There is little doubt that 2020 will go down in history as one of the more “interesting” years. A global pandemic, devastating fires, civil unrest, murder hornets and much more gave us all plenty to complain about over the past 12 months.
But with new lows come new highs.
On the personal front, 2020 was one of the best years ever for me as it ushered in the birth of my first child. While others were “forced” to work from home, I loved every minute of it and am forever grateful for that extra time with my daughter.
On the professional front, it was actually a darn good year, too. While much of the industry was struggling, Juniper Networks’ enterprise business continued to steadily grow. This was largely due to the fact that Juniper made huge strides in several key enterprise networking areas, which not only enabled us to capture market share in 2020, but in my opinion, positions us strongly to do more of the same in 2021.
Here is a quick recap of some of the more noteworthy enterprise accomplishments:
- Data center networking keeps setting the standard: For the 3rd year in a row, Juniper was named a leader in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Data Center and Cloud Networking. Similarly, we are a leader once again in the Forrester Wave™: Open Programmable Switches for Businesswide SDN. We’re one of only two vendors who achieved both distinctions! This was buoyed by architectural strengths in several key areas, including scale, performance, automation and flexibility. The best evidence of this were noteworthy recent data center customer wins at Aveanna Healthcare, SEMRush and Colruyt Group.
But wait, there’s more! Juniper has no intention of resting on our data center laurels. Just the opposite, in fact. Which is why we recently announced our intent to aquire Apstra. By adding the best intent-based networking, closed-loop assurance and multivendor interoperability to our award-winning DC portfolio, we are taking data center configuration and operations to the next level. For more information on this great addition to the Juniper portfolio, check out the blog by industry luminary and Apstra CEO, David Cheriton.
- Cool to commanding in wired/wireless access: This year, Juniper was also named a leader in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Wired and Wireless LAN Access Infrastructure. In fact, Juniper is positioned highest for execution in the leaders’ quadrant. In my opinion, this distinction was based on our unique ability to optimize user experiences via AIOps, tightly integrated wired/wireless operations and the industry’s only AI-Driven Virtual Network Assistant (Marvis), which can answer questions on par with a network expert.
Since first launching in 2016 (when Gartner named Mist Systems a cool vendor in the 2016 Cool Vendors in Mobile and Wireless report), to now (where we are a leader in the 2020 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Wired and Wireless LAN Access Infrastructure), 5 of the Fortune/Global 10 have switched to Juniper wired/wireless driven by Mist AI. Additionally, marquee customers like Dartmouth, ServiceNow, the Gap, West Virginia University and many more are seeing elevated user experiences and significant operational savings with our solution. In addition, top companies like MIT and Walmart have chosen to work with Juniper to educate the industry on best practices for implementing next generation AI-driven Wi-Fi, location and IoT networks. We have been truly fortunate to work with the best-of-the-best in wired/wireless networking.
- The WAN is now in session: Juniper was named a visionary in the 2020 Gartner Magic Quadrant for WAN Edge Infrastructure. In my opinion, Juniper propelled into this spot based on our robust connected security story coupled with the same AI-Driven Enterprise vision outlined above, which Juniper extended beyond the LAN and WLAN this year to also include the WAN. This concept, called “client-to-cloud” AIOps, delivers optimized end-to-end user experiences and security, all managed via a common AI engine. Powerful stuff indeed, which few (if any) other vendors can match.
But, again, Juniper is not one to sit tight when there’s a chance to hit the gas. This month, we closed on the acquisition of 128 Technology, whose session-smart routing brings unique performance, scale and manageability to SD-WAN environments. Further, and perhaps most importantly, session-smart routing gives unique visibility into user experiences, which perfectly aligns with the Juniper enterprise vision and accelerates our journey to client-to-cloud AIOps.
The above is just a taste of the amazing momentum Juniper has built this year, which also includes strong showings in Enterprise Network Firewalls, Indoor Location and other key areas.
Whatever 2021 has in store (seriously – what more can be thrown at us?), Juniper is not only ready to take it on, we are eager for what lies ahead. As we approach the new year, I can hear opportunity knocking loudly and Juniper is answering the door.
Gartner Magic Quadrant for Data Center and Cloud Networking
Andrew Lerner, Evan Zeng, Jonathan Forest
June 30, 2020
Gartner Magic Quadrant for WAN Edge Infrastructure
Jonathan Forest, Andrew Lerner, Naresh Singh
September 23, 2020
Gartner Magic Quadrant for Wired and Wireless LAN Access Infrastructure
Bill Menezes, Christian Canales, Tim Zimmerman, Mike Toussaint
November 4, 2020
Gartner Cool Vendors in Mobile and Wireless, 2016
April 20, 2016
The Forrester Wave™: Open, Programmable Switches For A Businesswide SDN
Andre Kindness
July 28, 2020
