scale: The company’s enterprise LAN solutions are designed to help companies scale their networks seamlessly and efficiently without compromising security or performance. In addition, its enterprise LAN solutions are highly scalable and can be easily expanded to meet future growth needs.
- Innovations: Enterprise LANs are vulnerable to security threats like Bluetooth intrusion and Wi-Fi hacking. To address these threats, Extreme Networks is one of the first vendors to provide a single system that includes both Bluetooth intrusion prevention and Wi-Fi security. In addition, Extreme Networks offers sophisticated cloud and analytics solutions to optimize network deployments.
- Customer Support: The Extreme Academy offers a range of training and certification programs to help customers get the most out of their Extreme Networks investment.
- Partner Support: The company has an extensive partner network that provides support and expertise in areas such as data centers, cloud, security, analytics, communications, and Internet of Things (IoT).
Juniper Networks
Juniper Networks is a leading provider of enterprise LAN infrastructure solutions. Its products and services include cloud services, data center networking, switches, Junos network operating system, Paragon automation, routers, SDN (software-defined networking) and orchestration, security, software, and wireless access points.
Juniper has been widely recognized for its innovative products and services. In 2021, Gartner named it the furthest in Vision and Highest in Execution in the Enterprise Wired & Wireless LAN Infrastructure Magic Quadrant.
Performance on key assessment criteria
- Entrenchment: Juniper Networks was founded in 1996 and is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California. The company has over 10,400 employees and operates in more than 50 countries.
- Ability to Scale: Juniper’s LAN solutions are designed to meet the needs of businesses of all sizes. The company offers a variety of products that are customizable to fit each customer’s specific needs. In addition, Juniper’s LAN solutions are highly scalable and can be easily expanded to meet future growth.
- Innovations: Juniper’s LAN solutions offer several innovative features that make them stand out in the enterprise market. Juniper’s access points, for example, are designed to work in tandem with the Juniper Mist Cloud Architecture and Mist AI. Collecting and analyzing metadata from all wireless clients in near-real time allows Juniper to provide a more comprehensive picture of network activity and identify issues before they cause problems, offering enterprise solutions that cover a wide range of devices and protocols.
- Customer Support: Juniper offers a variety of customer support options, including online chat, phone support, knowledge base, tech library, and a vibrant user community.
- Partner Support: Juniper has an extensive partner network that provides support and expertise in areas such as network as a service (NaaS), AIOps (artificial intelligence for IT operations), automation, security, and more.
Cisco
Cisco is one of the largest networking companies in the world, and it offers its customers a wide range of products and services. One of its most popular offerings is Cisco Meraki, a cloud-based solution that makes it easy to deploy and manage enterprise WAPs (wireless application protocols). Cisco Meraki has been named a leader in Enterprise LAN by G2.
Gartner has recognized the company as one of the top supply chain companies for three years in a row. Thanks to its robust feature set and commitment to customer satisfaction, Cisco is well-positioned to continue its growth in the enterprise market.
Performance on key assessment criteria
- Entrenchment: Cisco was founded in 1984 and is headquartered in San Jose, California. The company has over 79,500 employees and more than 200 corporate offices in over 80 countries.
- Ability to Scale: Cisco’s enterprise LAN solutions are designed to meet the needs of businesses of all sizes. The company offers a variety of products that can be customized and are highly scalable to fit each customer’s specific needs.
- Innovations: Cisco’s LAN solutions offer several innovative features that make them stand out in the enterprise market. For example, the company’s access points are designed to work with the Cisco DNA Center, which allows for centralized management and control of the network. In addition, Cisco’s LAN solutions offer support for a wide range of devices and protocols, making them well-suited for enterprise deployments.
- Customer Support: Cisco offers a variety of customer support options, including online chat, phone support, a knowledge base, and a user community.
- Partner Support: Cisco has an extensive partner network that works to integrate, build, buy, and consult on solutions, software, and services.
Hewlett Packard Enterprise
Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) was once a division of HP. In 2015, HPE was created to continue the legacy of HP, which dates back to 1939. HPE is a global technology leader with a broad portfolio of software, hardware, and services solutions.
Services offered by HPE include unified infrastructure, edge-to-cloud security, and AIOps. In addition, HPE has been named a Leader in the 2021 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Wired and Wireless LAN Access Infrastructure.
