When Juniper Networks announced plans to acquire Netrounds – the private supplier of programmable, software-based test and service assurance agents, my immediate reaction was why? Why is Juniper venturing into the active assurance market where much larger stronger incumbents play such as Netscout, Spirent, and EXFO? Why would Netrounds sell out now, just as the company appears to be making forward progress in the market where disruptive technologies can utilize its technology? The cloudification of the network and 5G disruption should be big opportunities for Netrounds and the company had wins to prove it. Was the offer too sweet to pass up and get paid forward for the 13-year investment? Is this purely a SD-WAN play as noted in the press release? (If so, I think it leaves money on the table.) Why would Netrounds hitch its wagon to Juniper and not Cisco where it already has strong ties and joint partnerships? Going forward, will Juniper be able to successfully exploit the Netrounds people and assets? Juniper does not have a successful track record of acquisitions compared to its biggest competitor Cisco. Finally, is Juniper making a big bet on the automated closed-loop management – something it has largely left […]