Aruba Networks, Inc. was founded “90 days after Intel introduced the Centrino platform,” Dominic Orr, president of Aruba (now part of Hewlett-Packard Co.). At the time, Orr stated the company was thinking the “workplace is going to be transformed the moment you cut the Ethernet cable.”

Since that prediction, a decade has passed, and Orr and the industry have seen a transformation.

Orr recently talked to theCUBE’s John Furrier and Dave Vellante about the acquisition. “The combination of HP and Aruba is … a very strong validation of [what] the next generation access network is going be” — all wireless. The transition from Ethernet to Wi-Fi, according to Orr, is not a replacement scenario, rather, “It’s still Ethernet, just on a different medium. A lot of the value proposition that Aruba has is actually how to apply layer fold to server technology to make sure that you have all the real-life traffic over Wi-Fi.”

BYOD management

“Traditional security based on port [and] perimeter has to be changed into a persona-centric, mobility-contact-centric, location-centric kind of overlay,” Orr explained. “Fundamentally, the whole BYOD management has to do with identifying a secure boundary that is based on mobility context rather than a physical port.”

This move away from the traditional is what John Furrier called “a paradigm shift.”

Regarding the interactive Wi-Fi network Aruba built for the San Francisco 49ers stadium, Orr stated, “You have to let the network path and application drive transmission priority and also to solve the high-density heterogeneous problem and symbolic of the next-generation wireless access design.”

This innovation has led to visitors checking in or ordering a hot dog wirelessly. “The Wi-Fi in that stadium is no longer passive; it is interactive,” Orr explained.

“The back end is becoming thinner, faster and smarter,” he continued. “The combination of HP networking switches and Aruba Wireless, it gives you that performance.”

Orr observed that more customers are looking for these technologies as a service and “HP service component is just unbeatable.” Orr described his service as “mobility-based and user-centric” from “day one” and promised it will continue to be as Aruba and HP move forward together.

Watch the full interview below, and be sure to check out more of SiliconANGLE and theCUBE’s coverage of HP Discover Las Vegas 2015.