Performance on key assessment criteria
- Entrenchment: HPE was spun off of HP in 2015 and is headquartered in San Jose, California. It acquired Aruba Networks in the same year in a $3 billion deal that boosted its share of the wireless networking business. The company has over 13,600 employees and operates in over 45 countries.
- Ability to Scale: HPE’s easy-to-use solutions provide businesses with the ability to see and manage all domains with ease. Additionally, IT operations can be vastly improved by using a cloud-based system that offers WLAN, LAN, and SD-WAN capabilities in one place for all locations, including branches, remote worker sites, and data centers.
- Innovations: With extensive IoT, AI, containerization, hyper-converged infrastructure, and hybrid work environments in mind, it’s purpose-built for edge-to-cloud connectivity. The LAN portfolio is made up of high-density, low-power access points with strong security features.
- Customer Support: HPE offers support to its customers through an online portal and training center.
- Partner Support: Ezmeral Marketplace is a cloud-based central point to explore, learn, engage, and deploy with HPE technology partners and open-source projects.
Ubiquiti
Founded in 2005, Ubiquiti is a technology company that offers enterprise LAN solutions. To provide high-capacity distributed internet access and IT management integration, the firm’s solutions are built on UNMS (Ubiquiti Network Management System) and UniFi software platforms.
Ubiquiti’s products are used by enterprise customers worldwide, including Fortune 500 companies, government agencies, and educational institutions.
Performance on key assessment criteria
- Entrenchment: Ubiquiti was founded in 2003 and is headquartered in New York. It has over 1,000 employees and has networking infrastructure in over 200 countries.
- Ability to Scale: Ubiquiti’s LAN solutions are designed to be highly scalable, with the ability to support thousands of users. The company’s products are based on UNMS and UniFi software platforms, each of which offers high-capacity distributed internet access as well as unified information technology management.
- Innovations: Ubiquiti’s LAN solutions offer a number of innovative features, including the ability to support multiple SSIDs (service set ID), VLANs (virtual LAN), and VPNs. Additionally, the company’s Access Points are designed for easy deployment and management.
- Customer Support: Ubiquiti offers customer support through an online help center, user community, and design center.
- Partner Support: Ubiquiti has a large network of technology partners spread out globally that it works with to provide enterprise LAN solutions.
Huawei
Huawei is a Chinese multinational technology company that provides LAN solutions to enterprise customers. The company’s products are used by over three billion people in 170 countries, and its LAN products are available in over 50 markets. Huawei has partnerships with over 500 carriers and 400,000 enterprises worldwide.
Performance on key assessment criteria
- Entrenchment: Huawei was founded in 1987 and is headquartered in Shenzhen, China. It has over 195,000 employees and operates in over 170 countries.
- Ability to Scale: The company has a wide range of LAN solutions designed to be highly scalable and suitable for large enterprise deployments.
- Innovations: Huawei’s CloudEngine S12700E Series Switches are perfect for campus network solutions. They offer high-performance, scalable switching for enterprise LANs. For data center network solutions, Huawei’s CloudEngine 16800 Series Data Center Switches Star is an excellent option, offering fast, reliable switching for enterprise data centers. And for wireless LAN solutions, Huawei’s Wi-Fi 6 Advanced Star and AirEngine 8760-X1-PRO Access Point are top of the line. In addition, Huawei’s HiSec Advanced Threat Defense Security Solution is perfect for enterprise network security.
- Customer Support: The company offers fairly good local support in all territories where it operates, directly or through partnerships. Huawei also has a vibrant online user community.
- Partner Support: Huawei has an extensive partner network, with thousands of technology partners all over the globe. The company works with its partners to provide LAN solutions to enterprise customers.
Fortinet
Fortinet is a global leader in LAN security. The company’s products are used by over three million customers worldwide, including some of the largest enterprises, service providers, and government organizations. Fortinet is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California.
Performance on key assessment criteria
- Entrenchment: Fortinet was founded in 2000, has over 11,500 employees, and operates in over 190 countries. Through a series of strategic acquisitions, the company has established itself as a leader in the network threat management market. In addition, the company has over 1,279 issued patents with another 247 pending.
- Ability to Scale: Fortinet offers a variety of network equipment, systems, and security solutions that can be deployed across multiple locations and managed through cloud-based controls.
