For those who attended the keynote address from Xirrus’ Perry Correll at last week’s ITEXPO East 2012, there was one clear message that resonated with all of us: It’s time to start planning for the “WiFi (News - Alert) revolution.” Looking to the future of wireless, Correll emphasized that eventually there will be a need for high-performance, scalable and reliable wireless connectivity to accommodate for increasing mobility and device intensity.

According to Correll, because wireless traffic over mobile devices continues to rise, a “wireless tipping point” is not far off in the future. Even more, Gartner (News - Alert) predicted last year that, in only a few years, a majority of newly installed wireless networks – approximately 80 percent – will be “obsolete because of lack of proper planning.”

It’s clear that many managed network services companies are heeding this warning, as they intensify their services to support today’s Wi-Fi infrastructures. Today, iPass (News - Alert) – a provider of managed network services specifically for the North American enterprise and retail space – has launched a managed Wi-Fi service that combines its iPass Managed Network Services platform with its mobility proficiency.

Enterprises, financial institutions and retailers that deploy the service will receive a completely integrated Wi-Fi experience for their customers and employees, as the complexity and daily network infrastructure operations are handled entirely by the iPass Managed Network Services platform.

“iPass MNS has strong domain expertise in providing and managing wide area network services for the last 15 years. Expanding our platform to include managed Wi-Fi services is a logical extension of what we do best, and leveraging our company's leading mobility expertise is a significant advantage for our customers,” said Chris Linden, vice president and general manager of iPass MNS, in a prepared statement. “The wireless connectivity value impact for our customers continues to intensify with the rapid increase in Wi-Fi devices used both by consumers and employees. iPass MNS delivers a scalable wireless platform, a fully-managed deployment, and optimal enterprise-grade WAN integration for a seamless wireless experience that addresses the demand for Wi-Fi alongside the 'peace-of-mind' needed for real manageability.”

The iPass Managed Network Services platform has one primary goal in mind for the 20,000 retail, financial and business locations it currently supports in North America: to lessen the burden of costs and business requirements, while promising a better wireless experience and better productivity among employees. To do so, the iPass solution designs, integrates, deploys and operates the entire WLAN topology so businesses, system integrators and service providers can expand their WLAN business mobility strategy, without having to increase in-house support. 

“It's critical that businesses deploy Wi-Fi connectivity if they want to increase the productivity and experience of their employees and customers,” said Sue Rudd, director of Service Provider Analysis at Strategy Analytics (News - Alert). “A managed WLAN service offering provides an efficient answer for businesses that do not have in-house expertise or require complex deployments; hardware acquisition is one thing, but implementation, integration, and management is quite another.”

Tammy Wolf is a TMCnet web editor. She covers a wide range of topics, including IP communications and information technology. To read more of her articles, please visit her columnist page.

Edited by Jennifer Russell