Square One Solutions Group elected as Elite Partner VAR for Juniper Networks

Juniper Networks Inc, the California-based, Nasdaq-listed provider of secure, high performance IP platforms for LAN and WAN communications, has appointed the Square One Solutions Group as an Elite Partner value-added reseller for southern Africa.

The appointment follows the formal opening of a Juniper Networks sales office in Woodmead, Johannesburg on 25 February, to sell and support networking and security solutions that offer secure and assured communications over a single IP network.

The agreement gives Square One, listed on the Johannesburg Securities Exchange and an empowered company with a black ownership of 54.6%, access to the full spectrum of Juniper networking products as well as support, training and promotional services. The appointment further bolsters Square One's focus on and ability to deliver leading infrastructure solutions to the telco/service provider and related South African marketplace.

Square One has to date provided solutions in the lawful interception space, in areas of collection, mediation and specialised interception. The addition of Juniper's infrastructure and security solutions extend Square One's unique offering, providing alternative solutions to an otherwise established enterprise market. Furthermore, current focus on niche, leading-edge technologies such as Metro Ethernet and WiMAX, as requested by customers, positions Square One to deliver end-to-end infrastructure deployments for the changing telco landscape.

Garth Braithwaite, head of Juniper's operations in SA, said there was increasing demand for "dynamic, efficient public network infrastructure and reliable, secure communications services" driven by the consistent growth achieved in the South African economy.

"We are committed to working with select local partners, who are key elements in our provision of secure, highly reliable networking solutions to our service provider and enterprise customers in the southern Africa region," Braithwaite added.

Square One Services Manager, Philip Olejnik, said Juniper Networking is a "very serious international contender in the WAN space" offering telecommunications service providers and companies dependent upon enterprise solutions attractive benefits from scaleable, secure and powerful ASIC-based networking architecture.

"We bring to the partnership 19 years of experience in the local ICT market, a national footprint and regional reach into neighbouring countries, all of which leave us well positioned to apply Juniper solutions. Their products are tried and tested in many overseas markets and are posing a significant challenge to existing leading LAN and WAN architectures."

Olejnik added that Juniper products offer market-leading performance and functionality within an architecture that maintains linear performance even under heavy load, while also supporting many different services and applications. The Juniper Netscreen routing and firewall solutions also ensure high system security.