Aruba ESP Reviews

I am working for the SASE portfolio as a product manager, so I cannot give any comment on other products. If there are queries related to SASE, I will help.

I had discussions with product teams from the perspective of Aruba, and they are growing and going to improve in terms of the CASB part. There are some functionalities that need to be improved as a product roadmap, so they are already working on it.

It compares with Zscaler, Netskope, and other vendors. As a consultant, I am going to compare, sell the product, or suggest the product. We are not bound to only sell the product to Aruba.

There are technical differences. A few key functionalities in the technical aspects are auto-connect, ZTNA part, and Aruba has broad functionality. It is very easy to integrate with other parameters such as switches, NEC, and APs. It provides a single umbrella for the complete network infrastructure, which is a very key differentiator from other products. The pricing part has already been shared, so it is quite cheaper compared to other products.

I have switched my profile, so nowadays I'm associated with the HP Aruba product. Recently HP has been acquired by Juniper, so in the coming financial year, I'm going to manage the Juniper product as well.

Aruba ESP is one of the premium products and is a replacement for traditional VPN. Core functionality VPN comes without security, but SSE comes with security.

The major part is auto-connect functionality in Aruba ESP, one of the key features as I observed. Another part is bandwidth utilization. Compared to other vendors, Aruba EdgeConnect SSE takes very little bandwidth and can connect with 3G connectivity, dongles, and broadband. It provides very smooth connectivity in terms of low bandwidth.

It helps with segregation. Working in a corporate environment where users travel frequently outside and require access to resources, we previously faced bandwidth issues and other connectivity issues. Users needed to connect manually repeatedly due to bandwidth issues. It helps us with auto-connect functionality. Whenever a user experiences low bandwidth or frequent disconnects, the agent connects automatically, making it very easy to access resources while traveling outside. It impacts the cost, saves time, and increases productivity.

AI power is one of the key functionalities when discussing network automation or virus algorithms. The signature-based engine is not enough to handle all threats because threats are not traditional. They are becoming more advanced daily, including drive-and-drop attacks, payload, memory buffer overload attacks, and other attacks. AI helps understand exactly what type of attack it is, and accordingly, they create patches for them and protect against them.

The scenario has totally changed after COVID. Earlier, people used to work from office culture, but now it has shifted to work from anywhere. Devices are not fixed either. Previously it was fixed asset, but now people are using smartphones, IoT devices, laptops, and other devices, connecting from anywhere.

Segmenting network traffic is very difficult and complicated because putting a firewall across devices is very difficult and nearly impossible. EdgeConnect, which includes endpoint protection or SSE, is very agent-based. POPs are nearly reachable across the globe, so users can access services globally whenever they want to reach the data center or access the internet. It creates segregation, and after segregation, it comes with security functionality including CASB, web, anti-malware, and antivirus functionality. It protects the endpoint whenever connecting with unsecured networks.

The first level post-check of security parameters matches all functionalities. Their segregation part allows us to define parameters through ZTNA functionality, Zero Trust Network Access where we can define postures, whether devices relate to corporate network or personal use, if antivirus is running, if OS is updated, and many more things. Based upon that, it helps customers protect the complete infrastructure, whether connecting with office network, unsecured network, or remote office.

I have been using this solution for almost four years.

In terms of Aruba ESP, it is a very stable product.

There is no limitation with scalability.

As of date, it provides excellent support.

Positive

Comparing with other ZTNA solutions or SASE solutions, it is quite cheaper. It is not expensive at all.

I rate Aruba ESP a nine out of ten.

Aruba ESP is an architecture where Aruba networking, wireless, and Aruba Central cloud solutions work together in one platform.

Aruba ESP is a single place where you manage everything, and you have integrations with a lot of other vendors together on the same platform.

Aruba ESP should include more integrations with third-party vendors. Currently, we have a good number of vendors integrated with the solution. However, many other vendors are still available in the market, and they have to be onboarded to the solution.

I have been using Aruba ESP for a few years.

Aruba ESP’s stability is excellent.

I rate Aruba ESP ten out of ten for stability.

There is no limit on the scalability of Aruba ESP. You can connect any number of devices as much as you want. It's a cloud-based solution, and Aruba ESP is hosting all the solutions in that environment, so we don't find any challenges.

Around 40 customers are using Aruba ESP.

I have previously worked with Cisco SD-Access.

Aruba ESP's initial setup is not that complex.

All the devices are on zero-dash provisioning. You have to plug it in, and everything is configured by itself. All the configurations are done through a cloud and are registered in the cloud. You push your configuration, and you have to do it only once. Once you plug it in, all the connections and configurations are done.

You can see a return on investment with Aruba ESP in less than three years. The product life cycle is more than ten years, and the product comes with a limited lifetime warranty. Users can use it as much as they want, and they don't have to invest in the hardware in the future. They just have to renew the support.

Users need to pay a yearly license for three, five, seven, or ten years based on their requirements. They can take their license accordingly. On a scale from one to ten, where one is cheap and ten is expensive, I rate Aruba ESP's pricing a four out of ten.

Aruba ESP is a cloud-based solution. Two people are required to deploy and maintain Aruba ESP. Aruba ESP should be used by users looking for a better return on investments and low operational costs.

Overall, I rate Aruba ESP ten out of ten.