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Juniper Mist roadmap includes SD-WAN, security integrations
The Juniper Mist roadmap includes integrating the wireless LAN's cloud AI engine with Juniper's SD-WAN and malware detection service.
Juniper Networks plans to broaden the reach of its cloud-based Mist AI engine from access points and switches to security and SD-WAN products on the wired and wireless LAN.
The vendor plans to finish by the middle of next year integrations between Juniper Mist and cloud-based versions of Sky Advanced Threat Prevention (ATP) and Contrail Service Orchestration (CSO). The former is Juniper's malware detection service, and the latter is the management software for the company's Contrail SD-WAN.
"[The integration] is something which has just started, so it's beyond the design board," said Sujai Hajela, who heads the Juniper company Mist. Hajela was CEO of Mist before Juniper acquired it this year.
Juniper bought Mist in an attempt to catch up with Cisco and Aruba, a Hewlett Packard Enterprise company, in the wired and wireless LAN market. Both companies are market leaders, according to Gartner's latest Magic Quadrant report.
Before Mist, Juniper partnered with other vendors to combine wireless LAN technology with its campus switches. Today, Juniper has a wired and wireless portfolio with cloud-based analytics and management tools competitive with products from Cisco and Aruba. The latter two vendors introduced their cloud offerings in June.
Juniper Mist integration use cases
Hajela expects to formally release the Mist, CSO and Sky ATP integrations by early in the first half of 2020. At that time, the Mist AI engine will provide correlations on data drawn from access points (APs), Juniper's EX campus switches, Contrail SD-WAN and Sky ATP.
The product integrations will let Mist's AI engine solve a broader set of network problems on Juniper-based networks. Instead of stopping at APs and EX switches, the software could discover other bottlenecks, such as congestion on a LAN circuit managed through the Contrail SD-WAN.
With Sky ATP data, Mist could identify devices on the network that are infected with malware, giving IT staff the option of quarantining the group or booting them off the grid.
Pricing
Juniper plans to offer future Mist AI capabilities through a tiered pricing model. A standard tier, for example, would provide state information on network operations while a higher-priced tier would include advanced remediation of problems. Another level could consist of location-based services for retailers or asset management in a hospital.
"We're going to provide you with a single, full vertical stack of software, and [let] you decide," Hajela said during a recent interview.
Vendors focusing on installed base
Juniper's Mist acquisition gives the vendor a wireless product it can sell to companies using the vendor's networking gear. In 2018, Juniper ranked sixth in the global market for campus switching, according to Gartner.
However, some Juniper customers are keeping an open mind when it comes to their wireless LAN. The University of Washington is watching all the leading networking vendors as it draws up plans to transition to next-generation wireless technology, particularly Wi-Fi 6 and 5G.
The emerging technologies are disruptive enough to require significant changes to Washington's campus network. "There's just a huge point of change -- of brand-new architectures -- happening in the next year," said David Morton, director of networks and telecommunications at the school.
Today, Washington's wireless LAN comprises between 17,000 and 18,000 Aruba APs. The university manages the network with HPE and Aruba software and runs the campus's wired network on Juniper switches.
