SUNNYVALE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aruba Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARUN) today announced that Clinton Cards, the largest specialist retailer of greetings cards, plush merchandise (soft toys) and related products in the UK, has deployed a wireless network based on the Aruba Mobile Virtual Enterprise (MOVE) architecture to ease and speed its stores time-to-market and drive inventory control processes. Clinton Cards has deployed the Aruba Virtual Branch Networking (VBN) solution to all of its retail outlets, and has its headquarters outfitted with an Aruba wireless network as well.
Clinton Cards is based in Loughton Essex UK, with between 8,000 and 10,000 employees (with seasonal variations). The stores range widely in size, from a typical 1,900 square-foot shop to more than 50 stores that each trade in approximately 4,000 square feet. With about 650 Clinton Cards branded stores and more than 170 Birthdays branded stores, inventory control is a top priority. Moving away from a manual to an automated stock management system has allowed the company to reduce excess stock in its stores, ensure tighter control of stocking and reduce the amount of time taken in stock checking. The deployment of a wireless network at each of its remote stores supporting the stock management system has given Clinton Cards improved visibility into its business.
“We find that the Aruba VBN solution is very easy to install and use. With 810 stores, none of which have independent IT departments, that simplicity of deployment is critical,” said Chris Hill, Head of IT Engineering at Clinton Cards. “It does not require extensive infrastructure at remote retail stores, and is easy for shop fitters to install without any specific technical skill. It gives us excellent coverage even at 2.4Ghz, with the signal penetrating several floors even in the larger stores. Critically, should the WAN fail, Aruba VBN provides automatic WPA2-PSK backup, which allows us to continue local survivability.”
Aruba VBN leverages a family of compact and affordable Remote Access Points (RAPs) to handle wide-area network (WAN) access, IPSec tunneling, firewall policy enforcement, and other functions that have traditionally required expensive appliances and costly WAN links. Clinton Cards deploys products from the Aruba VBN portfolio in each location, where a single access point connects a Psion handheld scanner back to a local server. The server then uploads stock data back to the corporate headquarters over an aDSL line. The corporate headquarters hosts two Aruba 3000 series controllers in a master-local configuration.
“Innovative retailers like Clinton Cards are optimizing their current process and laying a solid foundation for the advanced mobile applications with voice and video that they will be using in the future,” said Chris Kozup, senior director of marketing for Aruba Networks. “While inventory control is the current driver, the mobile network that Clinton Cards has installed could serve as the basis for everything from voice over IP to in-store customer engagement in the future.”
About Aruba Networks, Inc.
Aruba Networks is a leading provider of next-generation network access solutions for the mobile enterprise. The company’s Mobile Virtual Enterprise (MOVE) architecture unifies wired and wireless network infrastructures into one seamless access solution for corporate headquarters, mobile business professionals, remote workers and guests. This unified approach to access networks dramatically improves productivity and lowers capital and operational costs.
Listed on the NASDAQ and Russell 2000® Index, Aruba is based in Sunnyvale, California, and has operations throughout the Americas, Europe, Middle East, and Asia Pacific regions. To learn more, visit Aruba at http://www.arubanetworks.com. For real-time news updates follow Aruba on Twitter and Facebook.
© 2011 Aruba Networks, Inc. Aruba Networks’ trademarks include the design mark for AirWave, Aruba Networks®, Aruba Wireless Networks®, the registered Aruba the Mobile Edge Company logo, the registered AirWave logo, Aruba Mobility Management System®, Mobile Edge Architecture®, People Move. Networks Must Follow®, RFProtect®, Green Island®. All rights reserved. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.