Over a three-day period, Juniper Networks announced that two former Microsoft executives and one from Cisco were joining the company's marketing and global partner efforts.
Juniper Networks is bulking up its marketing and channel prowess by raiding
the executive ranks of rivals Cisco Systems and Microsoft.
Juniper
last week announced that two former Microsoft officials made the jump to help
the networking company build up its enterprise marketing and global partnership
capabilities. In between those announcements, Juniper officials said a Cisco
executive is making the move to oversee Juniper's worldwide partner marketing.
The
moves come as Juniper pushes its "Project
Stratus" strategy to use silicon, virtualization and automation to
collapse the data center networking infrastructure from three tiers into one.
The appointments also represent the latest in a series of executive
exits from Microsoft.
Juniper
announced Jan. 19 that Brad Brooks, who was corporate vice president for
Windows consumer marketing and product management, was named vice president of
worldwide enterprise marketing and solutions at Juniper, reporting to Lauren
Flaherty, executive vice president and chief marketing officer.
According
to Juniper, Brooks will be responsible for creating and executing marketing
strategies for the networking company's enterprise business. He also will be
responsible for Juniper's enterprise go-to-market strategies, as well as road maps
for the company's vertical and horizontal offerings.
While
at Microsoft, Brooks oversaw the consumer segment for the Windows client,
including the Windows 7 launch.
"Brad
is a superb global marketer with a track record of driving significant business
growth," Flaherty said in a statement. "His depth of experience
aligns very well with our focus on accelerating the new network and I am
thrilled we have Brad in this highly strategic role."
Two
days later, Juniper announced that Emilio Umeoka, who was president of
Microsoft's Asia Pacific business, will serve as Juniper's senior vice
president of worldwide partners business. In his new role, Umeoka will be
responsible for Juniper's global channel strategy and partner initiatives,
which company officials believe is a key differentiator over their competitors.
On
the day in between those two appointments, Juniper announced the hiring of
Luanne Tierney as vice president of global partner marketing, the defection of
a key executive from rival Cisco. Prior to coming to Juniper, Tierney was vice
president of global partner marketing at Cisco.
With
Juniper, Tierney will be in charge of pushing forward the company's Juniper
Partner Program, making it more comprehensive and easier to use by its global
partners and global partner marketing operation. At Cisco, Tierney was in
charge of strategic initiatives for the company's more than 13,000 partners,
distributors, resellers and strategic partners.
"[Tierney's]
innovative approach to marketing and her ability to inspire will help Juniper
accelerate our profile as an industry and thought leader," Juniper's
Flaherty said.
Microsoft
has seen a fairly significant executive turnover over the past year, most
recently the Jan. 10 announcement that Bob Muglia, president of the software
giant's Server and Tools Business, is leaving the company this summer after
more than two decades with Microsoft.
In
a Jan. 10 e-mail to employees, CEO Steve
Ballmer positioned Muglia's resignation as a necessary move as the company
pushes forward with its cloud computing strategy.
Last
year, Microsoft saw a host of executives leave, including Chief Software
Architect Ray Ozzie in October. A month before, Stephen Elop, Microsoft's
Business Division president, left to become CEO
of Nokia. Earlier in the year, Robbie Bach, president of Microsoft's
Entertainment and Devices Division, and the segment's senior vice president of
design and development, J Allard, both left, reportedly thanks in large part to
the failure of Microsoft's Kin social networking phones.
For
Juniper, the appointments represent the latest moves in its ongoing competition
with the likes of Cisco and Hewlett-Packard as the network continues to grow in
status in the data center. Project Stratus is one of a number of initiatives
being put out by vendors to address the rise of the virtual data center and
rapid growth of Internet traffic running over the networks. Cisco, Brocade
Communications Systems, Force 10, Enterasys and others also have outlined
plans, while HP made a significant step forward with its acquisition last year
of 3Com.
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