Matthew BoyleAt Ericsson’s recent enterprise industry event in Boston, the company revealed its latest developments in the integration of Cradlepoint and Ericom, marking the completion of their mergers. The refreshed Ericsson enterprise portfolio now encompasses three new private 5G solutions, including the “Ericsson Private 5G” and “Ericsson Private 5G Compact” for CBRS deployments, replacing the former Cradlepoint brand in most applications. These solutions support various industries, from healthcare to manufacturing, by providing scalable, secure 5G connectivity and improving IoT functionality. Additionally, Ericsson introduced new AI-driven IoT routers, the R980 and S400, designed for demanding applications like asset tracking and real-time data analysis. The company emphasized its enhanced NetCloud Manager platform, which integrates 5G, LAN, WAN, and SASE functionalities to deliver a seamless “single pane-of-glass” experience for network management. The Ericsson Enterprise 5G Coverage solution, which simplifies enterprise 5G deployments, further highlights Ericsson’s strategic focus on addressing enterprise IT needs. With a strong commitment to sustainable networking, security, and Industry 4.0 readiness, Ericsson continues to lead in the private 5G and IoT sectors, positioning itself as a key player in enterprise digital transformation.
Ericsson preps private 5G push with reordered and refreshed enterprise 5g portfolio
Following that week, follow up with a comprehensive interview with the enterprise chiefs of the company, but here is the news from Ericsson’s enterprise industry event in Boston today ( September 12 ), where it was discussed the brand and product refresh it mentioned at the start of the summer when it hinted at a late-summer “discover all.” More can be discussed and said, both based on market impressions and anecdotes, as well as on strategy and deals. However, this includes the shaved news that was presented to analysts today.
The major brand message from Boston, where Ericsson’s enterprise team held court with analysts today, is that its integration of US enterprise networking outfit Cradlepoint, acquired in late 2020, is ultimately done – alongside parallel, and important, merger work with cloud enterprise security firm Ericom, acquired a year ago. The Cradlepoint brand is still present on enterprise routers, but just as a hardware label. It has successfully vanished, then, subsumed into its wide Ericsson-branded enterprise portfolio. ” Cradlepoint is now Ericsson”, said the firm, “retaining some components of the Cradlepoint brand”.
The Boise-based division’s NetCloud brand lives on, for example. In order to improve the brand, the simplified NetCloud Private Networks product, which was designed for simple CBRS deployments in the US, had been renamed” Ericsson Private 5G Compact” as part of a three-tiered private 4G/5G product refresh ( more below ), but in terms of brand, the original Cradlepoint moniker has simply been replaced in its NetCloud Manager infrastructure management platform ( now known as” Ericsson NetCloud Manager ), which works across all of its private
Aside from the brand overhaul, the Swedish vendor said in interview ( see coverage next week ) that the intellectual property, human capital, channel partnerships, and customer relationships ( over 36, 000 enterprises globally, claims Ericsson ) it inherited with the acquisitions of Cradlepoint and Ericom remain central to its developing proposition, and largely intact – to the point their mergers have been as much about reversing Ericsson’s technologies and expertise into their service properties, despite the straight logistics of making three companies work as one.
It has been a cautious and deliberate process, it said, the result is a “first-class consolidated team, and the most empowered channel partners”, it claimed. However, the brand rejig has been simmering at Cradlepoint since the start of the year, including through voluntary redundancies ( and some dialled-in disgruntlement from former staff members ), and much of the information about business integration progressed in July. And so the real story from Boston is about how Ericsson’s revised enterprise 5G portfolio is evolving, as well as about fresh routers designed to support the growing Artificial demand in the IoT.
Three 5G networks for business
Ericsson’s new enterprise 5G portfolio includes three solutions, of which only has two are straight private 5G products ( branded ‘ Ericsson Private 5G’, part of the’ Ericsson Enterprise Wireless ‘ portfolio ): a Nokia DAC-style ( with apologies to both companies ) converged private 4G/5G solution ( “with industry and licensed spectrum support” ), called Ericsson Private 5G, and the ( DAC Compact-style ) cut-down ( “simplified” ) Cradlepoint CBRS proposition ( for “where Wi-Fi falls short” ), previously’ Cradlepoint NetCloud Private Networks’, now called’ Ericsson Private 5G Compact ‘.
