COVID-19 has accelerated digital transformation efforts for organizations everywhere, driving rapid adoption of new cloud technologies to supportremote working and online learning. In response, Extreme Networks, Inc. (Nasdaq: EXTR), a cloud-driven networking company,has launched a#NewNormal initiative to help all of its customers adapt to the transition. The #NewNormal initiative is a comprehensive program that provides information and industry insights to help companies survive and thriveleveraging the industry’s only 4th generation cloud management platform.
ExtremeCloud IQ™ is a machine learning and AI- driven cloudmanagementsolution, built on a 4thgeneration cloud platform.Integrated with Extreme’s end-to-end enterprise networking technology, it assists in collecting data to build, secure, and maintain agile and distributed work environments. For organizations bringing employees back to work and students back to school, ExtremeCloud IQ helps ensure safe mobility on campus with IoT and robotics connectivity and visibility, as well as support for occupancy management and contact tracing applications.
Use Cases:
• Facilitating Agile Work Environments – For organizations needing to connect, secure, and manage remote network sites or remote workers, or enable distance learning, ExtremeCloud IQ can be deployed to manage Extreme’s curated Portable Branch Kits (PBK) and Bring Your Office Home Kits (BYOH). ExtremeCloud IQ offers analytics and tools to proactively monitor and optimize network health across every part of an organization, whether it be a fixed or temporary location, or over a wired or wireless network. As people return to work and school, the flexible and portable ExtremeCloud IQ application allows IT administrators to adjustto changing user, device, and data requirements.
• Occupancy Management – For facilities, human resources, and legal teams tasked with reducing risk reduction via safe social distancing, ExtremeCloud IQ integrates with Extreme network solutions and third-party technologies to providereal-time and historical presence analytics, location monitoring,and building monitoring, as well as real-time location services and in-door positioning.The collected data allows third-party applications to alert on excessive levels of congregation, volume of traffic over time, no-go zones, violations of directional flows, or other parameters, including notifying staff when an area requires additional sterilization after prolonged or excessive occupancy.
• IoT Monitoring and Robotics Automation– For organizations needing a high-level of visibility and environmental monitoring, Extreme offers secure wired and wireless connectivity and simple, secure device onboarding and management via ExtremeCloud IQ. The application provides complete visibility and management of connected devices that monitor health and safety, without requiring technical staff or staging services. It offers correlation of device location and gathered data, with unlimited data available in July. It also helps to manage remote operations for unmanned manufacturing facilities that areusing robotics assistance to minimize staff exposure.
• Contact Tracing Enablement –The same network that is already providing corporate communication is also continually monitoring, gathering, and recording client activity. With ExtremeWireless™access points, managed by ExtremeCloud IQ, organizations have complete visibility into their distributed network traffic, providing specific location information and unlimited historical data, starting in July.Administrators can easily track where users connected, where they roamed within the facility, and what other devices were connected in those areas at the same time, and then feed that data to third-party applications that support contact tracing.
Executive Perspectives
Norman Rice,Chief Operating Officer, Extreme Networks
“As we grapple withmore data, coming from more places, more connected devices, and more SaaS-based applications, the cloud is becoming fundamental toestablishing a new normal. This means organizations need an even better cloud – one that delivers infinite 9s of uptime, dependable and uncorrupted dataover an unlimited time span, and the industry’s best security. That comes with a 4th generation cloud and Extreme is the only company that has one with its ExtremeCloud IQ platform.”
Zeus Kerravala, Principal, ZK Research
“Distributed connectivity demands even better centralized management. In a post-COVID world, IT teams in every industry will need more control and better insights than ever before to ensure a secure, enterprise-grade connection for employees, wherever they are located, and cloud applications and management will be required to scale and adapt.Extreme is working closely with customers and partners to implement security measures that help build trust, and to enable an agile and productive workforce wherever employees may be signing in from. Its4th generation, unified cloud management solution makes it all possible.”