Juniper acquisitions to form performance unit
Networking and security giant reveals plans for separate applications unit after latest buy
Juniper Networks has confirmed the formation of an ‘application performance unit’ after its April acquisitions.
The networking vendor acquired Peribit Networks, a WAN optimisation developer, and Redline Networks, an application front-end vendor, earlier in the year.
The move led to rival vendors seeking coverage in application development, with Cisco picking up Fine-Ground Networks in May and F5 buying Swan Labs in September.
The Peribit and Redline acquisitions will operate as a separate unit, focusing on developing performance for Juniper’s product range.
Steven Wastie, vice-president of emerging technologies at Juniper and former international marketing director at Peribit, said: “We have created a new business unit that will focus on application products and aims to increase application performance.
“Juniper has a reputation for seeing holes in the market and in application performance it has once again been an early mover,” he claimed.
Wastie said that a focus on application performance enables customers to save time and speed up an application as the data is removed.
Wastie added that Peribit shared channel partners with Juniper prior
to the acquisition and those partners are now best placed to move forward.
“We can now scale out and support our partners. We [at Peribit] did not lose our product focus and now have an emerging technologies team to support the channel,” added Wastie.
Jess Thompson-Hughes, managing director at distributor React Techno-logies, said: “This is a good idea, but
I’m not sure how much it will help Juniper. This is where the money is
as software retains its value and maybe this is a way of getting into a new revenue stream”.
Thompson-Hughes added that applications are often designed without considering the restraints of the infrastructure and Juniper may have a stronger position with the new unit.