Now that Juniper has brought on the EX switch family, they certainly have an outstanding carrier-class, end to end data solution.
On the data side of the house there is no question that Juniper is in position to start taking market share away from Cisco, Avaya and HP on the data side.
Like HP, Juniper doesn't offer a true voice option.
It will be necessary in the next few years to make Juniper a true competitor as a one stop shop to obtain a voice option.
Juniper has always had carrier-class products dating back to the high-end routers to the latest EX switches and newer wireless offerings.
Can Juniper pull some of their research and development from the data side and come up with a PBX offering that includes some basic IP phones on their own? That is the billion dollar question for Juniper.
The other option for Juniper is by acquisition.
We all know that Mitel and Polycom could be ripe for a takeover and great fit to compliment Juniper's data offering, but we have to wonder if they can develop from within or will purchase a proven commodity.
HP purchased 3com to acquire their NBX phone offering.
Along with that acquisition, they assumed the 3COM switch families which weren't on par with the HP Procurve switches would influence current customers to switch to an HP solution.
Juniper needs to make a move in quarter four of 2010 to branch into some sort of voice offering before they get lost in the shuffle.
Acquisition seems to be the easiest option.
Look for an acquisition coming soon to a theatre near you.
Juniper will be a true end to end solution by 2011.