The final addition is its neutral host solution, known as” Ericsson Enterprise 5G Coverage,” which has been approved by the major US carriers and offers a” simplified and scalable architecture compared to legacy DAS.” This three-piece suits both carpeted and industrial enterprises, it said, and draws on its broader radio access network (RAN ) portfolio, including its Radio Dot and small-cell radios for indoor and outdoor deployments, respectively. It means Ericsson’s enterprise menu is also a couple quick of rival Nokia’s, which features at least five products only for personal networking.
It appears that the Finnish company has made a big leap in terms of its coverage and presentation at the same time. For once, the de-rigueur analyst quote in the news release feels substantial, and it certainly echoes Ericsson’s statement about covering the bases and about focusing on what it is good at ( as opposed to muddle through industrial apps and edge compute hardware, say, like some others ). In an Ericsson-supplied statement, Pablo Tomasi, principal analyst at Omdia, describes it as a” strategic and comprehensive approach to evolving” its portfolio.
Which implies that the company has taken care of itself but also implies that it is still working. Tomasi also talks about Ericsson’s fresh “ability” to provide customers with a “unified experience” – as” important” for the market to scale. which is probably a rip-off of Ericsson’s claim that it has developed a private 5G system that works for enterprise IT departments rather than just for telcos, with all the security and policy controls they are used to, and without sacrificing any of the premium mobile technology that comes with 5G.
Way down in the press statement, there is talk about” seamless provisioning and configuration” and “unified policy management”, as well as “effortless network operations” and” streamlined lifecycle management”, these capabilities featured higher-up in conversation ( see next week ), like stand-out offers that will distinguish Ericsson from the rest of the private-5G vendor mob. Manish Tiwari, head of secret mobile networks in Ericsson’s enterprise wireless solutions division, referenced a combination of “best-in-class radio, software and managed-operations capabilities”.
The Cradlepoint imprint is there, too, it seems, because of the prominence of NetCloud Manager as a” single pane-of-glass” cloud management platform for all its local-area ( LAN ) private and neutral-host systems, wide-area ( WAN ) macro systems, and network and security-as-a-service ( SASE ) functions. Plus, Ericsson is talking-up ( more in interview, see next week ) a simplified subscription model ( with “optional services and feature add-ons” ), Industry 4.0 sales support and training for channel partners, and public 5G and enterprise handover and roaming.
For enterprise IoT, two routers are needed.
Meanwhile, Ericsson has launched two new Ericsson-Cradlepoint branded routers, the R980 and S400, to support sundry AI-related (” computer vision, data analysis, other advanced apps” ) IoT use cases, for asset tracking, fleet tracking, and in-vehicle automotive solutions. They collaborate with the security service and management platform NetCloud, which promises “zero-trust security across large-scale IoT and vehicle endpoints.” Abridged quotes about both products are included (verbatim ) below.
– Ericsson Cradlepoint R980
“The Ericsson Cradlepoint R980 is a ruggedized 5G router that delivers high-performance connectivity to vehicles, enabling … advanced apps such as AI-driven video recognition and real-time data analysis…for public safety and smart cities … Designed for first responders, near-shore vessels, and school buses, the compact R980 delivers secure and persistent 5G connectivity, even in the most demanding conditions. It can also be used in IoT deployments where video and mission-critical applications may require higher performance and lower overhead. “
“Release-16 compatible, the R980 is ready for 5G SA networks and network slicing, including public safety slices and low latency network slices for IoT. Its eSIM will enable over-the-air carrier switching in future NetCloud releases…it integrates security, SD-WAN, and deep visibility into a unified, easily managed system. Our customers can now easily deploy networks that offer enterprise-grade network reliability and security with ease thanks to this industry-first approach, which also aligns with their special innovation and business objectives.”
– Ericsson’s Cradlepoint S400
“One of the first zero-trust IoT appliances, the S400 enables secure connectivity for diverse IoT use cases, including light industrial, digital signage, and building controls. It is a semi-ruggedized, compact IoT device…with field-expandable interface options such as additional Ethernet ports, a serial port, and a GPIO switch. This enables IT specialists to customize the device to customer requirements for deployment. It includes NetCloud SASE Secure Connect as a part of its subscription license so small, vulnerable IoT devices, which cannot support traditional security methods, are secure.”
