Situation: IT giant buys a Wi-Fi startup for $ 405 million
Juniper announced its intention to conclude its largest deal over the past ten years - the corporation will spend $ 405 million on a startup Mist Systems. More on this in the following.
/ photo F Mira CC BY-SA
Startup Mist Systems in 2014 was founded by Sujai Hajela and Brett Galloway. Prior to creating their own company, they held senior positions in the Cisco wireless networking development division.
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The team is developing a platform for managing Wi-Fi, which is based on machine learning technology. According to a survey by analysts from ZK Research, half of the system administrators spend one day a week searching for problems and troubleshooting Wi-Fi. The startup product helps simplify network configuration and free up additional time from IT professionals so that they can handle other business-critical tasks.
Mist Systems technologies have attracted the attention of telecommunications providers and data center solution providers. In September 2018, Mist began building the SD-WAN platform with Juniper. The collaboration was successful, and the IT giant decided to buy a startup and its technologies. They will become part of the Contrail platform that manages networks and virtual machines in the data center.
Next, we will tell you what technologies the IT giant will pay for.
A startup is developing a platform called Learning WLAN. This is a specialized cloud service that analyzes the state of the wireless network and the activity of its users. It identifies communication problems with an AI system called Marvis.
Marvis uses natural language processing (NLP) and deep learning technologies to answer questions from administrators and users about network issues. For example, if the assistant asked, “How many defective devices are in the office?”, He will show statistics on connection failures and explain what caused the problems with the connection.
Another tool that the Wi-Fi start-up team is developing is the system for assessing the location of devices on the network. It uses BLE antennas paired with machine learning services. With their help, the tool determines the location of gadgets connected to Wi-Fi with an accuracy of one meter. This data is used to improve the Wi-Fi signal and control IoT devices. For example, the system may include security cameras when people appear in the room.
Many analysts spoke positively about the future merger. According to columnist ZDNet, buying Mist means a new development path for Juniper. If now the IT giant is more known as a supplier of equipment for IaaS providers, then in the future the company plans to become a vendor of cloud network services. Changing directions will help Juniper attract new customers.
It is worth noting that the new deal is not Juniper's first attempt to enter the market of wireless devices. Ten years ago, the company bought Trapeze, but their joint products brought in only $ 50 million from 2011 to 2013. Then, the division's revenues began to decline, as the American manufacturer began to engage in technology for data centers. There is a possibility that the story may repeat in the case of Mist.
It is believed that the deal will benefit customers of Juniper. The introduction of machine learning technologies in the Wi-Fi network will help them reduce operating costs - the algorithms automate some of the tasks of the system administrators. However, according to Morgan Stanley experts, there is no point in waiting for a large number of Juniper customers, as many Mist Systems solutions have already been integrated into the systems of the IT giant.
/ photo by Kevin Doncaster CC BY
Juniper's Cisco and HPE competitors are also working on Wi-Fi management systems.
The first company has already added the ability to configure wireless networks in its SDN-system Digital Network Architecture (DNA). It uses the principle of network management based on intent ( intent-based networking ). System administrators set the desired Wi-Fi performance (for example, connection speed), and the system automatically adjusts devices to meet the requirements.
HPE has been developing a smart platform for managing wireless networks since 2015. It automates network configuration and analyzes information from all connected devices and access points.
In conclusion, we note that the technology of automatic control of Wi-Fi-networks will become increasingly relevant with the growth in the number of Internet of Things devices. Their number in the next three years may grow by more than one and a half times. Although it is expected that many smart gadgets will connect to 5G networks, experts note that reliable Wi-Fi is just as important - as is the system for controlling its operation.
What we write about in the First blog about corporate IaaS:
And in the Telegram channel:
/ photo F Mira CC BY-SA
Transaction Details
Startup Mist Systems in 2014 was founded by Sujai Hajela and Brett Galloway. Prior to creating their own company, they held senior positions in the Cisco wireless networking development division.
')
The team is developing a platform for managing Wi-Fi, which is based on machine learning technology. According to a survey by analysts from ZK Research, half of the system administrators spend one day a week searching for problems and troubleshooting Wi-Fi. The startup product helps simplify network configuration and free up additional time from IT professionals so that they can handle other business-critical tasks.
Mist Systems technologies have attracted the attention of telecommunications providers and data center solution providers. In September 2018, Mist began building the SD-WAN platform with Juniper. The collaboration was successful, and the IT giant decided to buy a startup and its technologies. They will become part of the Contrail platform that manages networks and virtual machines in the data center.
The cost of the transaction will be 405 million dollars, and it is planned to close until June 30, 2019. At the same time, experts estimate the Mist company at 246 million. It means that the American manufacturer of telecommunication equipment agreed to pay for the startup about $ 160 million more than its estimated price.
Next, we will tell you what technologies the IT giant will pay for.
What technology bought
A startup is developing a platform called Learning WLAN. This is a specialized cloud service that analyzes the state of the wireless network and the activity of its users. It identifies communication problems with an AI system called Marvis.
Marvis uses natural language processing (NLP) and deep learning technologies to answer questions from administrators and users about network issues. For example, if the assistant asked, “How many defective devices are in the office?”, He will show statistics on connection failures and explain what caused the problems with the connection.
Another tool that the Wi-Fi start-up team is developing is the system for assessing the location of devices on the network. It uses BLE antennas paired with machine learning services. With their help, the tool determines the location of gadgets connected to Wi-Fi with an accuracy of one meter. This data is used to improve the Wi-Fi signal and control IoT devices. For example, the system may include security cameras when people appear in the room.
What experts say about the deal
Many analysts spoke positively about the future merger. According to columnist ZDNet, buying Mist means a new development path for Juniper. If now the IT giant is more known as a supplier of equipment for IaaS providers, then in the future the company plans to become a vendor of cloud network services. Changing directions will help Juniper attract new customers.
It is worth noting that the new deal is not Juniper's first attempt to enter the market of wireless devices. Ten years ago, the company bought Trapeze, but their joint products brought in only $ 50 million from 2011 to 2013. Then, the division's revenues began to decline, as the American manufacturer began to engage in technology for data centers. There is a possibility that the story may repeat in the case of Mist.
It is believed that the deal will benefit customers of Juniper. The introduction of machine learning technologies in the Wi-Fi network will help them reduce operating costs - the algorithms automate some of the tasks of the system administrators. However, according to Morgan Stanley experts, there is no point in waiting for a large number of Juniper customers, as many Mist Systems solutions have already been integrated into the systems of the IT giant.
/ photo by Kevin Doncaster CC BY
Similar developments
Juniper's Cisco and HPE competitors are also working on Wi-Fi management systems.
The first company has already added the ability to configure wireless networks in its SDN-system Digital Network Architecture (DNA). It uses the principle of network management based on intent ( intent-based networking ). System administrators set the desired Wi-Fi performance (for example, connection speed), and the system automatically adjusts devices to meet the requirements.
HPE has been developing a smart platform for managing wireless networks since 2015. It automates network configuration and analyzes information from all connected devices and access points.
In conclusion, we note that the technology of automatic control of Wi-Fi-networks will become increasingly relevant with the growth in the number of Internet of Things devices. Their number in the next three years may grow by more than one and a half times. Although it is expected that many smart gadgets will connect to 5G networks, experts note that reliable Wi-Fi is just as important - as is the system for controlling its operation.
What we write about in the First blog about corporate IaaS:
- How life has changed with the advent of DNS Flag Day
- Distributed firewall in vCloud Director 8.20: solution features
- All you need to know about vCloud Networks: network types in vCloud Director
And in the Telegram channel:
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/442976/
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