11/7/2006 -- Watch out Cisco Systems Inc., because rival Juniper Networks has its eye on the red-hot branch office sector, too.

Juniper last week unveiled a new branch office strategy that includes standards-based application acceleration, IP telephony, routing and security technologies. It leverages the new J-series J4350 and J6350 enterprise routers, along with Intelligent Communications capabilities provided by Avaya.

Analysts were upbeat about Juniper's announcement, which they say helps even the odds with Cisco in the branch office segment. "[The] new J-Series models and [Juniper's] new branch office strategy ... will allow Juniper to compete on an even footing with archrival Cisco systems for the enterprise branch dollar," commented Steven Schuchart, a senior analyst for enterprise infrastructure with consultancy Current Analysis. "The partnership with Avaya gives Juniper customers a well-known and feature-rich VoIP platform that can be integrated into the new J4350 and J6350 in Q1 2007."

Just how even of a footing is Schuchart talking about? "These products will compete directly with Cisco's ISR 3800 series routers," he said. "The J-Series is the hardware centerpiece of Juniper's push for a truly integrated branch services router that combines performance with rich security and connectivity."

Juniper's new J4350 and J6350 are based on its SSG 500 hardware platform. The former is a 1 gigabit plus-capable forwarding platform that has six I/O slots (two LAN or WAN and four WAN), while the latter supports slightly more than 2- gigabit forwarding and has six I/O slots (four LAN or WAN, and two WAN). Both devices are equipped with four on-board gigabit Ethernet ports, include firewalls (with VPN licenses) and run Juniper JUNOS operating system.

For these and other reasons, Schuchart said, the new J-Series routers are solid offerings. "The new [devices] give customers a flexible platform on which to base branch office routing operations," he said, noting that both routers support a diverse set of interface card options, including serial, T1/E1, DS3, ADSL 2+, G.SHDSL, E3 and ISDN. "On the performance front, the J4350 and J6350 are no slouches. Juniper's strategy is to offer performance that does not significantly fall off when advanced services are enabled. Juniper is being aggressive with the new branch office offering, including a competitive price as well as throwing in features such as firewall and VPN services in the box."

All in all, Schuchart said, Juniper has what it takes to mount a serious challenge to Cisco: "Juniper is currently behind Cisco in branch office routing. This new initiative will go a very long way towards challenging Cisco, but Juniper is starting from behind, compounding the difficulty of the task." -- Stephen Swoyer