Higher education institutions today require a higher standard of network as they face unprecedented demands on their network infrastructure. Often, the list of demands on wireless infrastructure exceeds that of a corporate enterprise. Notable expectations include:
- Delivering robust performance to support extensive research activities
- Meeting lofty expectations of tech-savvy students with many devices
- Accommodating a diverse range of applications and services
- Ensuring seamless connectivity across sprawling campuses
- Maintaining stringent security standards to protect sensitive and personal data
These networks must handle massive data transfers, support cutting-edge research technologies, and provide reliable, high-speed access for thousands of users simultaneously. Additionally, modern colleges and universities want to ensure an equitable campus experience for all students, making it essential for their networks to be accessible, inclusive, and capable of meeting the diverse needs of the entire campus community.
Wireless Starts with Revolutionary Wired Infrastructure
While college students care mostly about wireless accessibility and performance, it all starts with having the proper wired infrastructure to support it. That means your institution must identify a vendor that understands both. For the fourth year in a row, WEI partner Juniper Networks was named a leader in the 2024 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Enterprise Wired and Wireless Infrastructure.
Wired networks may sound plain on the surface, but Juniper's Mist AI transforms it from a mundane necessity into a powerful, intelligent asset that supports everything digital. The Mist AI platform leverages AI-native automation to streamline network operations while significantly reducing the need for manual intervention. This automation spans the entire network lifecycle, from initial deployment to ongoing troubleshooting and optimization.
The Power of Juniper's Mist AI
While your wired infrastructure remains on-premises, Juniper Mist Cloud Services provide a unified cloud-based management platform for both wired and wireless networks. This approach goes beyond traditional cloud management by harnessing artificial intelligence, machine learning, and advanced data science techniques to optimize user experiences and simplify operations across your entire network ecosystem. Benefits of this approach include:
- Enhanced visibility into user experiences and network performance
- Proactive issue detection and resolution through AI-native insights
- Real-time analytics and insights into network usage and performance
- Simplified network management and troubleshooting through automation
Can Your Network Do This?
The visibility that Juniper's Mist AI provides isn’t limited to alerts about your infrastructure devices. It is about offering key insights into your users, such as the ability to analyze foot traffic patterns for better space and resource utilization. This capability not only ensures that students and faculty receive the service levels they expect but also promotes environmental and financial sustainability through optimized resource management. Here are some futuristic features that Mist AI-supported networks can do for today's college campus:
- Provide students with navigation to help them find classrooms and other campus facilities more easily.
- Easily locate portable assets such as lab equipment or student devices
- Locate individuals who need assistance in emergency situations or steer students and faculty away from problem areas.
When you begin to realize the full gamut of what Juniper AI is capable of, you begin to understand why Gartner positioned it furthest in “Completeness of Vision” relative to other vendors and highest in “Ability to Execute.”
Switches Made Easy
Juniper's EX Series Switches creates the network fabric that unifies all the digital entities and users across today’s campuses. From the EX4400-24X with its 100GbE/40GbE uplinks to handle your mammoth data loads to the EX2300-C that offers a compact, cost-effective solution for low density offices, Juniper Networks has the switch offerings to meet every need.
Regardless of which switch you choose, Juniper Mist simplifies deployment with zero-touch provisioning just involves 4 simple steps:
- Unbox the switch
- Scan the QR code
- Claim the device
- Onboard it to the Mist AI cloud
This straightforward approach makes implementing a network with advanced intelligent features remarkably simple. Juniper's EX Series, combined with Mist AI, offers a powerful solution for modern campus networks, balancing high performance with ease of management.
The Ultimate Professor
Your students want their class to be led by a competent, highly experienced professor they can engage with. Juniper believes your network should, too. Enter Marvis, a virtual assistant that uses natural language processing to interact with your network support personnel.
Marvis eliminates the need for complex dashboards or CLI commands. It also monitors your entire network landscape on a 24/7 basis to proactively identify issues that it can either automatically resolve or provide actionable recommendations. Like the students you support on campus, Marvis is constantly learning from new data and feedback to improve its insights and recommendations over time. Your IT teams can even train Marvis to focus on specific issues or metrics that are relevant to your organization.
Conclusion
The competition for students is intensifying. Students are seeking a modern college campus experience that will enhance their learning and social interactions. This requires a modernized network. Discover why universities and college campuses worldwide are choosing Juniper to ensure success for both their institutions and the students they serve.
Next Steps: Transform your campus network with WEI's AI-native approach. Download our comprehensive tech brief, The AI-Native Approach For Modernizing College Networks, to learn how we can help you modernize your college network, ensuring a competitive edge in attracting and retaining students.
