‘For the first time, customers will now have a modern network architecture alternative that can best support the demands of AI workloads,’ said HPE CEO Antonio Neri. ‘The combination of HPE Aruba Networking and Juniper Networks will provide customers with a comprehensive portfolio of secure, AI-native networking solutions.’
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has agreed to settle the lawsuit challenging Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s $14 billion acquisition of Juniper Networks, setting the stage for an epic AI networking battle with networking market leader Cisco.
The DOJ settlement – which was filed last night in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California – requires the combined HPE-Juniper to license the source code for Juniper’s Mist AI software used in Juniper’s WLAN (Wireless Local Area Network) products and to divest HPE’s Instant On wireless networking business.
Following the court filing, HPE and Juniper announced they had reached an agreement with the DOJ, “subject to the court’s approval,” that “resolves” the lawsuit and “clears the way for the transaction to close.”
“Our agreement with the DOJ paves the way to close HPE’s acquisition of Juniper Networks and preserves the intended benefits of this deal for our customers and shareholders, while creating greater competition in the global networking market,” said HPE CEO Antonio Neri in a prepared statement. “For the first time, customers will now have a modern network architecture alternative that can best support the demands of AI workloads. The combination of HPE Aruba Networking and Juniper Networks will provide customers with a comprehensive portfolio of secure, AI-native networking solutions, and accelerate HPE’s ability to grow in the AI data center, service provider and cloud segments.”
Juniper Networks CEO Rami Rahim called the resolution of the lawsuit an “exciting step forward” in delivering on a “critical customer need- a complete portfolio of modern, secure networking solutions to connect their organizations and provide essential foundations for hybrid cloud and AI.”
HPE partners said the deal is a “huge” victory that opens the door for them and HPE to drive significant networking sales growth versus Cisco.
“This is a huge victory for HPE, its partners and customers,” said Bob Panos, president of American Digital, Schaumburg, Ill., which was just named HPE North America Solution Provider of the Year at HPE Discover. “This means the market finally has a viable competitor to Cisco. HPE now has a full portfolio from the branch to the campus to the data center to challenge Cisco. This is a huge win for (HPE CEO) Antonio (Neri) and the HPE team!”
CRN reached out to Cisco for comment but had not heard back at press time.
Panos said he was elated when he received a text this morning stating that the DOJ lawsuit blocking the deal had been settled.
“I’m so happy this has been settled,” he said. “This is going to be very good for customers. This acquisition from the beginning was always about being able to provide customers with a full AI networking solution from the edge to the data center to the cloud. This fills all the gaps. It means customers can now get a full one stop shop solution from HPE and American Digital. They don’t have to look to any other vendor for their IT needs.”
Panos said the settlement is a “huge opportunity” for American Digital to grow its business in the data center market, providing customers with a complete edge to cloud AI networking solution. “This supercharges our networking business,” he said. “This is going to allow us to continue our double digit HPE sales growth.”
C.R. Howdyshell, CEO of Advizex, No. 129 on the CRN 2025 Solution Provider 500, a Fulcrum IT Partners company, said the settlement is “game changer” for HPE and its partners.
“This is an incredible opportunity for HPE versus Cisco,” he said. “It gives customers a choice. It gives HPE a competitive advantage in the networking space to go get market share versus Cisco. It means more revenue and more opportunity for the channel and companies like Advizex that are committed to the networking market.”
The DOJ and HPE stipulated in a “final judgement” filing with the court “prompt sale and license” of Juniper’s AI Ops for Mist Source Code for the purpose of what it called “preserving competition in the sale of enterprise-grade wireless local area networking (“WLAN”) solutions in the United States.”
The final Judgment requires HPE-Juniper to facilitate the transfer of up to “30 Juniper engineers familiar with the Mist AI Ops Source Code and up to 25 Juniper sales personnel experienced in selling Mist.”
Patrick Shelley, chief technology officer (CTO) at PKA Technologies, a Montvale, N.J. solution provider, called the settlement a “huge victory” for HPE.
“This is great news,” he said. “It feels so good. The concessions from HPE to get this deal approved are minor. This is a big win for HPE, partners and customers. In my opinion this instantly puts HPE Juniper in a leadership position against Cisco. Aruba and Mist AI together are an unbeatable combination.”
Shelley said the settlement clearing the way for HPE to license the source code for Mist AI could actually provide “strong adoption and more momentum” for a combined HPE-Juniper AI networking portfolio.
“Even though this was a forced concession to me it’s a good thing,” said Shelley. “This is not something that is off-kilter for them.”
Shelley said he is expecting a wave of phone calls from customers anxious to learn more about the benefits of a combined HPE-Juniper networking portfolio.
“This immediately unlocks networking opportunities for us and HPE,” he said. “Customers are anxious for a networking alternative to Cisco.”
Shelley said he expects the Aruba and Mist AI products to be combined into a seamless AI networking solution. “This is an exciting time for the networking business,” he said. “This is going to drive innovation could change the networking market forever. You are now going to have two juggernauts – HPE and Cisco- constantly trying to innovate against each other.”
