Juniper to target Cisco with partner alliances

Focus on IBM and Dell OEM deals.

Juniper Networks' recent partnership with IBM and Dell was a sign that it had gained ground against one of its closest competitors Cisco, the networking vendor told Australian and New Zealand partners today.  

At the Juniper Network Partner Summit in Sydney today, Gary Kinsley, Juniper's vice president of channel sales APAC, said the vendor relies on partners to make its play against Cisco "interesting".

"We're now with IBM and Dell; business partners that have historically built their business around Cisco. An interesting business play depends on you, the business channels," Kinsley said.

Both IBM and Dell signed OEM deals with Juniper Networks last year and are now starting to bring their products to market. The vendors sell Juniper switches and brand them as their own.

"Those strategic alliances [are] obviously important to us, and in many cases it means those guys are focusing on Juniper as opposed to our closest competitor," Kinsley said.  

Kinsley said the traditional Cisco reseller and system integrator community has also shown similar interest.

"Thousands of those guys have historically been selling Cisco...it's partly end-user driven. End-users are asking their integrators to quote Juniper as a potential alternative," Kinsley said. 

Kinsley said Juniper "intentionally" doesn't have an "over distribution" of partners and he wants to "delineate between themselves around their services capabilities.

In the video from left: Gary Kinsley, vice president of channel sales, APAC, Juniper; Lori Cornmesser, worldwide services provider channel, managed services.