Juniper Networks Inc. has struck an alliance with China’s Lenovo Group Ltd., that will see the two companies work together to build a number of converged, hyper-converged and hyper-scale data center infrastructure products aimed at the enterprise.

It’s an interesting if somewhat unexciting move, but one that has the potential to become a big deal. The partnership will see Lenovo contribute its switches and the x86 servers it acquired from IBM. Meanwhile, Juniper will contribute its bulging portfolio of network management software, network security products, routers, switches and software-defined networking (SDN) technology to the effort.

The deal also means that Lenovo’s customers will now be able to purchase Juniper’s networking gear and support directly from the Chinese firm. Meanwhile, Lenovo will bring its Open Network Install Environment (ONIE) products to market with Juniper’s help. The plan is to eventually offer what the companies call “simplified management and orchestration in the data center”, through a combination of Juniper’s Network Director and Contrail SDN software, and Lenovo’s xClarity management software.

The deal will also see Juniper expand its presence in China, as the two partners will work together to develop joint go-to-market plans and a customized reseller model to meet Chinese localization requirements. In addition, the companies said they’re going to collaborate on a worldwide go-to-market strategy in order to target everyone from enterprises to channel partners, system integrators and service providers.

“Lenovo is on a mission to become the market leader in data center solutions,” said Gerry Smith, Lenovo’s EVP and COO for its PC and Enterprise Business Group. “Our partnership with Juniper Networks provides Lenovo access to an industry leading portfolio of products that include Software Defined Networking (SDN) solutions – essential for state-of-the-art data centre offerings.”

Big plans in place then, but so far not much more than words. We’ll be waiting with baited breath to see how this new partnership pans out.

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