Juniper Snags Microsoft Windows Veteran For Enterprise Marketing Post

Brooks, most recently corporate vice president of Windows Consumer Marketing and Product Management at Microsoft, will be in charge of overall marketing strategy for Juniper's enterprise segment, along with the go-to-market roadmaps for Juniper's horizontal and vertical businesses.

He reports to Lauren Flaherty, Juniper's executive vice president and chief marketing officer, and will lead Juniper's global enterprise marketing teams and programs.

"Brad is a superb global marketer with a track record of driving significant business growth," said Flaherty in a statement. "His depth of experience aligns very well with our focus on accelerating the new network and I am thrilled we have Brad in this highly strategic role."

Juniper has dramatically broadened its marketing strategy in the past year and a half. In line with a major product launch in the fall of 2009, it unveiled a new logo and a brand awareness push behind the slogan, "The New Network." Partners throughout the past year have saluted Juniper's newly aggressive marketing, an area many in the Juniper channel thought had been lacking in the past.

Brooks, who had been with Microsoft since 2002, has been a visible presence throughout his Microsoft career, known for being one of Windows Vista's most ardent public defenders, and also having overseen the launch of Windows 7.

But his departure makes him part of a growing exodus of Microsoft talent in the post-Vista era. Juniper CEO Kevin Johnson is himself the former head of Microsoft's Platforms and Services unit.

Before Microsoft, Brooks held various executive positions at Lucent Technologies and AT&T, and was earlier in his career an intelligence analyst for the U.S. government.

Brooks' appointment is also the latest in a series of high-profile executive moves at Juniper, going back to Johnson's ascent in 2008 and the hiring of Flaherty, a former Nortel CMO, in January 2009. Juniper's enterprise marketing team has had a vacancy since the August departure of Michael Banic, now with HP Networking.

Juniper did not respond immediately to requests for additional comment Wednesday. According to an internal memo from Brooks to Microsoft colleagues, posted online by All Things D, Brooks' last day with Microsoft is Feb. 4.

"My incredible journey has been because of you — the team, the Windows team, the Microsoft team," Brooks writes. "We have overcome some of the toughest challenges in the business, and certainly we continue to be engaged in some of the fiercest competitive battles Windows has ever faced; but we have also never been better positioned with current product, future road map, leadership and people talent to win these battles in the 9 years I have been here."

Among other executive moves, Juniper is expected to name a new worldwide channel chief later this month -- a job that's been open since former worldwide chief Frank Vitagliano became Juniper's senior vice president of partners, the Americas, in May 2010.

Juniper this week also launched a new continuing education program in the Juniper Learning Academy: a free offering for Juniper partners that lets partners be flexible about choosing courses to fit their interests.

Kevin McLaughlin contributed to this article.