The Hindu Business Line : Juniper Networks enters switching biz

Juniper Networks, manufacturer of routers, firewalls and virtual private network hardware, has entered the network switching market by launching a series of Ethernet switches targeted at enterprises using high performance computing.

High performance computing is used where multiple processors are linked together to deliver superior performance (usually in the range of teraflops and above) as is required in businesses involving data warehousing and transaction processing activities.

Priced upwards of $4,000 (about Rs 1.6 lakh), the series consists of fixed configuration platform switches (to offer plug and play connectivity), virtual chassis technology switches (to offer scalable connectivity through a single backbone infrastructure) and Terabit chassis-based configuration (for high density aggregated deployments).

According to Mr Scott Kriens, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Juniper Networks, customer demand led to the company’s entry into the switching business. “When we entered the enterprise market four years ago, we realised the way to gain market share was to be part of the routing and switching businesses,” he said.

Common operating system

Sharing a study involving Chief Information Officers’ priorities for 2008, he said enterprises wanted to create more customers, to improve business processes and to create new businesses — all without increasing the IT budget. “This translates into the need for better and a more secure network infrastructure,” he said at the global launch of the Ethernet switches.

Juniper’s switches can be integrated with its other products and run on the existing software platform called JUNOS. This reduces the process time taken to move between layers of networks, which otherwise run on different software platforms. “A common operating system can reduce training, maintenance and management costs which translate into lower total cost of ownership,” said Mr Hitesh Sheth, Executive Vice-President and General Manager of Ethernet Platforms Business Group, Juniper Networks.

Sales and revenues

The company will increase its sales partnerships besides training existing partners on the switching market in aspects of technology, presales and post-sales. When asked how many switches they expected to sell in India, Mr Nagendra Venkaswamy, Managing Director (India and SAARC), Juniper Networks, said the company would make a “significant dent” in the switching market share in the first year.

The global switching market is projected to be $17 billion strong (about Rs 68,000 crore) while the Indian market is currently worth about $555 million (about Rs 2,220 crore).

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