The whole point of having a wireless infrastructure is to increase mobility and reduce cables. Yet for many businesses, managing those wireless networks requires an on-site server. Wireless networking company Aruba Networks, is now aiming to change the wireless management paradigm with a new cloud based Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) offering.

The company's new SaaS solution is called AirWave OnDemand (AOD) and provides a cloud based version of the AirWave Wireless Management Suite (AWMS) to remotely monitor and manage enterprise wireless networks. This is to ensure a better end-to-end wireless infrastructure.

Until now, the way that Aruba offered its customer wireless networks was by way of its AWMS, which requires businesses to host the software within their own datacenters. Many SME's don't have the skill sets or the time to procure the software and servers to host in their own datacenters. At the back-end, the way the cloud wireless offering works is all about standard networking protocols and some virtualization.

Once a user places an order for the service, they get an authorization code. The code gets entered on the Aruba site, which then automates the process to produce a virtual instance of the software, so each customer gets its own unique instance. Users can then log into the control panel screen using a Web interface.

The AOD offering isn't limited to Aruba's own access points and wireless controllers, either. The service can manage wireless network equipment from multiple suppliers including Dell, Cisco, HP and Motorola.

Aruba have been working over the last six to 12 months to remove as many barriers as possible for businesses to move to wireless as their primary access method.

There just isn't enough knowledge out there about how to operate wireless networks, and Aruba is bringing that management to the market with the SaaS model.