The resorts use Aruba’s location-ready access points, ClearPass, AirWave and Analytics and Location Engine to improve work on site.
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The happiest place on earth becomes one of the most connected. Walt Disney World Resort has already implemented Aruba Wi-Fi infrastructure and Internet of Things (IoT) solutions in five of its resorts and plans to add it to the remaining 24 hotels by 2021, Partha Narasimhan, CTO for Aruba, a Hewlett Packard Enterprise company.
The purpose of this partnership is “connectivity, security and bringing the digital and the physical world together” to improve the experiences of employees and guests, Narasimhan said.
Aruba ‘s Wi – Fi infrastructure will make operations more efficient and effective for front – end and back – end employees at Disney resorts, including the thousands of characters working in the parks, generally improving employee experience, Narasimhan said.
The services used by Disney include Aruba’s location-ready access points, ClearPass for wireless authentication and secure access, Airwave for network management and Aruba ALE (Analytics and Location Engine) to obtain useful insights into network, device and application functions, the press release said.
The resorts with the new features are Disney’s Yacht Club Resort, Disney’s Port Orleans Resort – French Quarter, Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort, Disney’s Pop Century Resort and Disney’s All-Star Movies Resort.
SEE: Wi-Fi 6: a guide for insiders (free PDF) (TechRepublic)
Aruba has recently moved to what they call an intelligent edge division. “What we mean by intelligent head start is where people are and the places we are located, and the expectations about the types of experiences we all want,” Narasimhan said.
The use of Disney of these applications is a good example of what Aruba means by intelligent head start. “Think of all the association we all have with the Disney brand and expectations, whether it’s at the resort, at the theme park, or everything else,” Narasimhan said. “It all starts with high-quality connectivity. Can I walk into a resort and, for example, stream high-quality video in 4K quality. That requires a network that is always available and can handle the kind of densities that Disney expects to have in their resorts.”
Applications of Aruba
All Aruba applications used by Disney – location-ready access points, ClearPass, Airwave and ALE – work together, says Narasimhan.
“The access points are to which end-user devices connect,” Narasimhan said. “ClearPass is first and foremost an authentication service for both visitors and guests, as well as for the cast members and employees that Disney has. In this way we find out how we can connect users, who they are and who a particular device is. That is the element of content needed to complete the entire problem of the experience. ”
“Then you bring in location-based services, where if you understand the location of devices, we can combine the physical world and the digital world,” Narasimhan continued. “Knowing where a particular user is gives me enough context to go in and find out what specific expectations they can have at the current location where they are located.”
“All of these are integrated and share contextual information and content that are needed together to meet customer expectations,” Narasimhan said.
This level of connectivity is used to make check-in easier with mobile check-in at the resort’s lobby, improve table service in a restaurant, improve the experience of nearly 70,000 Disney cast members and optimize the activities and both the front-end and back-end of resorts, Narasimhan said.
“Everything starts with the connection layer first and then you can put the security on top.” Aruba not only ensures that connectivity is reliable in the resorts, but also that it is secure, Narasimhan said.
“Disney had expectations for a high-quality connection layer, but security had to be imposed on it. (They) need the ability to identify users, their devices and their locations to translate that into the delivery of experiences that we have gained from Disney, “Narasimhan said.
According to Narasimhan, some of the biggest challenges that Aruba faced when integrating these solutions were density and appearance.
With tens of thousands of people staying at Disney resorts and visiting Disney parks every day, Aruba knew that density would be a challenge to ensure access points could be delivered to different locations, Narasimhan said.
In addition, some limitations appeared around appearance. Aruba had to integrate access points without affecting the Disney aesthetic or experience, which will be taken into account during installation, he added.
In the past Aruba has mixed systems in the landscape with the help of matching paint colors or hiding mechanisms at discrete locations.
For more information, visit DreamWorks Animation for a Hollywood-style digital transformation at TechRepublic.
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