Juniper's Executive Shifts Signal New Direction

"[Johnson's appointment] is in alignment with that strategy," Hiebert said.

Hiebert also noted that Juniper may be readying for future mergers and acquisitions, a necessity if Juniper wants to continue growth and become a solid networking rival.

"Obviously, there's a lot of industry consolidation going on," Hiebert said, citing Brocade's $3 billion acquisition of Foundry earlier this week and noting that consolidation may have played a role in Juniper's appointment of Johnson. Hiebert also said that brining a Microsoft mindset aboard could help propel Juniper into its next phase and "take the business to the next level."

Grillo, while he said he's uncertain of which direction Johnson would lead Juniper, said it would make sense bringing on someone from Microsoft to create a stronger platform and grow the company through mergers and acquisitions, two areas where Microsoft has excelled.

Industry analyst and Yankee Group senior vice president Zeus Kerravala agreed. He said Kriens is smart and was able to build Juniper from nothing to a nearly $3 billion company, partly based on luck and Juniper's ability to "build a better mousetrap." But in order for Juniper to build on that success, Kerravala said, the vendor has to diversify and stretch beyond just its routing and security plays.

"Juniper is not a one-trick pony, but it's kind of like a 1.5-trick pony," he said. "They've never become that broad platform vendor, they're a best of breed product vendor. The need to take it to the next level, and bringing on someone from Microsoft can help them do that. There's only so much growth you can get organically. They'll need mergers and acquisitions to continue."

Having Johnson head the company can help Juniper create a stronger ecosystem, Kerravala said, adding that Microsoft is the "ultimate platform vendor." To take that direction, Juniper requires a new leader with a different set of skills.

"Scott gets an A+," Kerravala said. "If there was an award for the best startup of the 1990s, Juniper would get it, but it does require a new skill set to get Juniper to that next level."

And a stronger ecosystem play is good news for the channel. It will offer more integration and make Juniper a different type of company.

"Juniper will start to rely more on an ecosystem of partners for success," Kerravala said.

Hiebert said he's excited about the direction Juniper is taking and he foresees his Juniper business remaining strong, despite the changes.

"Juniper is one of the fastest growing products in our portfolio," he said. "And the momentum is continuing. Juniper is going to be a very big part of our success going forward."

Johnson's appointment comes just weeks after two other major executive shifts in the Juniper ranks.

First, on July 7, Juniper named John Morris its executive vice president of worldwide field operations. In that role, Morris will head Juniper's global sales, services and channel organizations and be responsible for the vendor's global field operations organization. Morris joined Juniper from San Francisco-based Pay By Touch, a biometric payments pioneer, where he served as president and CEO. Before Pay By Touch, Morris worked 23 years with IBM Corp., serving in a range of executive roles, most recently as vice president and general manager of the Distribution Sector in the Americas region. Morris takes over for Eddie Minshull, who will remain with Juniper in an advisory capacity until the conclusion of the third fiscal quarter, which ends Sept. 30.

The following day Juniper appointed Luis Avila-Marco to senior vice president of corporate development, making him responsible for leading corporate strategic planning and the development of key strategic relationships. Avila-Marco joined Juniper from Scientific-Atlanta, a Cisco Systems Inc.-owned company, where he served as vice president of corporate strategic planning during his 14-year career. Avila-Marco succeeded Spencer Greene, who Juniper said took on a new role as the company's senior vice president of customer advocacy.