HPE Networking Exec: ‘You Will Not See Sales Teams Fighting In Front Of You’

‘You will see one unified team, one mission and one focus: you,’ says HPE Networking Senior Vice President of Products Sudheer Matta in a LinkedIn post.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Networking Senior Vice President of Products Sudheer Matta, one of the top executives leading the charge on the HPE-Juniper Networks integration, said the new combined company is not going to “repeat the mistakes of other large vendors who left customers confused by internal competition.”

“You will not see sales teams fighting in front of you,” said Matta in a LinkedIn post addressing customers and prospects. You will see one unified team, one mission and one focus: you. This is just the beginning. My personal invitation is simple: Join the two Gartner Magic Quadrant Leaders on this journey to the self-driving network.”

CRN reached out to HPE for comment but had not heard back at press time.

Matta said in the LinkedIn post that in the wake of the completion just six weeks ago of the $13.4 billion blockbuster HPE acquisition of Juniper Networks, the teams are coming together with “more purpose, more intent and more clarity than ever before, anchored in a customer-first, customer-last mentality.”

The positive outlook is no small matter given that Matta, a 25-year industry veteran, has been involved in a number of blockbuster networking mergers.

“I’ve been through a number of major industry integrations— @Trapeze & Juniper Networks, Cisco Meraki & Cisco, Mist Systems & Juniper Networks—and now Juniper Networks & Hewlett Packard Enterprise,” he wrote. “Without exaggeration, this one feels different.”

Matta was previously vice president of product for AI networking provider Mist Systems, which was acquired by Juniper Networks six years ago and is now the heart of the HPE AI networking sales offensive.

Matta pledged that both companies will continue their innovation- fueled offensive to bring customers AI-powered self-driving networks.

Customers Can Count On ‘Continued Innovation’

“If you are an HPE Aruba Networking customer, you can count on continued innovation and a clear journey toward an AI-native, self-driving network,” wrote Matta. “If you are a Juniper Networks Mist Systems customer, you can count on the same—continued innovation and a journey to a self-driving network.”

Speaking to that “continued innovation” pledge, Matta wrote:

“These are not commitments we make lightly. In every customer conversation ... the reaction has been consistent: This makes sense, and we’re all in.”

As to the prospect of competitors attempting to spread “Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt” about the HPE-Juniper combination, Matta said: “If you hear Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt (FUD) from any of our competitors, just email or call me and I will sort it out for you. (Just be kind to them, though, and know they are just afraid of our market leading combination).”

HPE Networking President and General Manager Rami Rahim, the former CEO of Juniper Networks, hailed the LinkedIn post by Matta as “spot on” with a clapping emoji.

“You’ve nailed what makes this combination so powerful,” wrote Rahim. “Grateful to have you on the team Sudheer. Your passion and customer-first mindset always shine through. And yes… we’ll keep being kind.”

Matta’s post received 35 comments, including a number from HPE-Juniper team members excited by the AI networking sales charge.

Matta is not the only HPE executive leveraging social media to make sure customers understand the road ahead for the HPE- Juniper combination.

A New Era Of Networking Excellence

Seth Fiermonti, a distinguished HPE Networking engineer and a 14-year HPE Aruba veteran, said in a LinkedIn post that the combination is the start of a new era of networking excellence.

“By combining the strengths of HPE Aruba Networking and HPE Juniper Networks, we are capitalizing on a robust portfolio that prioritizes value and flexibility without disruptions to our most important asset—our customers! There are no planned changes to the current portfolio,” wrote Fiermonti on LinkedIn. “Our industry-leading product offerings, including HPE Aruba Networking and HPE Juniper Networking hardware, software, services, and solutions, remain fully available.”

Fiermonti pointed out that “all standard End of Life (EOL) and End of Sale (EOS) policies will continue to apply” for the product portfolios.

‘A Competitive Edge’ That Is Resonating In The Field

C.R. Howdyshell, CEO of Independence, Ohio-based Advizex, No. 129 on the 2025 CRN Solution Provider 500, a Fulcrum IT Partners company, praised Matta’s LinkedIn post as a sign of the energy, excitement and unified front that HPE Aruba and Juniper are bringing to the sales trenches.

“Sudheer is bringing the passion and energy that is needed to take on Cisco, the networking market leader,” said Howdyshell. “He clearly has a competitive edge that is already resonating at the field level.”

Howdyshell said he and his team recently met with HPE Networking executives to rev up Advizex’s networking go-to- market model and it is already paying off.

“The competitive edge that Sudheer and the team are bringing is creating energy in the organization,” said Howdyshell. “Energy is contagious. We’re seeing it with the Aruba channel leadership, enterprise sales leadership and technical leadership. The Aruba guys are as pumped up as the Juniper guys. The collective energy out of the meeting we had has already created net-new opportunities for us to go after new business.”

Howdyshell said he and the Advizex team have been super impressed by the “unified” account sales planning and account strategy. “Everyone is confident there is one direction going forward with a unified approach,” he said.

With the potential for big sales growth from the HPE-Juniper AI networking offensive, Howdyshell said the networking sales drive is one of his company’s big bets over the next year. “We think we can at least double our networking business over the next year,” he said.