Juniper Adds Catalyst Telecom

Sources familiar with the plans said the deal, scheduled to be unveiled within a few weeks, came together relatively quickly after Juniper cemented an extended partnership with telecommunications vendor Avaya earlier this year.

Greenville, S.C.-based Catalyst, a division of ScanSource, already distributes VoIP products from Avaya as well as networking equipment from Extreme Networks, an Avaya partner.

Some solution providers have kept their fingers crossed hoping Catalyst would pick up Juniper&s enterprise routing and security lines. This, they said, would help them more easily source products as they build converged voice and data solutions that combine products from all three vendors.

Jeff Hiebert, CEO of ROI Networks, San Juan Capistrano, Calif., said he has been sourcing Juniper products via Ingram Micro but plans to switch that business to Catalyst since he already sources Avaya and Extreme products there.

A spokesperson for Catalyst would neither confirm nor deny the partnership. A Juniper spokesperson declined to comment. However, searches of the companies& Web sites late last week showed that Catalyst listed Juniper as a manufacturer partner and a document on the Juniper site included Catalyst as an authorized North American distribution partner.

In an interview with CRN in May following the expansion of the Avaya partnership, Juniper Vice President of Worldwide Channels Tushar Kothari said the company had not yet decided whether to bring on new Avaya-focused distribution partners, such as Catalyst and Westcon&s Voda One. It was unclear as of press time whether Juniper had inked a pact with Voda One.