Partner POV | Changing the game for customers: HPE's acquisition of Juniper Networks offers compelling network alternative

This article was written and contributed for publication by our partner, HPE.

I am thrilled to announce the successful close of HPE's acquisition of Juniper Networks, creating a powerful combination of two best-in-class networking portfolios. Together, we will now deliver a truly comprehensive cloud-native IT portfolio supported by agentic AI operations – including a modern, secure and AI-native network – that delivers on the promise of hybrid cloud and AI.

Networking's role as the connective fabric for the enterprise has never been more relevant. The network is the core foundation of a hybrid IT infrastructure, and the world today requires a strong innovator at scale. Our acquisition underscores the imperative of networking as we enter a new era in IT defined by the unprecedented convergence of networking, hybrid cloud, and AI.

Networking's vital role in the Age of AI

Over the past two decades, the number of users, devices, and applications – and the volume of data they create – have grown exponentially. This has introduced significant complexity and made network performance and security much harder to manage. At the same time, AI has introduced the biggest technology disruption of this generation.

AI relies on vast, distributed datasets that must be connected securely and sustainably to train or fine-tune foundational or agentic models, and to deploy them for inferencing. That means the network must do more than simply connect users, servers, and storage. It must adapt, scale, and continually become more intelligent. Put simply, the network is every bit as important as the silicon in unlocking the power and value AI holds.

What's ahead

HPE and Juniper have come together at a critical time to provide an industry leading secure, AI-native network, purpose-built with AI and for AI, to deliver exceptional user and operator experiences. Our differentiation is built on three pillars:

• AI-native Operations: With first-of-its-kind multivendor agentic AI operations, the combined networking solution is built on more than 10 years of data science and has over 80% efficacy. No other network provider offers multivendor AI ops, with continuous learning in a large experience model. And this is part of the GreenLake cross-domain operations cloud service.
• Complete Client-to-Cloud Network Portfolio: Our new end-to-end network portfolio has robust hardware across all domains (enterprise, service provider, and cloud), managed by a single cloud-native management platform with on-premises and virtual private cloud options. This gives customers reliable, consistent end-to-end performance that supports a great user experience and a simplified operator experience.
• Integral Security: HPE offers a complete security portfolio unified under common management (NAC, SSE, Firewall). We are the first to converge network and security management via a common UI and AI engine, delivering consistent user experiences in all locations, saving time and money, and increasing accuracy.

Whether building the right network to pursue strategic AI initiatives or using AI to optimize network ops, customers will benefit from both HPE Aruba Networking and HPE Juniper Networking products and solutions that are part of a next-generation technology architecture to deliver the power, performance, and ease of management that AI requires.

I am incredibly excited about what this combination will mean for our customers, partners, team members, and shareholders. As a result of both teams' efforts over the last 18 months to prepare for this day, we are well positioned to swiftly integrate HPE and Juniper and we look forward to sharing key milestones as we progress. Both companies share core values rooted in collaboration, innovation, and customer-centricity, creating a strong foundation that will enable our customers to quickly unlock value from the combination.

With this acquisition, HPE is leading a monumental IT transformation to push the boundaries of what is possible. The road ahead is full of promise, and we are excited to lead the way.