Aruba and Meru Top New 802.11n Vendor Matrix Ranking

(Business News & Technology News, 27 Jun 2008)

Aruba Networks and Meru Networks tied for first place as the leading 802.11n Wi-Fi equipment vendors, while Motorola claimed the second spot, at the latest Vendor Matrix released by ABI Research.

The Vendor Matrix is an analytical tool developed by ABI Research to provide a clear understanding of vendors' positions in specific markets, measuring the dual parameters of Innovation and Implementation.

"Aruba earned high marks for its flexible architecture, adaptive radio management, and management tools," says Vice President and Research Director Stan Schatt. "Meru's mature products scored well in value-add features, many being a direct result of its unique architecture. These two vendors have shown major strength in the early adopter verticals of higher education and healthcare. Motorola emerged as the winner in Innovation, showing an 802.11n product portfolio with myriad inventive features."

Although Aruba, Meru and Motorola topped these rankings, several other companies are hot on their heels in particular respects. These include Cisco, which has done the best job of identifying key vertical market segments and then assembling partners in each key vertical; Trapeze, which edges out its competitors with respect to resilience and high availability; and Colubris, which offers the most compelling 802.11n value proposition when balancing features against the actual cost of the products.

For this particular matrix, under "innovation", ABI Research examined products' video handling, resilience and scalability, as well as the companies¡¯ antenna offerings, and the benefits of their system architectures.

Under "implementation", ABI Research scrutinized the following criteria: channels and early deployments, the products' value proposition, their add-on features, the breadth of the product range, the firms' migration strategy, and their planning and management tools.

Click here view a list of the top 10 firms in this Vendor Matrix