Comport CEO: Aruba Software Has Changed The Networking Game With Breakthrough User Experiences

Jack Margossian, president of Comport Healthcare Solutions, one of the top solution providers in the country, credits Hewlett Packard Enterprise's Aruba offering with helping to revolutionize his business with breakthrough experiences and business outcomes for his customers.

The Aruba software partnership has powered Comport, No. 379 on the 2017 CRN SP500, in front of a pack of "me too" networking competitors selling legacy solutions to hospitals, Margossian told colleagues in an executive briefing sesson on "How Aruba Is Changing The Old Rules Of Networking- A Partner Case Study" at the 2017 Best of Breed (BoB) conference at the Loews Hotel in Atlanta.

[Related: 6 Products Inside Aruba's New 360 Secure Fabric That Partners Should Know About]

Aruba has changed the networking game in mobile applications, internet of things, security, asset tagging, and location services, said Margossian. "What we realized is it was about the software and what the software would enable you to do," he said. "It was about the results you could create from that software and the business outcomes that come out of that…We realized we had to change the narrative. We had to change what we were doing."

The Aruba partnership sparked a focus on software and business outcomes for customers that has fueled growth for Comport, said Margossian. It has also sharpened the company's focus on how customers can either increase sales or reduce costs, he said. That has put Comport face to face with highly-coveted line of business customers.

Margossian and his team are now closing deals in front of the likes of director of patient experience, chief innovation officers and directors of marketing at hospitals. "That is powerful," he said, noting a recent meeting with line of business executives. "It was everybody in line of business. It has totally changed the game for us. It has differentiated us from everybody else."

Comport has closed a number of big deals centered on patient experience with customers with legacy networking gear, said Margossian.

The line of business focus has driven solutions in telemedicine, patient monitoring, reviewing and improvement, and application integration, said Margossian. "Whatever you can think about you can do with Aruba," he said

Comport has built out an ecosystem of partners to drive the Aruba business outcomes in hospitals and also teamed up with HPE and Aruba to showcase the solutions in their briefing centers.

Margossian said he sees the the Comport Aruba transformation, which took 18 months to two years to fully bloom, as the future of his company. "Our businesses are changing, the things we have to do are changing and the people we talk to are changing," he said speaking to how partners much change their businesses. "I see what we are doing with Aruba as the future of our business."

Jim Perrier, president of Universal Data Inc., New Orleans, La., said the Aruba software is helping him close big deals including a $30 million dollar school contract. "Aruba has been a great partner," he said. "We are growing our Aruba business 30 percent a year. It is great technology."

Reza Zarafshar, president of Advanced Computer Concepts, a McLean, Va. longtime Aruba partner, said the Aruba wireless offering is the best wireless solution hands down in the market. "Every project we have done with Aruba has been a success," he said. "The technology is fantastic.A lot of people say the hardware is the same in wireless. The intelligence lies in the software and that is where Aruba excels."

Zarafshar said he runs the Aruba software in his own house and has had his team install the softwarefor his son in law's opthalmologist practice. "He has massive X-rays and it all happens on an Aruba network," he said.

Donna Grothjan, vice president of worldwide channels at HPE Aruba, said Aruba is continuing to innovate at a rapid clip with a sharp focus on security in the future."We are innovating everyday," she said. "It is not just about wireless LAN, wireless switching. Security is a big play. It is moving beyond protecting the perimeter and really protecting from inside the network. You are going to start to see us generate more innovation around that area."