Juniper Networks - keeping cloud providers operational
Juniper Networks on how it provides infrastructure to cloud providers , including the largest hyperscale networks
Juniper Networks might just be one of the biggest companies you ’ ve never heard of . A US multinational corporation , Juniper offers networking products including routers , switches , network management software and security products and solutions .
Its customers consist of service providers , enterprises , and cloud providers , including the largest hyperscale cloud providers , as part of its Cloud segment .
“ Our customers are building clouds that serve businesses and the public globally ,” says Jason Fritch , Senior Vice President of Global Sales , Juniper Networks Cloud Segment . He adds that the company also provides “ high-end , high-performance , high-scale networking solutions ” that not only connect clients ’ data centres to one another , but also connect them directly to their end-users . “ Tens of thousands of products and hardware components are required from us to do this at planet scale , like we do for some of our global cloud clients .”
Such vast quantities of components and products demand a great deal of both Juniper ’ s supply chain and the man who oversees it – Mitch Haynes , Supply Chain Planning & Fulfillment VP at Juniper .
“ What ’ s super important is our ability to scale-up with a customer . We have to physically produce all of the hardware that makes that possible .”
This requires an ecosystem of partners , says Haynes : “ There are the customers , and the operation of their data centres , and then there are our manufacturing partners , and their suppliers .”
It ’ s a difficult job at the best of times , but over the past two , pandemic-hit , years , it has been inordinately challenging - which is when Juniper ’ s strong relationship with their customers came into its own .
“ We work with customers so that together we can make the best operational decision we can at any given point in time ,” says Haynes . “ That might be whether to place a new order for a product earlier than we typically would , or looking at a design or use-case and making early-stage decisions on future engineering .”
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