Ian Whiting doesn’t expect to rock the boat when he officially takes the helm of Ruckus Networks on July 1.
Whiting is stepping in then as president of Arris’s Enterprise Networks unit, which includes the wireless/mobile-focused Ruckus, said he intends to move ahead with a strategy that he forged with Dan Rabinovitsj, the person he is succeeding in that role.
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“I don’t anticipate needing to make any changes to strategy,” he said, noting that he, who has been serving as Ruckus’s chief strategy officer, worked closely with Rabinovitsj, on the integration following Arris’s acquisition of Ruckus late last year.
“I think we share the same view of where we fit into the industry,” Whiting said. “That’s the plan – to stick with it.”
He said the general focus is for Ruckus to continue to focus on its key verticals, expand on the service provider market, and broaden the international scope of its business.
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Whiting will be taking over as the relatively new Enterprise unit of Arris is performing well in the early going.
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And part of the plan going forward is to have Ruckus Networks play a more prominent role in the growing Internet of Things market, edge computing, and the opportunities ahead for CBRS (Citizens Broadband Radio Service), an emerging shared swath of spectrum that will play a big role in new private LTE networks and factor into cable’s mobile and wireless tech and service strategies.
IoT presents the nearer-term opportunity, as Ruckus has already begun to ship IoT gateway products.
The CBRS sector is in the early adopter phase as the FCC and other agencies iron out rules for the spectrum, but it’s also “building quite a head of steam,” he said.
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Arris, he added, has been required to put more resources into that as it responds to demand from customers that are pushing ahead on trials and proof-on-concept deployments, including some early, paid opportunities. CBRS is also enabling Ruckus to enter new markets, Whiting said.
Whiting said Ruckus is also poised to jump on the market for 802.11ax WiFi, adding that upgrades to a new WiFi standard historically given the company a significant lift as customers deploy new access points and switching gear (in addition to Ruckus, Arris also acquired an ICX Switch business via its deal with Broadcom) to handle denser, higher-capacity networks.
Although much of the mobile and wireless discussion tends to focus on the U.S. and Western Europe, Whiting said Ruckus is also keeping tabs on opportunities in emerging markets, such as India, the Philippines, and Africa, where investments are being made in basic infrastructure.
