Close
  • Latest News
  • Cybersecurity
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Mobile
  • Networking
  • Storage
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
Read Down
Sign in
Close
Welcome!Log into your account
Forgot your password?
Read Down
Password recovery
Recover your password
Close
Search
Menu
Search
  • Latest News
  • Cybersecurity
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Mobile
  • Networking
  • Storage
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
More
    Home Latest News
    • Networking

    Juniper Networks is Cutting About 500 Jobs: Report

    By
    Jeff Burt
    -
    October 1, 2012
    Share
    Facebook
    Twitter
    Linkedin

      Juniper Networks, which has had several quarters of disappointing financial numbers, reportedly is cutting 500 jobs, or about 5 percent of its workforce.

      According to a report in TechTarget, many of the affected jobs are in connection with the company’s much-touted QFabric, a network switching platform the company introduced last year that is designed to simplify the data center infrastructure.

      However, a Juniper spokesperson disputed that claim, saying that the job cuts are across the company’s businesses and do not target the QFabric business in particular. Juniper executives are committed to the QFabric solution, the spokesperson said.

      The QFabric switching platform—once known by the code name Project Strata—is designed to collapse the networking infrastructure from the traditional three layers into a single layer, simplifying the overall network and making it easier to deploy, manage and scale. The QFabric initiative has been lauded by analysts for its technology, but sales reportedly have not been what Juniper executives had hoped for.

      According to Network World, about 200 customers have embraced QFabric, though it’s not clear how many of those are deploying the full QFabric solution and how many are just buying part of it, such as the 10 Gigabit Ethernet QFX3500 switch, which was the first product in the QFabric initiative. Juniper announced Sept. 28 that Qihoo 360 Technology, a Chinese Internet and mobile services provider, had built a new data center based on the QFabric architecture.

      A Juniper spokesperson confirmed to TechTarget that there were layoffs, but declined to say where those job cuts will occur or how hard hit the QFabric team will be.

      In an emailed statement, a Juniper spokesperson noted that executives during their conference call with analysts and journalists in July about the company’s second-quarter financial numbers said they were working to align Juniper’s “resources to improve productivity and effectiveness, enabling us to deliver our road map for innovation and unprecedented value to customers and shareholders. As a result of this important initiative, we are reducing our workforce by approximately 500 people in functions across the company.”

      During the quarter, Juniper earned $58 million on revenue of $1.07 million, a 4 percent drop from the same period in 2011. During the conference call to talk about the numbers, Executive Vice President and CFO Robyn Denholm said the company was happy with the growth of all three lines of its switching business, noting that “EX, QFabric and wireless LAN were all up sequentially and year-over-year.”

      CEO Kevin Johnson said that the number of Internet users and connected devices continues to drive up the amount of network traffic and the interest in Juniper’s technology. However, Johnson said that interest is tempered by the uncertain global economy, which has led some businesses to hold back on some IT spending. He said he is confident in the company’s direction, but that Juniper would have to “[align] our overall cost structure for efficiency and effectiveness.” He did not mention layoffs during the call.

      At the end of the second quarter, Juniper had 9,373 employees, according to Denholm.

      Juniper is not the only top-tier networking vendor looking to job cuts to help offset changes in their business. In July, Cisco System executives announced another 1,300 layoffs, blaming the move on the global economy and weak corporate IT spending. That came a year after the networking giant announced 6,500 job cuts as part of a larger restructuring effort.

      Days after Cisco announced the 1,300 job reduction, Alcatel-Lucent executives said they were cutting 5,000 positions in hopes of stabilizing their financial situation. The company has been struggling since the 2006 merger of Alcatel and Lucent.

      Avatar
      Jeff Burt
      Jeffrey Burt has been with eWEEK since 2000, covering an array of areas that includes servers, networking, PCs, processors, converged infrastructure, unified communications and the Internet of things.

      MOST POPULAR ARTICLES

      Android

      Samsung Galaxy XCover Pro: Durability for Tough...

      Chris Preimesberger - December 5, 2020 0
      Have you ever dropped your phone, winced and felt the pain as it hit the sidewalk? Either the screen splintered like a windshield being...
      Read more
      Cloud

      Why Data Security Will Face Even Harsher...

      Chris Preimesberger - December 1, 2020 0
      Who would know more about details of the hacking process than an actual former career hacker? And who wants to understand all they can...
      Read more
      Cybersecurity

      How Veritas Is Shining a Light Into...

      eWEEK EDITORS - September 25, 2020 0
      Protecting data has always been one of the most important tasks in all of IT, yet as more companies become data companies at the...
      Read more
      Big Data and Analytics

      How NVIDIA A100 Station Brings Data Center...

      Zeus Kerravala - November 18, 2020 0
      There’s little debate that graphics processor unit manufacturer NVIDIA is the de facto standard when it comes to providing silicon to power machine learning...
      Read more
      Apple

      Why iPhone 12 Pro Makes Sense for...

      Wayne Rash - November 26, 2020 0
      If you’ve been watching the Apple commercials for the past three weeks, you already know what the company thinks will happen if you buy...
      Read more
      eWeek


      Contact Us | About | Sitemap

      Facebook
      Linkedin
      RSS
      Twitter
      Youtube

      Property of TechnologyAdvice.
      Terms of Service | Privacy Notice | Advertise | California - Do Not Sell My Information

      © 2021 TechnologyAdvice. All Rights Reserved

      Advertiser Disclosure: Some of the products that appear on this site are from companies from which TechnologyAdvice receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site including, for example, the order in which they appear. TechnologyAdvice does not include all companies or all types of products available in the marketplace.

      ×