JULY 22, 2009 -- Juniper Networks Inc. (search Lightwave for Juniper) and IBM (search Lightwave for IBM) have broadened their relationship via an OEM agreement. The agreement will see IBM System & Technology Group (STG) to brand, label, and sell select Juniper EX Series Ethernet switches and MX Series Ethernet Services routers within IBM's data center portfolio of products.
The EX and MX Series products are designed to advance IT initiatives for data center consolidation, server virtualization, and sustainable information technology. The combined product offering can significantly reduce network complexity and total cost of ownership by up to 61 percent in capital expenditures, up to 46 percent in power, up to 46 percent in cooling, and up to 33 percent in rack space in the data center, the two companies assert.
"With Juniper's Ethernet technologies added to our data center portfolio, IBM is able to offer customers more choice and flexibility in their networking solutions to address the growing demands being placed on their IT environments," said Jim Comfort, IBM vice president of enterprise initiatives. "This new OEM agreement with Juniper will help support IBM's data center networking initiatives through unparalleled network scalability, carrier-class reliability, and operational simplicity, accelerating the deployment of our customers' virtualized applications and services, and extending the value of their networks."
"This OEM agreement represents a continued deepening of our relationship with IBM, and a significant new route to market for Juniper," said Hitesh Sheth, executive vice president and general manager, Ethernet Platforms Business Group, Juniper Networks. "Our focus on delivering fast, reliable, secure, simplified networks fits perfectly into IBM's dynamic infrastructure initiative to help customers accelerate growth and innovation, while creating operational efficiencies and overall savings."
The two companies already had a reseller agreement in place since 2007, through which IBM's Global Technology Services (GTS) group has resold Juniper's product portfolio as part of their Service Product Line (SPL) offerings, including routing, switching, and security technologies. This reseller agreement will continue, the companies say. IBM also offers their Managed Maintenance Services (MMS) on the Juniper product portfolio. IBM and Juniper have also been working together on joint technology offerings, standards development, network management, and managed security services.
For example, IBM and Juniper have been working together on the Stratus Project, Juniper's initiative to create a single data center fabric that will significantly improve scale, performance, and simplicity, with the flexibility to support fully converged and virtualized data center environments. The companies are jointly researching cloud computing security models as well.
Visit Juniper Networks
Visit IBM