Juniper Networks Inc. is focusing on helping customers move artificial intelligence in their networks from vision to reality, and today it laid out its plans at its AI-Native NOW customer event at the New York Stock Exchange.

Over the last several years, Juniper has developed strong AI networking products, and interest in AI for networking is extremely high, as engineers need help keeping up with modern networks’ complexity. A recent ZK Research–Cube Research study found that 93% of organizations consider the network to be more important to business operations than it was two years ago. In the same time frame, 80% of respondents also stated the network is more complex.

If everything stays the same, the growth in importance and complexity will eventually create an untenable situation. Enter AI as the solution. However, my rule on information technology projects is that the solution should never be more complicated than the problem, and AI in the network is very complex today.

Juniper aims to simplify the process of deploying AI with what it’s calling a “Blueprint for AI-Native Acceleration,” which addresses the challenges of each step of the AI-networking journey. This includes the following phases: Learn, Try, Buy, Deploy and Optimize. Here are the specifics of each:

Learn

Most network professionals will be new to AI, and nothing scares an engineer more than being new, as it can lead to errors, downtime and risk. Juniper is rolling out targeted training courses for different stakeholders.

For business leaders, Juniper has developed a free course to educate on how AIOps can be used strategically to optimize network operations, which will lead to a better performing network at a lower cost. Having the education directed at business leaders can help drive change faster. Engineers often resist change, which can hold the company back, which is why change needs to be driven from the top down.

For engineers, Juniper offers a range of hands-on classes and certifications that can help them kickstart their AI knowledge. Topics include AIOps, wireless, switching, routing, security, cloud and automation. These classes are free as part of Juniper’s blueprint initiative.

Try

Juniper is putting its money where its mouth is. In my conversations with Juniper executives, all the way up to Chief Executive Rami Rahim (pictured), the company is confident that, if it can get customers to try the product, they’ll become a customer. For a limited time, Juniper will offer qualified prospects the ability to kick the tires on a set of products for free or a heavily discounted price.

This initiative is well-timed, as AI superiority could cause customers to switch from their incumbent. In the previously mentioned survey, more than 90% of respondents stated they would be willing to switch network vendors if the AI is better. A sample of “try before you buy” products include:

• Wi-Fi: Free access points and 90-day trial of wireless assurance software.
• Data center: Advanced license for Juniper Apstra data center assurance software for the price of a standard license. Also, customers have access to the industry’s first Ops4AI Lab, hosted by Juniper to validate performance and functionality of their AI models.
• WAN routing: Free flexible service credits to apply towards migration services and training, free first year of support including Juniper Support Insights, plus free three-year trial of Juniper Paragon automation platform.
• Security: Buy one year of security subscription, get two years free.
• Juniper Support Insights: Free support offer for enhanced customer support.

Buy

Historically there has been one way to buy network products. Write a big check at time of purchase and then pay maintenance annually. More and more, customers are looking for different options to smooth out the lumpiness associated with upgrades. Juniper is offering flexible purchasing options. This includes:

• Enterprise agreements: Custom and packaged Enterprise Agreement options to simplify managing many licenses with a staggered deployment.
• Network-as-a-service: Juniper offers the ability to procure networks via a periodic payment plan or fixed-term subscription, via its managed network partners.

Deploy

Deploying infrastructure is never an easy task as there are many things to consider. The company has created several “Juniper Validated Designs” that, as the name suggests, comprise a validated, tested and proven guide to implementing Juniper technology. This takes the specific platform, software version and other factors to give customers the confidence that when they deploy, it’s going to work as advertised. Juniper also has its down deployment Services to support its customers as the products are installed.

Optimize

In many ways, once the technology is deployed is when the hard work starts. Environments are far from static and there is always a large amount of tweaking and tuning to do. Juniper has AI-powered support that the company claims will resolve 80% of routing service inquiries autonomously. 

It’s also introducing AI Care Services that give customers access to personalized support. This includes on-going validation and optimization and quarterly reviews.

As a proof point, Juniper customer, Bryan Ward, lead network engineer for New Hampshire-based Dartmouth College, talked about his experience with Juniper. Higher education is notoriously light on the number of IT staff for the size of population they need to support, making automation a “must have.” Dartmouth deployed more than 2,000 access points across the campus in just two days, which is remarkable considering the breadth of area that a school covers. The school network supports more than 30,000 Wi-Fi devices and 25,000 wired endpoints.

From Ward’s calculations, Dartmouth realized nine times faster deployment and a 10-fold reduction in IT ticket escalations. Students are amongst the most demanding of users and rock-solid Wi-Fi is mandatory.

As an analyst, it has been my thesis that share change happens when markets transition and AI is creating the biggest shift in networking since the early days of the internet. From its Mist acquisition, Juniper has been at the AI game longer than most other vendors and has an excellent set of products. The AI Network Blueprint is a good complement to the product as it addresses the “how” as opposed to the “what.”

The big elephant in the Juniper room is obviously the pending acquisition by Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co. The Blueprint can easily translate to HPE’s products and could help the combined company deliver a unified solution and be prescriptive as to how the two product lines can come together to solve business problems.

Photo: Zeus Kerravala