Juniper Unveils Cloud-Based SD-WAN Service Post-Mist Acquisition

Juniper Networks is taking its software-defined wide area networking service to the cloud.

The company announced on Monday a version of its Contrail Service Orchestration offering that it will deliver through the cloud. The new platform also integrates the “AI-driven” wireless LAN of recently purchased Mist Systems. Mist will allows customers to see analytics about their Wi-Fi and other networking features.

Juniper touts its new product as providing scalable and simple management for WAN infrastructure as well as the accompanying LAN and Wi-Fi. Distributed enterprises can spend less spend money and time if their cloud-based SD-WAN centrally orchestrates operations and centrally connects disparate branch offices, according to Juniper.

Juniper Networks’ Manoj Leelanivas

Juniper Chief Product Officer Manoj Leelanivas said the SD-WAN service connects and oversees other parts of the Juniper networking portfolio, “making the benefits of SDN accessible to any enterprise.”

“This is a significant step in enabling our customers’ journey to AI for IT, extending the SDN transformation beyond cloud and data centers to the branch and the WAN,” Leelanivas said.  “With this launch, combined with our recent Mist Systems acquisition, we are making industry-leading strides in our bid to make SDN and AI for IT a reality for companies of all sizes.”

Juniper last month announced plans to buy Mist Systems for $405 million. The acquisition closed on April 1.

Lynn Haber wrote for Channel Futures that the move filled a gap in Juniper’s campus networking portfolio with Mist’s wireless LAN platform.

“Mist is not only a pioneer in the field of AI-driven wireless networking solutions but also a valued strategic partner of Juniper,” Juniper CEO Rami Rahim said. “As partners, we now have several proof-point wins to build upon as we leverage Juniper’s global enterprise sales partners and support teams to accelerate Mist.”

The City of Portsmouth, Virginia, is using Juniper’s cloud-based SD-WAN solution as it becomes a “smart city.”

“Juniper’s new SD-WAN solution will provide the simplicity, flexibility and security necessary to expand beyond our initial smart city goals and stake out a rightful claim as a technology hub for the best and brightest digital businesses,” said Daniel Jones, Portsmouth’s chief information officer.

The benefits of the cloud upgrade go beyond flexibility and centralized management to include managed security and a new program called the Juniper Financial Services offering. The latter is a new assemblage payment plans for qualified customers. It provides a bundled solution of Juniper Contrail Service Orchestration and a variety of hardware and software like Mist’s wireless LAN.

Light Reading wrote in January that Juniper hoped to become Orange Business Services’ next SD-WAN partner, in addition to Cisco’s Viptela.