HPE CEO Antonio Neri claimed “every partner is super-excited” as it finally closed its $14bn acquisition of Juniper Networks.
First announced in January 2024, the deal finally closed today after receiving clearance from the US Department of Justice (DoJ) over the weekend.
To placate the DoJ, HPE has agreed to divest its Aruba Instant On business and hold an auction to license Juniper’s AI Ops for Mist source code, however.
Following the announcement, Neri was joined by Juniper Networks CEO Rami Rahim on a press and analyst call.
Rahim – who will now lead the combined HPE Networking business – did most of the talking as the duo laid out the opportunities ahead for Juniper and HPE customers and partners.
But what were the most sizzling soundbites from the call? Here we round up our top six…
1. “Every partner I spoke to – and I know Rami did as well – is super-excited about this combination”
Neri acknowledged that partners were “wondering when we were able to close this transaction”, adding that the vendor had had “tremendous engagement from partners” through the 18-month deal process.
HPE unveiled a combined partner programme at its Partner Growth Summit last week, which the Juniper channel programme will be integrated into “over time”, Neri indicated.
2. “Not at all”
Neri was quick to rebuff a question on whether the concessions HPE made to the DoJ will hamper its competitiveness.
“What we have agreed with the DoJ is to offer a licence through an auction to a specific aspect of Juniper MIST, which is just the AI operations part… not the entire MIST code,” he stressed.
Aruba Instant On is a “very new business” and “completely separate” from the rest of the HPE Aruba platform, Neri added.
“It’s a unique offer targeting the SMB segment of the market, and most specifically the ‘S’ of SMB. It’s a very small business for us,” he said.
3. “We’re going to have this true north of AI native, cloud native, secure networking”
Although conceding it is “too early at this point” to provide any specifics on its roadmap plans, Rahim said his objective is to “build the best networking business on the planet”.
“Right now, I’m rolling up my sleeves and starting on a customer- and market-focused, thoughtful integration strategy. And we’re going to be guided in that work that we’re starting now by a true north, which is around secure, AI native and cloud native networking,” he said.
All customers starting their journey on the Aruba or Juniper side will “have a path to that exciting true north,” he claimed.
Later on the call, Rahim said he felt “a little bit like a kid in a candy store right now, looking at technology components all around me”.
4. “HPE and Juniper will have the most comprehensive, secure, AI native, client-to-cloud portfolio of networking products”
Rahim moved onto the front foot when asked about how the deal will change the competitive landscape, particularly in relation to Cisco.
“I’ve basically devoted my career to competing with the large players in our industry, Cisco included,” he said.
The benefits of the Juniper deal don’t stop at networking, he claimed, however.
“We’re also going to be the only technology provider to have all of the critical elements of IT across compute, storage, networking and software,” he said.
HPE will also now have the technology components and scale to “capture more of these market inflexion points that are popping up on a daily or weekly basis”, Rahim added.
“I am a technologist at heart and when I look at the opportunity here to combine technologies and teams to compete not just with Cisco but with this very vibrant, very competitive landscape, it’s incredibly exhilarating to me,” he concluded.
5. “This will drive more innovation for our customers”
Neri claimed there are at least seven competitors that compete in aspects of the networking business in the US alone. “Therefore, I think this combination will create more competition and more innovation as we go forward,” he said.
6. “Both brands will stay”
Neri was quick to emphasise that both Aruba and Juniper will be “go-forward brands”. “Both brands have tremendous recognition in the market and therefore it is a value for us that we must retain,” he concluded.
