Juniper: Integrated Security A Necessity For Networks

Ever since Juniper Networks acquired security provider NetScreen Technologies earlier this year for a deal valued around $4 billion, the networking industry has been asking: "Why did they do it?"

Now that the acquisition is complete, Juniper is starting to tell its side of the story. At the recent NetWorld + Interop show, Networking Pipeline sat down with Christine Heckart, Juniper's vice president of worldwide marketing, to get the lowdown on why Juniper thinks security and networking are no longer separate industries.

Networking Pipeline: Everyone is still asking about the NetScreen deal. Can you shed any more light on the "why" behind the purchase?

Christine Heckart: As an industry, we've always treated security as different, a separate architecture from networking. Early on that made sense. But now, it doesn't. To think about networking and security [separately] is odd -- you can't run a network for business without security. We believe they are coming together as an industry.

Networking Pipeline: Why did Juniper need to buy NetScreen?Heckart: You need best-in-class security. To be great in one [networking or security], you need to be great in the other. You need a portfolio of solutions that address a mix of problems. You're starting to see a lot of other companies react to this [by purchasing security vendors].

Networking Pipeline: Does that mean that NetScreen technology gets embedded in Juniper products?

Heckart: In some areas it makes sense to integrate at the product level. In other places, it makes more sense to have a standalone [security] product. The whole notion is to integrate networking and security.

Networking Pipeline: In the past, Juniper has shied away from acquisitions. Is there a risk of losing what made NetScreen a success -- a startup's focus on its products?

Heckart: It's valid to ask how we are going to protect the $4 billion investment. There is an ongoing need for [security] product specialization -- that needs an extreme focus. So we kept the [NetScreen] product and engineering team whole, in the same structure, with the same jobs. It's set up as a product unit within Juniper, just like the routing group.0