Juniper Networks, a leader in secure, AI-driven networks, has announced that the company has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Apstra, a leader in intent-based networking and automated closed loop assurance. Juniper’s strategy is to change the way networks are built, operated and secured in the cloud era by using AI-driven automation. Apstra accelerates this by combining next-generation network automation based on an open, multivendor architecture with Juniper’s data centre networking portfolio based on Junos, the proven open, programmable and high-scale operating system for next-generation data centres and cloud networks. The combined solution helps public and private cloud builders optimise operations for application experience as they accelerate on the path towards the self-driving network.
The Apstra solution does far more than automate repeated operations steps. With Apstra, architects describe how the data centre should behave in terms of outcomes and the system implements and continuously assures that the network operations and experience match the intent. These capabilities make Apstra stand apart in providing proactive insights, along with automated root cause identification and remediation. While safeguarding the network, Apstra also enables self-service delivery, with its advanced automation accelerating time to market along with lowering data centre outages and OpEx.
The richness of intent-based operations from design to everyday management relies on the performance and programmability of the underlying infrastructure. Recognised as a leader in the 2020 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Data Center and Cloud Networking and The Forrester Wave: Open, Programmable Switches for a Businesswide SDN, Q3 2020, Juniper provides the industry’s most modern fabrics and 400G scalability with programmable access and real-time telemetry. Juniper switches, differentiated in their EVPN-VXLAN fabric capabilities, integrate to Apstra today to automatically deploy services and safely implement changes, advancing fabric management and simplified operations in the automated data centre.
Apstra’s multivendor integrations extend its closed loop automation and analytics to customers independently of their underlying infrastructure, including those running SONiC (Software for Open Networking in the Cloud). The acquisition expands Juniper’s commitment to open programmability, adding to its portfolio of solutions that includes powerful switching platforms with native SONiC integration and a deployment-hardened, cloud-native routing stack for the SONiC ecosystem.
Juniper does not expect the acquisition of Apstra to materially impact revenue in 2021. While the acquisition is expected to be approximately breakeven to non-GAAP earnings for the full-year 2021, it will likely be dilutive during the first half of the year. The acquisition is expected to be accretive to revenue growth and non-GAAP earnings in 2022.
“Juniper’s Data Center portfolio is consistently recognised by both analysts and customers as industry leading, with top marks for performance, scale, security and simplified operations through automation,” said Rami Rahim, CEO, Juniper Networks. “Adding Apstra’s intent-based networking and automated closed loop assurance advances our vision to transform data centre operations. With the combination of Juniper and Apstra, customers get the best infrastructure and fabric management with integrated design, deployment and automated root cause identification and remediation to satisfy any data centre environment. This is networking for the modern cloud era.”
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