What a Year! – How Mist Systems Has Taken AI for IT to the Next Level as Part of Juniper Networks

April 1, 2020 marks the first anniversary of Juniper Networks’ acquisition of Mist Systems. As I look back, I am thrilled with the extraordinary accomplishments the two companies have achieved together over the past year. By delivering on our vision of the AI-driven enterprise, Juniper Mist has continued to provide the best user experiences to our customers while simplifying network operations to reduce IT costs.

For example, in the past 12 months Juniper Mist has introduced a proactive framework for self-driving networks that helped a major SaaS company eliminate 98% of their monthly Wi-Fi trouble tickets. Juniper Mist introduced wired assurance (where Juniper EX switches are managed via the Mist cloud and AI engine), which enabled a Fortune 50 retailer to bring unprecedented reliability to their LAN switches as they migrated from using CLI to AI-driven automation for network operations. And Juniper Mist introduced the first AI-driven Wi-Fi 6 solution, which was quickly deployed by a leading university, to bring new levels of scale and performance to students, teachers and staff. This is just a snapshot of how our amazing product teams delivered value over the past year. Here is full list of product features that were announced.

In addition, Juniper Mist’s new customer base more than doubled since the acquisition, and now includes three of the Fortune 10, over 30 of the top retailers, one of the largest healthcare providers, one of the largest global delivery companies, one of the largest automotive parts manufacturers, the top three US service providers and other marquee names.

While competitors with legacy wireless/wired LAN solutions were down in Q4′ 2019 compared to Q4 the year prior, Juniper was up 2%. In fact, the Juniper enterprise business accounted for about $1.6 billion in 2019.

Last but not least, Juniper Mist added 20+ new channel distributors and 300+ new channel partners in the past year, primarily by tapping into the robust Juniper partner ecosystem. This has enabled Mist to better serve companies throughout North America, Asia, ANZ, Europe, Latin America and the Middle East.

I fundamentally believe that we are at an inflection point in the industry where AI-driven networks are taking over. Juniper will lead this transition while the incumbents hold firm to outdated architectures and are plagued by competing products. As we all deal with the global pandemic, I believe that the steps Juniper Mist has taken to define the network for the next decade (which includes extending the benefits of the AI-driven enterprise to the home) position our customers for operational simplicity and business growth in the years to come.

We have done so much in just 12 months and I am excited by what the coming years have in store. As a team of networking veterans who built some of the first wired and wireless networks, there is nothing more exciting than getting the chance to build the network for the next decade. This is why I get up every morning and am proud to clip on a Juniper Mist badge.