Wireless Management - Local Controller vs. Cloud

Question

Good afternoon,
We are currently looking to upgrade (re-design) our wireless network at our college.
I was curious if anyone had any experience going from a local, controller-based wireless network to a cloud-based controller? If so, what have you found the pros and cons to be?
If you thought about going to a “cloud solution”, what stopped you?
In addition, any other feedback on Meracki, Aerohive, Aruba, or other solutions would be much appreciated.
About Us
We are currently running wireless at our 3 primary campus locations, and looking to add it to our 3 satellite locations.
We use 4402 WLCs at our primary locations with a mix of 1140 and 1240 APs.

Answer 1

The advantage of using local controller are
1.Lower Operational Expenses
2.Easier Way to Scale with Optimal Design
3.Single Location to Apply Wired and Wireless Services
In addition, certain controllers, such as Cisco Wireless Services Module (WiSM) blades on the Cisco Catalyst® 6500 Series Switches, perform various other functions, including application inspection using the Cisco Network Analysis Module, enhanced security with a full stateful firewall and intrusion detection system, and more. Placing the controller in a centralized location simplifies N+1 or N+N redundancy, depending on the size of the network. This redundancy means that for each wireless controller (N) there is at least one backup controller (+1). The backup controller is not positioned to actively contribute to normal system operation but provides a reliable way to protect the network in case of any failure or downtime on the component being used to manage network access
The advatage of using cloud based controller
1.The Cisco Flex 7500 Series Cloud Controllers are used for this.
2.you can consolidate multiple controllers in to one controller with support up to 6000 access points and 64,000 clients from data center
3.Gain significant saving in operatins by configuring , managing and troubleshooting 6000 AP's and 64,000 clients in single pint of touch
4. When traffic is directed to the controller in FlexConnect Central switched mode, the Flex7500 Series supports Application Visibility and Control (AVC). AVC includes the NBAR-2 engine, Cisco's deep packet inspection (DPI) capability that classifies applications, applies quality of service (QoS) to either drop or mark the traffic, and prioritizes business-critical applications in the network. AVC uses NetFlow Version 9 to export the flows. The Cisco Flex 7500 Series in central switched mode also supports Bonjour Services Directory to enable Bonjour Services to be advertised and utilized in a separate Layer 3