Juniper Completes Trapeze Acquisition: How It Will Benefit the Industry

[#1]

One month ago, we announced that Juniper Networks signed a definitive agreement to acquire Trapeze Networks, a technology leader in enterprise wireless local area network (WLAN) systems and management software. Today I’m pleased to announce that we have completed the purchase and that Trapeze Networks is now part of Juniper Networks.

I’ve been talking to many customers over the past few weeks about what this acquisition means for Trapeze customers and what it means for Juniper customers. 

With this acquisition, Juniper adds WLAN to our existing campus and branch switching, routing and security offerings for our customers.  We believe the combination of Trapeze and Juniper innovation will deliver clear technology advantages for our customers that reduce risk and lower total cost of ownership. 

Trapeze customers will be able to leverage Juniper’s expanded and increasingly integrated portfolio composed of end-to-end wired and wireless switching, routing and security infrastructure that increases productivity and delivers lowest TCO.

Customers have asked me how long they need to wait to realize the benefits of integration between Juniper and Trapeze products and solutions. Trapeze’s WLAN solutions combined with Junos^® Pulse client software can provide a seamless, secure, and easily managed roaming experience for today's wireless devices roaming between home, hotspots, and enterprise wireless environments.  

I wish a warm welcome to Trapeze customers who will now be able to leverage Juniper’s expanded and increasingly integrated portfolio composed of end-to-end wired and wireless switching, routing and security infrastructure to increase productivity. We plan to offer the same high levels of 24x7 follow-the-sun service and support for our expanded portfolio.

A few customers have asked about our investment plans in the Trapeze family of products.  We see WLAN as a long-term strategic fit. Juniper is a networking company that has bought an innovative, wireless networking access company and we plan to make this part of not only our product line but integrate it into our solutions going forward.

Juniper plans to invest in Trapeze’s existing overlay controller solution and in product integration. We also plan to introduce new access points, controllers, and software features, building on the existing Trapeze technology platform, based on Trapeze work in flight today and accelerated by Juniper IP and substantially increased R&D investment.

This acquisition advances Juniper’s vision for the new network, where customers will be able to build an end-to-end routing, security, wired and wireless switching infrastructure that improves users’ experience and increases their productivity regardless of location, at the lowest total cost of ownership.  Together, we plan to simplify enterprise networks to enable a seamless, high-quality, secure user experience to a mobile workforce.  I’m excited about the new opportunities this presents for Juniper and our customers.

[#2]

Recently, Juniper has been in the favour of organic growth for the sake of having a unified operating systems on all its platforms. Even their market leading NetScreen's are now being replaced by the Junos-based SRX's. So, I am wondering if you are planning to port Junos on the Trapeze product?

Also, I've noticed that Juniper recenlty tries to get its toes wet in a certain technology first before going there. Security features became available on the J-Series, then Juniper made the Junos-based SRX's. Many switching functionalities were developed on the SSG's bridge groups, and then Junipe made its own switches. The AX- wireless modules were made as an introduction to Trapeze Wifi acquisitions. Now I see two remaining technologies one of them is the IP Telephony (there are already SIP features on the SRX's), and Q1Labs OEM agreement looks like a step towards a SIEM via Junos Space, or may be Q1Labs acquisition. So are we going to see complete Juniper IP telephony - and less importantly SIEM - producst soon? Either via in-house development or via M&A's?

[#3]

In the article you are talking about all benefits and future plans for made aquisition of Trapeze Networks. We are wondering when that aquisition will be available trough Juniper sales channels and end users will be able to take advantages out of unified Juniper Wireless, switching and security solutions.

[#4]

@gr33ndata

Thank you for your interest in this topic.  You’ve asked several questions, so let’s take them one at a time, in no particular order.

First, with respect to new technologies or markets, Juniper remains committed to a strong organic product development effort supplemented by strategic acquisitions like Trapeze.  In fact, in 2010 alone, Juniper made four such strategic acquisitions, including Trapeze.

Second—and somewhat related to the first—is your comment about Juniper taking initial, tentative steps into certain technologies before moving to full product introductions, citing the AX WLAN modules as an example.  Actually, the AX411 WLAN Access Point was coincidental and not an explicit Juniper strategy.

Third, you ask if we plan to port the Trapeze products over to Junos.  In general we can’t comment on future product directions in a public forum like this, but I’ll make a partial exception here to state that, yes, we do intend to incorporate Trapeze WLAN technology into Junos in the future.

I hope this answers your questions.  Thanks again for writing

[#5]

@dante1977

Trapeze wireless LAN products will be available through Juniper sales channels starting in Q1 2011.  We hope to have the infrastructure in place for this early in the quarter, followed by enabling Juniper sales teams and the large Juniper partner community over the balance of Q1 and into Q2. 

[#6]

As an outside observer using hindsight, would it not have been more efficient to acquire Trapeze when they were first on the block a couple yrs ago? You were already an early investor and well aware of the sale, with a seat at the bargaining table. The price wasn't much different but the original talent pool would have been largely in place and willing. Better late than never?