Despite previous channel troubles, Juniper is betting on its new EX Series switches and the channel to help it become a real competitor in the enterprise LAN switching market.

The vendor has picked 150–200 top-tier providers to commit to making juniper part of their networking practices, according to Mike Banic, senior director of product marketing at Juniper. These solution providers will then be rewarded not on volume, but on value add, the vendor said.

VARs have welcomed Juniper's new channel focus.   Philip O'Reilly, CEO at SoluNet, said: "Unlike the J Router program, I think this [EX Switch] is ready for prime time. It is Juniperized in the sense of the OS unification, the look and feel, product support, and the way the channel is supported."

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