Changing Of The Guard: The Faces Of Juniper's New Executive Team

It's been a time of executive changes for Juniper Networks, the Sunnyvale, Calif.-based networking vendor. With a new CEO coming aboard in September, the current CEO opting to stay on as board chairman and new appointments within the senior sales ranks, Juniper is looking to solidify its message of "high performance networking" and revamp its go-to-market strategy. Here we take a look at the changing face of Juniper's executive landscape and highlight five noteworthy changes that recently -- or are just about to -- happen.



Outgoing CEO Scott Kriens


Scott Kriens has held Juniper's top executive slot for 12 years, coming aboard as chairman and CEO shortly after Juniper was established in 1996. Last week, however, Kriens announced that he is vacating the CEO post for Kevin Johnson, president of Microsoft's Platforms and Services Division. Kriens, 50, will retain his seat as chairman of the board, and will remain active in developing Juniper's strategy and leadership.

"The first 12 years at Juniper have been the most rewarding years of my professional life and I am incredibly proud of what we have accomplished together," Kriens said in a statement, when Johnson's appointment was announced. "We are very excited to welcome Kevin as our new CEO. He is a world-class executive, and a person whose values align exactly with the culture upon which Juniper has been built. I look forward to working closely with Kevin in the years to come as we continue to build on Juniper's success."

Microsoft last week announced that Platforms and Services Division president Kevin Johnson was leaving his post. The following day, Juniper confirmed that Johnson was indeed taking over its top executive spot come September. Johnson will also receive a seat on Juniper's board.



Johnson held down a 16-year career with Microsoft. During his tenure, Johnson, 47, oversaw 14,000 employees and products like Windows Vista, Windows Live and Web search. He was also instrumental in Microsoft's so far failing attempts to acquire Yahoo.



"I am delighted to join Juniper," Johnson said in the statement. "Juniper is a company with a clear technology agenda, great talent and an amazing growth opportunity in a growing industry. I'm looking forward to bringing my experiences to help Juniper scale and deliver great value to Juniper's customers, partners, employees and shareholders."

VARs, while praising the work outgoing CEO Scott Kriens did throughout his career, said Johnson's appointment to CEO could be a sign that Juniper is looking to create a stronger platform play, as opposed to offering just best-of-breed solutions, something Johnson excelled at in Redmond.

Philip O'Reilly, former chief executive of massive Melbourne, Fla.-based solution provider Solunet, recently joined the Juniper team as senior vice president of U.S. enterprise sales, a paradigm shift from heading up successful and profitable VAR. For the past five years, O'Reilly has served as CEO of Solunet, a Juniper Global Partner with a focus on core networking, network security, wireless and VoIP.



O'Reilly will collaborate closely with the executive management team to ensure alignment and drive enterprise sales through the company's direct, indirect, federal and distribution channel. He will also be responsible for developing and executing Juniper's strategic go-to-market plans in the U.S. to capitalize on the opportunities in the enterprise.

Earlier this month, Juniper named John Morris its executive vice president of worldwide field operations, a role in which he will head Juniper's global sales, services and channel organizations and be responsible for Juniper'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, serving in a range of executive roles, most recently as vice president and general manager of the Distribution Sector in the Americas region.



Morris took 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.

A day after John Morris' appointment to executive vice president of worldwide field operations, 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-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.