We are planning to expand into the tier-2 and 3 cities which is a virgin market for us

Juniper Networks wants its partners to make profit at every possible level
and ensure that there are not too many partners for similar opportunities

What are your business offerings and what are the key trends you are
seeing therein?

We are in the business of providing network equipment in routing, Ethernet
switching, network security and network optimization/acceleration space. Juniper
is known for building networks for service providers and businesses. Some of the
key trends in the service provider space are that large telecom operators are
rolling out MPLS networks for carrying voice and data. Ethernet is being offered
as the de facto connectivity mechanism in the last mile. In the enterprise
segment we are seeing deployment of secure routers and also BFSI customers are
refreshing their technology for wide area secure connectivity over the Internet.
Many large and medium enterprises are also deploying security gateway devices
the operation of which is based on the network.

While there was a lull last year in network security deployments, investments
in this area are now growing. Perimeter security has always been the priority in
the area of network security but we are also seeing a trend in investments being
made in datacenter security, access control, security for remote branches and
secure remote access solutions all of which is enabled through the network. In
the switching space, we are seeing steady organic growth with increase in
datacenter deployment, campus and building LANs and setting up of new branches.
Also Ethernet switching is being deployed by the service providers in the IT
space and Metro Ethernet roll outs with Ethernet being the de facto interface
are also being deployed.

Please share your estimates of market size and Juniper's position in the
same.

According to recently published IDC figures, the SP routing market in India
is expected to grow at a rate of 29 percent over last year reaching a total size
of $205.7 million in 2010. Further, the L3 switches market in India is expected
to grow at 37 percent annually to reach a size of $282.5 million this year. As
per Frost and Sullivan estimates, the overall network security market

in the country is estimated to be as big as $249.3 million this year,
registering a 19 percent increase over last year.

Based on Q1 FY 2010 figures, Juniper Networks stands at #2 in the service
provider GB/TB routing market in India with 13.9 percent marketshare and is the
third biggest player in the overall network security market in the country with
a marketshare of 11.4 percent. We are also at #3 in the SSL VPN market in India
with 20.7 percent share of the market pie based on Q1 figures for

FY 2010.

What are your plans for channel partners in 2010?

A lot of investments have been made with respect to partners last year and
will continue to grow this year. Some of the key initiatives we will continue to
build on are as follows:

Partner Growth Acceleration program-In this, we will be investing on key
partners who are committed to growing Juniper revenues in new areas and
accounts. The investments would be used to focus on Juniper's manpower within
these partner organizations, sponsor marketing programs aimed at the target
customer, setting up of POC labs along with other features. Currently we have

15 partners across APAC region who are a part of the PGA initiative.

EXcelerate program-We are also making significant investments in focus EX
Partners to enhance sales of our EX Ethernet Switching Platforms. For target
EXcelerate partners we are investing in equipment and training coupled with lead
generation programs. As of now we have 50 such EXcelerate partners from across
APAC on board.

Training and skill development-We want to enhance skills of existing partners
and build skills with newer partners. Also we will be having a structured
training program for the same this year to enhance sales, pre and post-sales
skills of our partners. We are also conducting structured sessions for key
partners in areas like service provider security, datacenter security, banking
security from a go-to-market perspective. Juniper is also making investments in
growing service partners with excellent design and implementation skills.

Ensuring compliance-We are strictly making our partners adhere to compliance
in terms of certifications, POC systems and business planning to be eligible for
the respective Select and Elite category of partners. Select partners are
typically focused on one or more of Juniper core solutions like switching,
security and routing and are mostly regional players. Elite partners are focused
across the product portfolio and do so on a national basis. Many elite partners
are focused on solutions for the enterprise and service provider base.

Tapping the support channel-Once a partner is a Select/Elite partner they can
focus on becoming a support partner which can be either a J-Implement partner
who specializes in implementation, J-Design partner for those who are
specialists in design and finally J-Operate specialist partners who provide L1
and L2 Support with spares and also carry the highest level of technical
certifications.

Increased vertical focus-This is a market which is growing and there are lots
of white spaces in the verticals addressed especially in the enterprise space.
While the service provider sector is a mature market for us, we are keen on
engaging with partners who can take us into verticals like government and
defense sectors and tier-2 service provider sector. Other key verticals where we
would like to penetrate and increase our marketshare focus would include
education, manufacturing and healthcare.

What is your current channel base and which geographies would you like to
expand into?

We currently have over 200 active partners while the numbers of registered
partners are much more. We are slowly seeing a trend where many tier-2 partners
in metros and non-metros who would like to engage and work closely with us.
While the channel base is strong in the West, North and South regions, we wish
to increase our focus on the East this year. Juniper is planning to expand into
the tier-2 and 3 cities which is a virgin market for us. We are keen to look at
partners in those cities.

What are some of the up selling opportunities for your partners?

We deployed many products from Netscreen, our network security range, in the
last three-four years. There is an opportunity here for refreshing the
technology and selling newer solutions like our Ethernet switching solutions,
secure branch connectivity and secure remote access solutions to these
customers. Additionally, we ensure that our partners make extremely healthy
margins as compared to other similar players in our space.

How do you ensure your partners do not compete with each other?

Our philosophy is not to over distribute or have many partners work on the
same opportunity. We want our partners to make profits and so we ensure that
there are not too many bidders for the same opportunity. This is handled at
every level by account managers with a lot of transparency.

John Jacob

johnj@cybermedia.co.in