Look Back: Juniper Network's Americas Partner Conference

A Date With Juniper Networks

It's been a year of big, bold moves for Juniper Networks and its channel, and at Juniper's Americas Partner Conference in Phoenix, there was a sense of pride and forward momentum among solution providers who've allied themselves with Juniper. Here's a brief look at scenes, signage and sessions at the Phoenix show.

Kevin Johnson's Call To Action

"We are at the opportunity of a lifetime," said Juniper CEO Kevin Johnson, who told partners that the challenges of future networks -- and the dominant trends of cloud computing and mobility -- will not be satisfied by status quo solutions.

"The companies who are investing in innovation will be the big winners this decade," he said.

Johnson later told CRN that Juniper will continue down a path of strategic R&D and M&A, as well as continue to be aggressive against its major networking and data center rivals.

Marketing Muscle

Juniper executives said -- and solution providers would no doubt agree -- that the biggest change in Juniper's overall strategy has been in marketing. Lauren Flaherty, Juniper's chief marketing officer, told partners that among other changes, Juniper's market development fund spending increased 20 percent in the past year, and that 40 percent of all MDF spending is now allocated to marketing.

"We are all in," said Flaherty in a rallying call to partners.

Juniper Stocks Have It?

Stock performance isn't the only measure of a company's value over the long haul, but as Flaherty and others were quick to point out, Juniper's stock performance over the past five years has been a cheerier picture than that of its top networking rival, Cisco. Credit Flaherty and her lieutenants for knowing when to turn up the heat; as Juniper's conference got underway, Cisco announced a reorganization of its consumer unit -- one of several public relations headaches mighty Cisco has had to grapple with lately.

Making Her Debut

Speaking of Cisco, it was for many years where Luanne Tierney worked as marketing chief for Cisco's channels-focused executive team. But Tierney was among several high-profile executive departures at Cisco this year, and also part of a hiring spree by Juniper that's brought notable execs from Microsoft, Oracle, HP and several other tech titans to its stable, too.

Tierney, who is now Juniper's vice president, global partner marketing, said that Juniper partners will see a major marketing push this year, to build on the momentum Juniper's already created. Among the tools, Tierney told CRN, will be tailored marketing plans for Juniper partners, as well as teaching them how to leverage social networking and other cutting edge marketing techniques more effectively.

Frank Discussion

A longtime presence in the channel, Frank Vitagliano, Juniper's senior vice president, Americas partners, reminded Juniper VARs that it's all about profitability and the ways they can grow with Juniper. Vitagliano -- along with Emilio Umeoka, Juniper's recently appointed senior vice president, worldwide partners -- later told CRN that more Juniper partners will continue to gravitate toward software-led sales. It's all part of a continuing evolution, Vitagliano said.

"Five years ago, we were basically a security partner," Vitagliano said "That's what we really had. But many partners have gone from a security-oriented focus to a network infrastructure focus. The next evolution will really be the software opportunities we have. We won't force that on partners. That'll be predicated on the model the partner has in place. But we will facilitate it."

The Product And The Solution

One of the biggest focuses for Juniper's marketing team going forward is how to present and create excitement around sophisticated technologies, said Peter Finter, vice president, Americas marketing. It isn't as effective to try to sell customers on raw technology as it its lead them to Juniper solutions that connect the dots in the ways those customers need.

"We want to make it easy for customers to consider what constitutes a true network fabric versus what else is in the market," Finter told CRN. "Partners can educate their customers and we can lay it out in such a way that helps customers understand what choices they have to make and what various solutions look like."

Challenge The Leaders

One of Juniper's more outspoken executives is Andy Ingram, vice president, product marketing, fabric and switching group at Juniper, who told partners that to displace Cisco in the data center, Juniper must definitively beat Cisco on the technology front. As the data center moves to 10G-level connections, Ingram said, Juniper's focus will be on outgunning both Cisco and HP in the data center technologies of tomorrow.

New Path In Wireless

Partner chatter in Phoenix centered on a few different Juniper trends, including Juniper's November acquisition of Trapeze Networks and how much of a player Juniper will become in the contentious wireless LAN space. The answer? According to Alex Gray, senior vice president and general manager of ethernet switching, it's a big focus for Juniper this year, as is encouraging partners to expand beyond their core Juniper capabilities and add other areas of Juniper's portfolio.

Lawn Ornaments

The great lawn at Phoenix's sprawling, picturesque Arizona Biltmore was the site of after-hours merriment during several nights of Juniper's Americas Partner Conference.

Signs Of The Times

Juniper executives assured partners that they will remain tightly focused on "the new network" -- a marketing slogan that Juniper on several occasions made a call to action.