Juniper on the WLAN acquisition prowl?

Juniper’s had no qualms in hiding their enterprise ambitions, and now they might be looking to fill out their portfolio to include wireless options, according to a mergermarket.com report, which references an unnamed source and two analysts:

Eric Suppiger, analyst at Signal Hill, noted that Juniper, which began as a company selling routers to telecom carriers, acquired an enterprise networking business when it purchased Netscreen for USD 4bn in 2004. However, continued Suppiger, it lacks a wireless portfolio to compete with Cisco Systems. The second analyst said “Juniper needs a wireless play.”

Suppiger predicted Juniper will acquire either Aruba or Meru, but not both since they sell similar products.

One of the main attacks Juniper currently endures is that they don’t offer end-to-end solutions for the enterprise, a problem they’ve been working hard to fix. A wireless play would go a long ways towards letting IT organizations become “Juniper shops,” and both Aruba and Meru are names taking seriously in wireless networking circles, although the latter’s non-traditional “blanket” approach might give some pause.

Further Reading:

• Good time for a takeover? Aruba Networks declines after analyst downgrade (AP)
• Cisco’s own take on “Why not Meru?”: ‘Fourth Generation’?! Cisco responds to Wi-Fi whippersnappers
• For a look at a previous Juniper acquisition, see Juniper brings in the Funk for tighter security
  

Image courtesy of Dylan Horrocks.