I am reminded this week that an ever-increasing measure of technology finds its way into an ever-decreasing footprint. All at a value never previously contemplated. This dynamic provides customers with choices, broadens appeal and defines new applications. In technology, many things come in small and exciting new packages.

With the announcement of our PL7810 this week, we are delivering on a platform that uniquely addresses the demands of the higher education market. We stretched the boundaries of the high-end in January with the announcement of the industry-leading PL20000, and we are applying the same technology now to the lower end of the bandwidth spectrum with the PL7810..  More importantly though, the PL7810 represents an inflection point in the economics of deploying Intelligent Policy Enforcement, with bandwidth capabilities that are 1/5 the cost of the current going rate. Occupying a single rack unit and supporting the complete Procera feature set deployed at over a 1000 customers worldwide, the PL7810 also provides the density and connectivity options that allow for that one elusive tenet of network design — growth. No longer will growth require a cyclical and wholesale replacement of platform, i.e. the forklift upgrade. A single box can start at 100Mbps and grow to 5Gbps –something that is unprecedented in this market space.

Combine the PL7810’s impressive capabilities with SmartCampus and you really have something. This Procera solution connects identity and network communication, thereby enabling User Awareness in policy decisions. By answering the “Who?” and combining it with the answers to what, where, when and which device, policy that deftly considers all of these dimensions is now possible. While these important capabilities enable a boundless number of use cases, three are emerging as broadly applicable:

• Mapping user identity to network address, expediting DMCA takedown responses.
• Aggregating usage quota over all user devices: PC, tablet, gaming console and smart phone thereby simplifying provisioning, accounting and operations.
• Implementing tiered service levels to ensure fairness for all and maximize bandwidth utilization for power users.

Moving forward, these exciting new developments will drive further market acceptance for policy enforcement and more specifically Procera solutions. The PL7810 in combination with SmartCampus will redefine the future of customer use cases for higher education. Good things come in small packages, especially things from Procera.