Juniper Networks To Buy Trapeze Networks

Per Network World, “Juniper Networks is expected to soon announce that it is acquiring wireless LAN player Trapeze Networks from parent Belden in a move that will expand Juniper’s enterprise portfolio.”

Juniper has taken way too long to acquire an enterprise wireless LAN equipment vendor. I think many expected them to acquire Aruba Networks or Meru Networks a few years ago. Below are some other major wireless related activities in the last seven years.

• 2003 – Cisco acquires Linksys for $500 million
• 2004 – 3Com (now HP) OEMs Trapeze Networks equipment
• 2005 – Siemens AG buys WLAN vendor Chantry Networks Inc.
• 2005 – Juniper makes equity investment in Trapeze Networks
• 2005 – Cisco acquires wireless LAN switch startup Airespace Inc. for $450 million (have seen $600 million number too)
• 2006 – Motorola acquired Symbol Technologies Inc. for $3.9 billion
• 2007 – Aruba Networks goes public (market cap $1.88 billion on 9/14/10)
• 2008 – Belden buys Trapeze Networks for $133 million in cash
• 2010 – Juniper acquires Trapeze Networks (my guess is the price tag is around Belden purchase price of $133 million)

Juniper Had No Other Real Options

Out of available vendors the only real options were Trapeze, Meru, and maybe Aerohive Networks. Juniper went with the vendor they had most potential, mature products, and would benefit from Juniper branding and marketing.

They just need add a high end wireless intrusion detection/prevention system (WIDS) to mix and they will have a solid solution. There is only one independent vendor left so they better act quickly.

Take a look at Gartner’s 2010 Wireless LAN Infrastructure below.

Gartner’s analysis of Trapeze is below.

Trapeze Networks has a solid WLAN solution that struggled in its route to market after being acquired by Belden in July 2008. The company has since refocused its marketing efforts, product alignment, sales resources and channel delivery on a global healthcare initiative in North America and EMEA, and is an appropriate choice for vendors in this vertical market (healthcare). Trapeze has the ability to deliver, through its channel into other markets, such as education, which is an area of historic strength.
Strengths
• The purchase of Newbury Networks for real-time location tracking and security applications has helped Trapeze to articulate its product focus on wireless networking services and is an asset for its message in healthcare.
• In our WLAN survey, customers gave Trapeze extremely high marks for its service and support experience and solid performance for small and large installations.
• As a pure-play overlay WLAN provider, Trapeze has a good breadth of components and wireless networking services, which enable customers to deploy and manage highly reliable WLANs.
Cautions
• Efforts to use the Belden sales and distribution channel slowed Trapeze’s momentum and the company lost visibility in the market. In the last year, it has continued to educate and build on the Belden distribution channel, while focusing its internal efforts on growing its wireless presence in healthcare.
•Customers that purchased Trapeze solutions through OEM relationships that no longer exist (as a result of mergers, acquisitions and new product announcements) should ensure that they know where their service support is coming from for the remaining life of the solution. This may include establishing a relationship directly with Trapeze, which has several programs for enterprises that find themselves in this situation.
• As with other pure-play, wireless LAN vendors, Trapeze needs to expand its networking strategy beyond Belden as a cabling provider. Although the Belden channel may provide expanded visibility, it will need wired vendor relationships for those enterprises looking for end-to-end access-layer capabilities.

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Filed under: Gadgets, WLAN Deployment, WLAN/WiFi News