Get Your Wi-Fi Ready for Mobile

Applications: Top 10
Considerations for WLAN





October 2012



Prepared by:
Zeus Kerravala


Get Your Wi-Fi Ready for Mobile Applications: Top 10 Considerations for WLAN 2


2012 ZK Research
Influence and insight through social media




ZK Research
A Division of Kerravala
Consulting











zeus@zkresearch.com

Cell: 301-775-7447
Office: 978-252-5314











Influence and insight
through social media
Get Your Wi-Fi Ready for Mobile Applications: Top 10
Considerations for WLAN
by Zeus Kerravala
October 2012

Introduction
The IT landscape has changed significantly over the past five years. In many
ways, the exception is now the norm. Nowhere is this truer than in client
computing. Mobile computing dominates the workplace and promises to bring
orders of magnitude more devices into the workplace (see Exhibit 1).
Exhibit 1: The Impact of Mobile Computing

Source: ZK Research, 2012
The shift to mobile computing continues, with these trends in the lead:
Bring your own device (BYOD) is a reality: IT fought this for years, but
the BYOD wave is almost unstoppable now. ZK Research finds a staggering
82 percent of organizations have a BYOD plan underway.
Mobile devices are the norm: As computing changes, workers look to
mobile devices first. Exhibit 2 (below) shows the penetration of mobile and
traditional compute devices. While fewer workers consider desktops their
primary work device, more and more workers choose a mobile-first strategy.
Tablets, in particular, have grown significantly in the workplace. In 2009 only
2 percent of workers considered a tablet a primary work tool. Our study
estimates 34 percent of workers will, by the end of 2013.
The nature of applications is changing: Applications are now uniquely
mobile. They understand user identity and location, and can make
predictions. A mobile device is not just a better option, but may be the only
option for many workers.
Get Your Wi-Fi Ready for Mobile Applications: Top 10 Considerations for WLAN 3

2012 ZK Research
Influence and insight through social media
Exhibit 2: Mobile devices are on the rise:
Percent of workers that use a device as a primary work tool

Source: ZK Research, 2012
The density of mobile devices continues to
grow at an unparalleled rate: Just a few years
ago the number of IP-enabled devices per
worker was one-to-one. Today that ratio has
grown to three-to-one, and ZK Research
estimates this will increase to seven-to-one by
2016. ZK Research shows 11.8 million tablets
were shipped in the U.S. in 2011. Tablet sales
will quadruple to 45 million by the end of 2016.
Application control is increasingly
important: With BYOD now mainstream, and
as the number of devices per person shot up
300 percent over the past few years, its
important IT understands which users are using
what applications on particular devices.
The network is strategic: Mobile computing
requires a network-centric computing model.
Organizations will spend millions of dollars
developing mobile applications and supporting
mobile workers. However, any ROI is
eliminated if the network is not ready to support
the increased traffic and density of devices.
The biggest change to the network will occur on the
wireless network. Wireless LAN is currently
deployed as an augmentation to the primary wired
network. The mobile computing era dictates that the
wireless network will become the primary network.
To prepare for the onslaught of mobile applications,
IT leaders must evolve the Wi-Fi network.

Section II: Top 10 WLAN Considerations
Preparing the Wi-Fi network for the growing number
of mobile applications requires more than just a
simple upgrade of the network. Below are the top 10
things IT departments must consider to prepare for
the migration to mobile computing:
1. Focus on user experience: Historically the
wireless network is built on the principle of best
effort. However, good enough networks are
no longer good enough. The wireless network
must provide a high quality, consistent user
experience by automatically recognizing
applications and prioritizing real-time traffic
over other traffic.

The mobile computing era
dictates that the wireless
network will become the
primary network.
Get Your Wi-Fi Ready for Mobile Applications: Top 10 Considerations for WLAN 4

