One of the bigger challenges for IT organizations is the multitude of approaches there are to mobile computing. Whether it is all the variants of 802.11, RFID or cellular networks the simple fact is that IT organizations are being asked to manage all this complexity in a way that presents the end user with a seamless experience.
To that end Cisco has become one of the first networking vendors to deliver an appliance that it calls a Mobility Services Engine Platform that essentially functions as a master controller for all the various wireless networks that IT organizations need to manage.
The goal is to essentially make all the network services virtual in terms of what wireless network they are running over so IT organizations can not only create that seamless experience they can also start to prioritize what applications can what kind of wireless bandwidth.
Furthermore, they can also use this device to start delivering what are described as context-aware location services, which means they will know not only where a user is but also how much bandwidth they have available to them at any given moment.
The controller does this by operating in the 5Ghz spectrum, which Cisco recommends to any corporate customers for their wireless networks over the more congested 2.4Ghz spectrum.
The appliance itself is part of a larger Cisco Motion initiative that Cisco is launching in part to entice software developers to create mobile applications based on what it calls an open approach to mobile computing that spans multiple types of mobile networks.
No doubt other providers of wireless network equipment will step forward in the future with their own version of a master controller. But for now Cisco has advanced the cause of wireless network management at a time when it is starting to spin out of control from an IT perspective.
Among the companies lending their support for this Cisco initiative are Nokia, Oracle, AeroScout, Agito Networks and Airetrak, which is probably just enough to validate that Cisco is taking an open approach to wireless management. What ultimately will be required here is a set of standards that promote interoperability across various master controllers that will come to market, but in the meantime the advent of a master controller from Cisco is significant step in the right direction.