Juniper Networks is partnering with Meru Networks and plans to tap the WLAN vendor for joint sales and marketing activities.
Meru has joined Juniper’s J-Partner Infrastructure Alliance, a program that already includes wireless vendor Colubris Networks.
The Meru/Juniper partnership will focus on wireless VoIP solutions and will begin immediately with collaboration between the two Sunnyvale, Calif.-based companies on joint sales and co-marketing efforts, according to a Meru statement.
Neither vendor could be reached for comment regarding channel plans surrounding the partnership.
The two companies already share a common VoIP partner in Avaya. Juniper in May unveiled a strategic alliance with Avaya for joint product development and sales, while Meru in July said it had achieved Premier status in Avaya’s DeveloperConnection program and completed interoperability testing of its WLAN products with Avaya’s VoIP offerings.
Juniper entered the enterprise market a little over a year ago with its acquisition of security vendor NetScreen Technologies and followed that move with the launch of its first enterprise router line. The vendor faces pressure from some channel partners to expand its enterprise portfolio with switching, WLAN and VoIP products and has been using partnerships and acquisitions to fill some of the gaps.
“Certainly going out and looking for potential partners is absolutely the right move vs. sitting back and assuming it can do everything on its own,” said Dan Wilson, vice president of vendor relations at Accuvant, a Denver-based Juniper partner.
Wilson said that while Juniper isn’t necessarily losing sales because it doesn’t have a wireless portfolio of its own, it certainly is not gaining business because of it. “There are huge opportunities out there for wireless infrastructure companies,” he said.
Juniper has long been suspected of shopping for WLAN prospects to acquire, with vendor Aruba Networks rumored to be a leading contender. Speculation about Juniper’s wireless strategy increased sharply earlier this year following rival Cisco Systems’ acquisition of WLAN player Airespace in March.
