Juniper Networks management announced earlier this week that its cloud and AI engine Mist can be used to manage its SD-WAN solution. At the same time, the company, historically a front-line WAN provider, bolstered its router portfolio with the acquisition of 128 Technology (128T) for a whopping $450 million.
What sets Juniper Networks’ new acquisition apart is its different approach to solving the problem of using the internet as a corporate network. Its Session Intelligent Router (SSR) changes the way packets are routed across a network.
As a reminder, Juniper Networks began to look into artificial intelligence (AI) in 2019, with the acquisition of Mist Systems. Prior to this transaction, Juniper’s Enterprise business was in decline, with no real differentiator. Since then, Juniper has used Mist as a cornerstone of its business strategy, and the results have paid off, with this segment of its business showing dynamic growth to say the least.
A new SD-Wan offer
At the end of 2020, Juniper had already integrated Mist Assurance into 128T’s WAN suite, even before its acquisition. This solution is, it should be remembered, intended to allow enterprise customers to solve typical “second day” problems, in particular through anomaly detection, AI-based troubleshooting and predictive information. “Second day” issues refer to all the critical, but often overlooked issues that an organization faces once an application is in production.
Now customers will be able to use Mist across Juniper Networks’ entire enterprise portfolio, providing a cloud-based offering with all the benefits that entails.
The new version of 128T’s Smart Conduction Suite should now make it easier for customers to switch to an all-Juniper network if they choose, as Mist already works with the company’s wired and wireless product portfolio. Enough to meet the challenge of improving the user experience, while each part of the network was until now managed in isolation. As more and more workloads have migrated together, understanding user experience requires understanding the end-to-end network, making siled management ineffective.
New security capabilities for agencies
In addition to basic operational features, Juniper Networks has expanded its offering with new security features for agencies, including IDS/IPS and URL filtering. Built-in security features eliminate the need for additional devices, simplifying the complexity typical of a branch office. Although IDS, IPS, and URL filtering are not a holistic security stack, they meet the needs of most branch offices. More sophisticated customers will likely deploy separate devices if they are looking for advanced capabilities.
Juniper also unveiled two new cloud-managed SD-WAN gateways. The SSR120 and SSR130 are designed for small and medium businesses. Like the larger SSR1000 line, which is designed more for headend scale, the two smaller products offer multiple WAN link options that include LTE, which is becoming increasingly attractive as backup connection.
The launch of this new offer is important for Juniper, which has always played the second or even the third role against Cisco and HPE-Aruba.
Source: ZDNet.com