After buying its way into the enterprise market last year with its acquisition of NetScreen Technologies, underdog Juniper, Sunnyvale, Calif., brought on Kothari, a well-regarded Cisco channel veteran, to drive sales of its security wares and new access routers through solution providers. He quickly rolled out channel program updates that added certifications and technology specializations akin to those he previously helped launch at Cisco. Standing in his way is Mountford, who has taken on Cisco’s channel Achilles’ heel—partner profitability—with new programs such as deal registration and back-end rebates that contribute thousands of dollars to partners’ bottom lines.

Cisco partners anticipate more tweaking of the programs in April when Mountford is expected to update the San Jose, Calif., vendor’s partner classification system. Kothari is countering with promises of higher margins and a stepped-up partner training effort. Still, some solution providers say Juniper can’t hit its full stride as a Cisco competitor until it expands its product portfolio. “As soon as they buy or do something with a switching vendor, they’re ready to take Cisco on head-to-head,” said Shaun Steel, sales manager at Juniper partner Valcom Computer Center.
—Jennifer Hagendorf Follett