Juniper offers new portfolio to leverage BYOD trend

IT departments are increasingly struggling to support an array of mobile devices as the bring-your-own-device trend adds additional security and management concerns to their responsibilities.

Juniper Networks (Nasdaq: JNPR), hoping to capitalize on the increased number of BYOD tablets and smartphones in use by enterprises, is launching several new products in a networking portfolio dubbed "Simply Connected." The portfolio includes three new switching products, wireless LAN product innovations and a set of updated iOS and Android mobile device security capabilities. The initiative arrives just as Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) sets to launch the iPhone 5 Tuesday, likely to increase the demand for mobile solutions.

According to Nemertes Research, 86 percent of enterprises report an increase in the number of telecommuters. Additionally, while IT budgets remain flat or increase only marginally, more than 43 percent of organizations report a double-digit increase in mobility budgets.

Juniper said it believes legacy networks designed for wired PCs are ill-suited to meet the demands of new applications; the company hopes its new portfolio simplifies current network infrastructures.

"It should be simple for individuals to choose and change their devices, simple to securely access their business applications and easy for the IT department to provision one policy per user that works across multiple devices, from tablets to smart phones to PCs," said Alex Gray, senior vice president and general manager of the campus and branch business unit at Juniper Networks.

Juniper's Simply Connected portfolio includes two Ethernet switches available now, the EX2200 and EX3200, and the EX6200, which is set to ship in the fourth quarter. The EX6200 is designed to deliver a scalable, resilient, high-performance wiring closet solution and to provide extremely high port densities in a space-optimized form factor.

Also available this month is the WLC880 wireless LAN controller, which is supported by new system software capabilities, including Juniper Networks Spectrum Management, and ensures over the air reliability on mainstream 802.11n APs including the WLA-522 AP and advanced spectrum planning capability.

Juniper's Junos Pulse Mobile Security Suite has been updated to include the ability for enterprises and service providers with Apple's (Nasdaq: AAPL) iPhones, iPod touch and iPads to remotely lock and wipe lost or stolen devices, set and enforce security and passcode policies, provision and remove Microsoft Exchange profiles, provision VPN and Wi-Fi settings, inventory device applications and restrict specific apps on iOS devices.

For more:
- see this release

Related articles:
HP, Cisco battle prompts drop in Ethernet switch revenues
Cisco goes on offensive against Juniper Networks; is HP next?
Mitel plays into BYOD trend with UC apps for Apple's iPhone, iPad