Cloud for the board. Netgear introduces Business Central service IT platform for wireless network management

New York – July 1, 2015- Netgear®, Inc., a global provider of networking solutions for businesses, home users and Internet service providers, has introduced a secure cloud-based IT service platform with the brand name Business Central. The platform is designed to provide businesses with an affordable tool to install and manage basic network services and network devices. The first service module introduced as part of the Business Central project is Business Central Wireless Network Manager, which allows companies of all types to centrally manage the entire enterprise network, regardless of countries, cities, buildings and floors, at any time and from anywhere in the world, securely through the cloud.

Free 90-day trial of Business Central’s Wireless Network Manager, the first service module to securely manage multiple access points across the cloud.

As a Software-as-a-Service SaaS platform, Business Central provides an Enterprise-class service with advanced client load balancing and redundancy to ensure maximum uptime and minimize costs. Business Central Wireless Network Manager is a new way to provide managed WiFi to growing businesses that want to economically and centrally manage one or more Netgear ProSAFE® wireless access points in a single building, or hundreds or thousands of access points in many different locations. For chain stores, coffee shops, small offices, branch offices and restaurant chains, alternatives to this solution include deploying a network of standalone access points without central management, or using wireless hardware controllers that have a limit on the number of points served.

“Using multiple standalone access points is no longer an option, as constantly reconfiguring the network is a routine process. At the same time, for some organizations, moving to a managed wireless LAN can be overly costly and complicated for both IT budgets and IT resources,” said Peter Newton, senior director of product management for Netgear’s commercial business unit.

It adds:

“What’s needed is an intermediate solution between individual access points and a hardware controller, where flexibility, scalability and ease of use are benchmarked and – more importantly – affordable. For small and large enterprises, with single or multiple offices, our Business Central Wireless Manager maximizes ROI and is the optimal tool for easy and cost effective centralized management of the WiFi network. It’s a powerful solution for both customer deployments and reseller use. Resellers and their customers can test the new solution with a free 90-day trial.

Effortless, cloud-based networking for resellers and their customers

With Business Central’s Wireless Manager all network management is done remotely through a simple web browser. Because the management function is hosted on the network, it eliminates all the operational administration tasks inherent in a controller with a traditional architecture – no more purchasing, upgrades, maintenance, service and repair of hardware.Using the single, comprehensive portal dashboard and easy-to-use configuration wizard provided by Business Central Wireless Network Manager, an IT manager at a reseller or systems integrator can assemble multiple offices, access points and users into one manageable node within minutes. In just a few clicks, you can easily set up wireless SSID management, configure network security settings, control free and paid guest and private network access, and create bandwidth usage reports. Leveraging Netgear’s best-in-class experience in creating products for users, the Business Central Wireless Manager gives IT administrators a simple and straightforward tool to monitor the network and control emerging maintenance tasks in real time.

While Business Central Wireless Manager is designed for end-customer self-deployment, it extends the product range available to resellers and system integrators. New product allows to offer customers managed WiFi solutions not only based on hardware controllers located at customer premises, but also via the cloud as a trusted management service for those companies who do not have the desire or IT expertise to manage the network themselves. Business Central’s Wireless Manager requires no hardware installation at the customer’s office and is a Pay-as-you-grow model.

Explosive growth in demand for wireless networks

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Our research shows that the number of devices connected to SMB and Enterprise networks is expected to grow by 20% from 2014 to 2016, driven by growth in the number of users, more devices per user and new usage patterns such as Machine-to-Machine M2M communications and the Internet of Things IoT ,” notes Matthias Machowinski, director of enterprise network research at IHS Infonetics

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. “Three out of every four devices will be connected to a wireless network, meaning that reliable wireless connectivity is becoming a must-have standard for businesses looking to benefit from new capabilities and mobility in their business processes.”.

Shopping centers offering free and paid WiFi access to owners and visitors, a restaurant owner with multiple franchises and multiple access points in each location, a group of community centers – large numbers of devices, users, traffic and competitive connections are putting a heavy burden on growing wireless networks. You need to know for sure what’s connected to the network, where the customer is, at what point in the network traffic is congested and how much bandwidth is being used.

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“Every Sunday, NewHopeChurch’s wireless network is exposed to hundreds of additional clients connecting to WiFi,” says Kyle Larson, IT Director of New Hope Church in Houston, Texas

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, with multiple branch offices. “A flexible cloud-based solution such as Netgear’s Business Central Wireless Network Manager is a great option because of its simple authorization portal, maximum uptime and easy scalability. We also appreciated this product’s cost-effective “Pay-as-you-grow” licensing model.

Manage your Netgear access points

Business Central Wireless Manager provides centralized control and comprehensive monitoring of all wireless access points and clients directly via the cloud. The platform supports the following Netgear access points:

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ProSAFE® Wireless-N Dual-Band Concurrent Premium Access Point WNDAP660

– ProSAFE Wireless-N Dual Band Concurrent Access Point WNDAP360

– ProSAFE Wireless-N Dual Band Concurrent Access Point WNDAP350

– ProSAFE Wireless-N Single Band Access Point WNAP320

– ProSAFE Wireless-N Single Band Access Point WNAP210v2

Depending on the purchase date of the access point, you may need to update your firmware to work in the cloud. Firmware is available for download from Netgear’s support site, free of charge.

Pricing and Availability

Business Central Netgear Wireless Manager is already available for order worldwide through authorized Netgear partners and other resellers. Product available in several license packages. Since the final price to end customers may vary depending on reseller and offer package, individual recommended retail prices in the U.S. are outlined below:

• 1 Access Point for 12 months WM1AP1YL-10000S = $99 USD

• 1 Access Point for 36 months WM1AP3YL-10000S = $223 USD

• 10 Access Points for 12 Months WM10AP1YL-10000S = $990 USD

• 10 Access Points for 36 months WM10AP3YL-10000S = $2,228 USD

• 50 Access Points for 12 months WM50AP1YL-10000S = $4,950 USD

• 50 Access Points for 36 months WM50AP3YL-10000S = $11,138 USD

Business Central Wireless Manager includes a 90-day free trial period for resellers and their customers.