Extreme Networks 'A Great Alternative' As ‘Innovation Stalls’ In The Midst Of Blocked HPE-Juniper Networks Deal

"We're getting more interest from the channel community, and a lot of that has to do with what's going on with HPE and Juniper, the uncertainty and the risks involved there, and the fact that their innovation is stalled because they don't know what to do," Extreme Networks CEO Ed Meyercord told CRN.

The uncertainty around the stunted Hewlett Packard Enterprise-Juniper Networks merger is creating more room for opportunity for Extreme Networks, according to the networking specialist's President and CEO Ed Meyercord.

Extreme Networks has been vocal about its plan to become the fastest growing player in the networking space this year and building on its track record of nabbing customers from the market heavyweights, including Cisco Systems. It's a big part of the reason why the networking specialist isn't concerned about the potential HPE/Juniper Networks tie-up or if the two companies are forced to stay separate entities, Meyercord (pictured) told CRN in response to the Justice Department’s suing to block the $14 billion acquisition.

The DoJ's lawsuit to prevent HPE's planned purchase of Juniper Networks claims the deal will “reduce competition and weaken innovation.” The complaint came as a shock to the networking market and to solution providers, many of whom already considered the tie-up to be a forgone conclusion.

"We don't see the deal as anti-competitive," Meyercord said in an exclusive interview. "We see the deal as strengthening HPE against Cisco."

[Related: Extreme Networks Unveils AI-Infused Platform ONE For A 'Composed' Network Management Experience]

Morrisville, N.C.-based Extreme Networks competes against all three companies. If the deal isn't allowed to proceed, however, it's going to be "extra difficult" for HPE, Meyercord said. Either way, it's creating more room for partners and end-customers to evaluate Extreme Networks as an alternative.

"There's a lot of risk. If you're in the channel and you're doing business with either Juniper or HPE, there's a huge amount of risk because your future is uncertain," he said.

The delay in closing the deal and the uncertainty around whether it will be allowed to move forward at all is forcing some customers to evaluate alternative networking solutions, according to Ed Walton, CEO of Covington, Ky.-based MSP StepCG, an Extreme Networks and HPE Aruba partner.

"We’ve hearing that some large installed base customers of Juniper and HPE can’t wait any longer and are moving forward with a competitor solution," Walton said. "Juniper [and] HPE each have very robust and good portfolios, and each has their strengths and weaknesses, [but] the market and customers have been waiting a long time for the deal to be finalized and the rationalization of the organizations and solutions to happen."

An Alternative Choice

The HPE-Juniper Networks combination could set up a battle for network supremacy in the AI networking era. If allowed to close, the combined company could pose a more formidable threat to networking market heavyweight Cisco Systems from a market share perspective. But there are still more than eight other companies aggressively competing in the wireless LAN market worldwide, including Extreme Networks.

The 2024 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Enterprise Wired and Wireless LAN Infrastructure report listed Juniper Networks and HPE Aruba Networking in the top two spots in the sought-after Leader quadrant. However, Extreme Networks wasn't far behind. For the sixth year in a row the company landed right behind Juniper and HPE in the Leader quadrant, which was also occupied by Cisco.

Even with an HPE-Juniper merger, Cisco remains the undisputed wireless LAN market leader in revenue. For Cisco's 2024 fiscal year, the company's networking segment, which includes its core switching and routing businesses, posted revenue of $29.23 billion, a 15 percent decline compared to fiscal year 2023. For HPE’s Intelligent Edge revenue, which includes its Aruba business, sales were $4.53 billion for the company's 2024 fiscal year, down from $5.38 billion from the prior year period. Juniper Networks' total revenue in 2024 was $5.07 billion, a 9 percent decline when compared to 2023.

By comparison, Extreme Networks is a much smaller player revenue-wise. The company reported $1.12 billion in revenue for its fiscal 2024, a decrease of 15 percent year over year.

Despite taking a smaller piece of the pie, Extreme Networks shared that it had 164 customers that inked deals valued at more than $1 million in FY 2024 and 20 percent of its total product bookings were with new logos, demonstrating that it is not only taking share from its competitors, but it’s also courting larger enterprise customers with the strength of its own brand.

Extreme's universal hardware platform is standing out in the market as customers seek out one integrated solution, Meyercord said. The company in 2024 launched the ExtremeCloud Universal Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) offering that combines network, application and device security all within a single tool. The offering brings together network access control, access point and switch security to help remove complexity for IT teams when it comes to managing and securing user access across campus, branch, remote sites and anywhere, according to the company.

In December, the company unveiled Extreme Platform ONE, which brings together networking and security tools, including products from third-party networking and security vendors, such as Microsoft, with AI to radically simplify the network management experience, the company told CRN.

"No one else in the industry has this. It's clean and simple, and we're innovating with next-generation AI," Meyercord said. "It's a great time for channel partners working with customers looking to upgrade to the most modern, high-quality networking infrastructure."

Meanwhile, HPE's partners have "no idea" what the roadmap is, Meyercord said.

"If you're an HPE Aruba customer, then you have to understand the Juniper portfolio, but you don't know if the deal is going to close," he said. "The reason why HPE invested in Juniper was because they under invested in Aruba, and they didn't have a cloud strategy or an AI strategy, and they're way behind. In the [DOJ] complaint, you see that they're saying: 'We can't beat them, so we buy them' and that's part of the reason why DOJ is saying: 'Not so fast.'"

Solution providers want vendor choice. For partners seeking two or three vendors for their portfolios, the potential acquisition opens the door for Extreme Networks with two of the largest players joining forces. If the deal falls through, there's still a subset of solution providers that aren't interested in becoming another very small part of the "massive" Cisco ecosystem, Meyercord said.

"We're getting more interest from the channel community, and a lot of that has to do with what's going on with HPE and Juniper, the uncertainty and the risks involved there, and the fact that their innovation is stalled because they don't know what to do," Meyercord said. "They can't do anything until they close."

One solution provider executive that requested anonymity said that many customers are "feeling fatigued" from Cisco but are also running out of "patience" on the outcome of the proposed HPE-Juniper deal.

"At first, customers were excited for [The HPE/Juniper merger] to happen, but now they can't wait on some of these big projects and refreshes. From our perspective, Extreme is a great alternative," the executive said.

HPE and Juniper have pledged to fight the DoJ's decision in court. Should the deal ultimately be allowed to close, there will be cost cutting and layoffs as the two companies come together, Meyercord said.

"There'll be a lot of people out on the street, and that too will be disruptive for the channel," he said. "We feel all of this is creating opportunities for Extreme."