- Innovations: Fortinet is a world leader in innovative enterprise LAN security solutions. Its patent portfolio is a testament to the company’s commitment to research and development, and its products are used by some of the largest organizations in the world. Fortinet’s products are constantly evolving to stay ahead of the latest threats.
- Customer Support: The company offers customer support through an online breach reporting portal, a Product Demo Center, a Documents Library, a user community, an Answers portal, and chat and phone support.
- Partner Support: Fortinet has a large network of technology partners spread out globally that it works with to provide enterprise LAN solutions.
Arista
Arista is a leading provider of LAN solutions. Arista offers a wide range of LAN products, including switches, routers, and security solutions. In 2020, Arista was recognized as a leader in The Forrester Wave. The company is headquartered in Santa Clara, California.
Performance on key assessment criteria
- Entrenchment: Arista was founded in 2004 and has over 2,900 employees. The company has an office presence in over seven countries.
- Ability to Scale: Arista’s open architecture provides scaled solutions for any size enterprise, from mid-sized to large deployments.
- Innovations: Arista offers a number of LAN innovations, including one of the industry’s first 100GbE (gigabit Ethernet) switches. The company also offers a variety of other high-performance switches, routers, and security solutions.
- Customer Support: The company provides customer support through an online knowledge base, a user community, and phone and chat support.
- Partner Support: Arista has teamed up with Microsoft, Splunk, and VMware to help deliver cutting-edge technology solutions.
VMware
Launched in 1998, VMware’s products and solutions are used by thousands of enterprise LAN customers worldwide, including some of the largest enterprises, service providers, and government organizations. VMware is headquartered in Palo Alto, California.
Performance on key assessment criteria
- Entrenchment: VMware was founded in 1998 and has over 37,500 employees. The company operates in over 35 countries. VMware is currently a subsidiary of Dell Technologies but is set to be acquired by Broadcom in a $61 billion deal.
- Ability to Scale: From enterprise mobility management to cloud computing, Vmware has the tools and services that can help a company meet its expanding needs.
- Innovations: VMware pioneered virtualization products and solutions over two decades ago. It distinguishes itself as an industry leader by supporting multicloud environments, virtual cloud networking, and other digital business solutions.
- Customer Support: VMware enterprise LAN support centers are staffed with customer support representatives who are knowledgeable about enterprise products and services. The customer welcome center is the first stop for enterprise customers seeking support. Customer Connect is a customer portal where enterprise customers can log in to view their support contracts, submit and track service requests, chat with support engineers, and search the knowledge base. Skyline is a technical support platform that provides enterprise customers with proactive and predictive analytics. Support offerings include phone and email support, online training, and onsite support.
- Partner Support: With thousands of partners worldwide, VMware is well positioned to help customers scale their business, drive innovation, and transform their customer experience.
Nokia Networks
Nokia Networks is a Finnish multinational telecommunications, information technology, and networking company. It was founded in 2006 as a joint venture between Finnish Nokia and German Siemens. In 2013, it was wholly acquired by Nokia and renamed Nokia Networks. The company is headquartered in Espoo, Finland, and has operations worldwide.
Nokia offers a wide range of products and services for enterprise LAN, mobile network infrastructure, and optical networking. In addition, Nokia Networks also provides consulting and support services to its customers. In recent years, the company has been investing heavily in research and development, with a focus on 5G technology.
Performance on key assessment criteria
- Entrenchment: Nokia Networks operates worldwide and currently employs over 150,000 staff. Through a series of strategic acquisitions, such as the 2016 takeover of Alcatel Lucent, the company has cemented its place as a leading enterprise LAN provider.
- Ability to Scale: Nokia Networks can help enterprise LAN customers scale their networks with products like Nokia AirScale, a 5G radio, and a baseband solution.
- Innovations: Nokia Networks has been at the forefront of innovation in the enterprise LAN space. Its products and solutions are used by over two-thirds of the world’s mobile operators. The company has also been investing heavily in research and development, with a focus on the development of new technologies like quantum computing and artificial intelligence.
- Customer Support: Nokia Networks provides customer support through a network of regional customer care centers. Customer service representatives are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The company also offers online support and training resources.
- Partner Support: Nokia Networks has a global partner network of over 500 companies. Partners have access to a wide range of resources, including sales and marketing support, technical training, and product development assistance.
The post Top Enterprise LAN Providers appeared first on Enterprise Networking Planet.
