NEC and Juniper are investing in Blade Network Technologies, which specializes in data center networking. The investments-along with one by an unnamed tech company-brings the value of Blade Networks to $230 million. The move comes a day after Juniper and Nokia Siemens announce a joint venture to offer a Carrier Ethernet solution. Networking vendors are looking for ways to gain traction at a time when market leader Cisco Systems is being hit by the global recession and also is expanding its reach in the data center.
With networking leader Cisco Systems expanding its reach into the
data center and the global recession pressuring enterprises to look at
options, other networking companies are looking to gain traction in the
highly competitive space.
Blade Network Technologies is getting a boost from other tech
companies, announcing Sept. 9 that Juniper Networks and NEC-along with
the third unnamed technology company-are investing in the vendor,
part of Blade's Series B funding round.
Blade's initial investor, Garnett and Helfrich Capital, also is
reinvesting in the company, which focuses on networking technologies in
the data center.
The infusion of money will put Blade's value at about $230 million, according to officials.
Blade officials also
announced that the privately-held company had record revenues and
profits in its fiscal third quarter, and that it recently passed the 6
million mark of installed Ethernet switches at Baidu.com, a big Chinese
Internet search provider. They also touted partnerships with top server
OEMs, including Hewlett-Packard, IBM, NEC and Verari Systems.
Blade's announcements came a day after Juniper and Nokia Siemens
Networks got the approval from federal regulators to create a new
company aimed at the Carrier Ethernet space.
The new joint venture will be called Carrier Ethernet Solutions BV
and will be incorporated in Amsterdam, according to officials with both
companies. Juniper will own 60 percent of the company, and Nokia
Siemens 40 percent.
The new company will offer a Carrier Ethernet solution around mobile
backhaul, business and residential broadband networks. John Stewart,
who was a vice president and general manager at Juniper, will be
Carrier Ethernet Solutions' CEO, while Ton van den Boom, a senior
manager at Nokia Siemens, will be chief financial officer. Manoj
Leelanivas, a senior vice president and general manager at Nokia
Siemens, will be board chairman.
The new company's offering will include Juniper's MX Series Ethernet
services routers and Nokia Siemens' A-series Carrier Ethernet switches
and network management capabilities, including point-and-click
provisioning, officials said.
"Our customers will be able to leverage the solution to offer new
revenue-generating services while lowering transport costs and total
cost of ownership," Steward said in a statement.
The first fruits of the joint agreement will start rolling out in
the first quarter of 2010, with the solution being sold by both Juniper
and Nokia Siemens.
Juniper on Sept. 8 also announced new features on its E Series
Broadband Service Router that include an advanced line module for the
company's E320 router and multiple IPv6 offerings for greater service
delivery capabilities.
Officials with networking companies have said they see an
opportunity to gain share in the networking space, with leader Cisco
being
hit hard by the global recession and working to grow its data center presence through such projects as the
UCS (Unified Computing System).
In August, Cisco officials reported that fiscal fourth-quarter sales
dropped 18 percent and profits 46 percent year-over-year, and that
sales for the entire fiscal 2009 fell 9 percent.
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