IBM and Juniper $325m Deal

IBM, has been selected to assist Juniper Networks in modernizing their cloud infrastructure, in a deal worth $325 million span over seven years.

As part of the initiative, Juniper will use the IBM Services Platform with Watson to help manage its existing data centers, applications and IT services.

California-based Juniper is one of the world’s largest networking equipment and software vendors, with a market capitalization of approximately $10.6 billion.

IBM’s Watson tech will be applied to a wide variety of tasks at Juniper, to support systems including data centers, help desks and data and voice networks.

In addition, this agreement will allow Juniper Networks to use IBM’s cognitive technologies to create an agile IT environment. IBM will introduce the “Factory Development”, the concept which stands for application management, using automation and cognitive tools, designed to help the company drive efficiency, cost savings and assist Juniper Networks toward achieving a cloud-native landscape.

Juniper, before this deal, has been implementing AI to its networking software for years, most recently in the shape of network automation modules called bots, launched as part of its ‘self-driving network’ concept.

 

“A key element of our digital transformation is to manage the complexities of our global operation and to get the most out of our current investments,” said Bob Worrall, CIO at Juniper. “In working with IBM Services, we will be able to collaborate with them on innovative solutions for our cloud-first business model.”

It is not yet clear whether this deal means that Juniper will also become a relevant customer of the IBM Cloud. A quote from Martin Jetter, Senior Vice President of IBM Global Technology Services, suggests of the topic otherwise: “Our work with thousands of enterprises globally has led us to the firm belief that a ‘one-cloud-fits-all’ approach doesn’t work and companies are choosing multiple cloud environments to best meet their needs,” he makes in a statement.