What is our primary use case?
For user engagement, there are many use cases, but we can mention small use cases or key use cases such as live tracking for users. The most unique part about Juniper Mist User Engagement is not about the use cases because all vendors can offer similar use cases since most are based on integration with third-party developers. All vendors provide an open SDK for any software developer to use this data, but the most unique part about Juniper Mist User Engagement is the accuracy because they have a patent for something called virtual BLE, which enhances the accuracy, allowing us to reach accuracy up to one to three meters for the indoor environment. This is the most unique part about it.
Some use cases are embedded in the platform, especially those related to network administrators, such as live tracking for clients, and also some use cases tailored during COVID, for example, to set the capacity for any area, zone, or room and monitor it. If any deviation happens to the zone, it sends an automatic alarm or notification to the admin. This is a sample of what we can achieve using Juniper Mist User Engagement itself.
Other use cases related to the end user require an application to be installed on the user equipment, at which point we can provide an open SDK for any software developer to use and utilize the raw data from the system with the same accuracy from one to three meters to be utilized inside their application. By this means, there are endless use cases including indoor navigation, campaigning, advertisement campaigns, and automated attendance. It depends on the developer itself.
User engagement with all vendors is based on collecting raw data and conducting extensive machine learning calculations and processing to show it in meaningful dashboards. This is the logic behind the user engagement use case from any vendor perspective. However, to utilize this input, it must be as accurate as possible. The most unique part about Juniper Mist User Engagement is the accuracy because any vendor can collect this data—whether it is Aruba, Cisco, or any other vendor—all can provide this use case. Most of these use cases are based on services from third parties, and vendors offer SDKs that allow developers to tailor their own use cases. But the accuracy of this application depends on the raw data accuracy, which is influenced by the hardware access points.
Other vendors such as Cisco and Aruba use triangulation and build their hardware based on omnidirectional antennas, which require many access points to detect the user simultaneously to enhance accuracy. This is why they must add Bluetooth beacons, which are unmanaged devices, leading to management hassles. Juniper Mist User Engagement, however, uses sectorized antennas, eliminating the need for beacon-based devices. Just one access point is sufficient to provide location services, whereas other vendors need at least three devices for detection, achieving around ten meters accuracy. The more devices added, the better the accuracy, but the maximum they reach is five meters. Juniper Mist User Engagement achieves one to three meters accuracy with just a single device without the need for unmanaged equipment. This is the most unique aspect of Juniper Mist User Engagement.
What is most valuable?
The most unique part about Juniper Mist User Engagement is its simplicity. Everything in Juniper Mist User Engagement is straightforward compared to competitors such as Meraki and Arista. Not only user engagement, but all aspects including Wired Assurance and Wireless Assurance are easy to configure. There is rich documentation available in the cloud itself, and you do not have to search for answers online. Everything is organized in the dashboard, and it supports multiple APIs and webhooks for easy integration, all based on open technologies.
The function itself is not unique in user engagement, but the accuracy is the most important aspect because the accuracy for any indoor location services is the most critical KPI. For outdoor, GPS accuracy is around fifty meters, which is accepted, but in an indoor environment, if the accuracy is around seven meters or ten meters, this can drive the guest to a different corridor, corrupting the entire use case. The most efficient and unique part about Juniper Mist User Engagement is the hardware itself; they have a patent for a technology called virtual BLE. This technology uses sectorized antennas instead of omnidirectional antennas, with a sixteen-element antenna array that increases accuracy. Any competitor's maximum accuracy is around five meters, while we are able to reach between one to three meters using this patent.
What needs improvement?
Improvement for the product itself may involve making changes, but I am not aware of anything specific they are currently working on. The most painful part is that not all hardware supports virtual BLE. If you need to deploy a user engagement use case, you have to purchase specific SKUs that support BLE. Because of cost, Juniper offers non-VBLE devices and VBLE-enabled devices with the same specs, meaning you have two SKUs for the same model—one with BLE and one without. Therefore, if you purchase a non-BLE device and later decide to implement user engagement, you will need to change the hardware or make a decision from the beginning about whether you want to deploy user engagement. This is the most painful aspect.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Juniper Mist User Engagement since 2020, which amounts to six years as of now.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
I can mark it as twenty out of ten since it is a cloud solution and any cloud solution has excellent scalability without issues.
How are customer service and support?
The support is perfect, especially for Juniper Mist User Engagement, because there is direct access from Juniper Mist User Engagement to the support team. If you have any issues with a respective device, you do not need to go back to your partner to open an RMA ticket. With just one click from the Juniper Mist User Engagement portal, you can reach support and issue an RMA ticket directly, so the support part is excellent with Juniper, particularly in Juniper Mist User Engagement.
How was the initial setup?
The setup is very simple. With Juniper Mist User Engagement, once you have the subscription, everything is operational without the need for complicated designs or configurations. Everything during the presales activity exports to the cloud directly from any tool such as Hamina or Ekahau. Your designs will export directly, and when you map the hardware, everything works seamlessly, so there is no complicated configuration required to enable user engagement.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
From a pricing perspective, Juniper Mist User Engagement is not an affordable product; it is a high-end solution. Compared to Cisco, Juniper is more expensive, and while Aruba may be cheaper than Juniper, Huawei and Ruijie offer competitive pricing compared to Juniper. However, if the customer is looking for a top-tier product to utilize unique features such as Marvis, the virtual network assistant, and to benefit from powerful user engagement and asset visibility, Juniper Mist User Engagement is a good and the best solution in the market right now. But for customers seeking just simple Wi-Fi networks, Juniper Mist User Engagement may be more expensive for their needs.
What other advice do I have?
Primarily, with data centers, I am working with Apstra as an SDN manager and QFX switches, and for the campus side, I am dealing with Juniper Mist User Engagement and Mist Wireless, and the EX switches, and the assurance also as a MAC.
The solution is entirely provided by Juniper, and Juniper's cloud is hosted on AWS.
The main competitor I see for Juniper Mist User Engagement is only Arista from a technical perspective. However, in terms of market competition, they do not consider Arista a competitor since they focus more on Cisco. Before the acquisition, Juniper competed against Aruba, but after the acquisition, there is no longer any competition between Aruba and Juniper since both are under HPE. Therefore, the only competitor left is Cisco.
Overall, I can give Juniper Mist User Engagement a final rating of nine to ten. I do not notice any gaps in this solution as of now. They provide normal campus solutions, and they are capable of advanced or modern designs such as three-stage or five-stage deployments. Wi-Fi-wise, they fit all use cases and all deployments, along with all the value-added services covered. I can easily give it a ten out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Amazon Web Services (AWS)