2012 ZK Research
Influence and insight through social media
2. Network visibility: Before embarking on a
wide scale mobile application initiative, its
critical IT departments truly know their network.
This means a strong understanding of what
applications are currently running on the
network, and what the top bandwidth-
consuming applications are and what their
behavior looks like over time. This is critical as
network engineers try to decide when and how
to scale their Wi-Fi infrastructure. .
3. Application awareness: Different applications
respond to the network in various ways. The
network needs to be application-aware and
optimize the performance of mainstream
business applications such as Microsoft Lync
and Citrix VDI. This requires a deep
understanding of application protocols.
Additionally, the wireless network should
support other popular network protocols such
as Apples Bonjour. Apple is gaining significant
traction in companies today and the use of
AirPrint and AirPlay is now mainstream.
4. Application control is a must: Its critical that
the network be able to distinguish between
personal and corporate applications on the
same mobile device, and treat them differently
on the company network. For example,
companies should have the ability to distinguish
and retain personal contacts and data while
wiping out corporate data if the device is lost or
stolen. Additionally, the network should provide
better quality of service (QoS) for corporate
applications such as unified communications
(UC) and storage, while restricting bandwidth or
completely limiting access for personal
applications such as YouTube and Netflix.
5. Ability to handle always-on mobile apps:
Most mobile apps are powered by the cloud
and are not on-demand anymore. They start
interacting with the network when they deem
necessary. Box, iCloud, Dropbox and other
cloud-based applications require continuous
connectivity and can be bandwidth intensive.
This further drives the need to reserve valuable
airtime for business-critical applications and
apply them the right set of QoS policies.
6. Self-service capabilities: IT operations costs
continue to escalate. In fact, 83 percent of the
IT budget is used to maintain the current
operating environment. Keeping operational
costs low means empowering users and guests
to safely on-board their own devices.
7. Extensibility of the network: Bandwidth
usage and the number of wireless-only devices
continues to grow exponentially. Any solution
deployed today must be ready for the demands
of today, and demands over the next two to
four years. Wireless network must be able to
handle extremely dense computing
requirements to ensure a high-quality user
experience.
8. High-quality air: Quality of experience
requires more than just raw bandwidth. The Wi-
Fi network needs to remove unnecessary traffic
from the air to optimize P2P applications,
multicast and other factors that can impact
business performance.
9. Embedded network security: Historically,
wireless security has focused on encryption.
However, encryption is only part of the
necessary solution. The network needs to have
an awareness of who the device owner is, what
operating system is being run and which
applications are being used. This will enable
the highest level of security to protect the
business and the worker. For example, a CFO
should be able to look at sensitive financial
data in his or her office. However, the same
information should not be viewed in a public
area such as the lobby or cafeteria.
10. Maximizing airtime for each device: This
provides an optimized experience across
various devices, radios and applications. The
Wi-Fi environment should recognize which
applications require more bandwidth and
allocate airtime accordingly. The network needs
to offer predictable services as the type of
device changes. For example, fairness among
different types of 802.11n-capable mobile
devices single, double or triple-stream
multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO).
Building a robust wireless network is one of the most
significant steps in preparing the organization for the
oncoming tsunami of mobile applications.



2012 ZK Research: A Division of Kerravala Consulting
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For questions, comments or further information, email zeus@zkresearch.com.
Section III: Conclusion and
Recommendations
BYOD, cloud computing and the evolution of devices
has created a perfect storm that allows workers to
access any information from any device, no matter
where they are. This will precipitate an increase in
mobile applications as organizations try to package
and deliver information to workers in a more
streamlined way.
This transition to mobile computing makes the
wireless network one of the most important assets
corporate IT can leverage. However, the
performance of Wi-Fi networks has been spotty,
which may cause some IT leaders to think a
migration to an all-wireless edge is too risky for the
organization. If proper due diligence is done and the
correct considerations are given, IT leaders can put
their organization in a position to leap-frog the
completion. Based on this, ZK Research
recommends the following:
Build uniquely mobile applications: Many
applications designed for mobile devices are
simply smaller versions of a desktop
application. Application developers should
design applications that are uniquely mobile
and incorporate features such as location and
GPS information. The integration of these
features will allow companies to build new
processes that leverage the mobile work force
better than ever before.
Choose a Wi-Fi solution designed for the
mobile computing era: There are many
wireless solutions on the market today, making
it difficult for network professions to understand
which solution is best for their company. Its
critical that companies do the proper due
diligence and evaluate solutions on their ability
to support the mobile computing era.
Companies must not decide based on brand or
incumbency.
Embrace BYOD and shift the IT control
points: The biggest hesitation in rolling out a
formal BYOD plan is the perception that IT is
losing control of the environment. While its true
IT is losing control of the device, it does not
mean that IT is losing all control. Shift the
legacy control points for management and
security away from the end point and push
them into the network to allow for greater scale
and manageability.

This transition to mobile
computing makes the wireless
network one of the most
important assets for corporate IT
to leverage.