XON earns Juniper Elite J-Partner status

XON, the black-empowered solutions and infrastructure company, has been awarded Juniper Networks Elite Service Provider status, an award that positions the company strongly as a solutions provider in the local telco carrier class and service provider network markets.

InformationWeek 500-listed Juniper Networks is the dominant player in the global carrier networking space, offering networking platforms that encompass a range of products and services, from carrier-class routing platforms to highly scalable session border controllers and secure and assured application delivery.

Based on a common product architecture featuring the proven JUNOS modular operating system, the platforms are designed to ensure an efficient and predictable performance infrastructure, and enable secure, dependable user experiences at scale.

"XON was the first certified Juniper Networks Enterprise Elite Partner in South Africa, and the awarding of Elite Service Provider status means we have reached the highest level of Juniper certification," says XON CEO Carel Coetzee.

"This has long-term strategic benefits in that the company can move beyond servicing just the enterprise market and procure and service carrier-class Juniper solutions for South Africa's burgeoning telecommunications sector.

"Businesses such as ISPs and telcos, where the network is the business, readily embrace Juniper technology because the advantages over competitors in the marketplace are clearly and easily demonstrated and that has opened up new markets for us."

Coetzee says Juniper's integrated security products are a key differentiator, with appliances that extend secure and mobile access to employees, partners and customers, and intrusion prevention products that identify and stop network and application-level attacks.

This is borne out by back-to-back wins in the security category at the Ingram Micro Manufacturer Award of Excellence in 2006 and 2007.

The platform also includes a unified access and control application that binds the endpoint with the user identity and the network, and propagates that information throughout the network for real-time policy management.

"Another key strength in the Juniper offering is that it incorporates robust and proven MPLS, or multiprotocol label switching router," says Coetzee. "That's particularly applicable in larger networks where it brings traffic engineering, bandwidth management and quality of service to IP networks."

XON, he adds, made a considerable investment in skills to achieve the certification and gives the organisation the ability to leverage economies of scale with key clients and pass on the benefits to customers.

"Long overdue deregulation of the South African telecommunications environment is leading to more competition and cheaper connectivity, which translates into the demand for carrier networks growing substantially. XON, and Juniper, are now ideally positioned to take advantage," he says.