Juniper Partner Program Head Departs For Juniper Security Spin-Off
Doug Erickson, former VP of worldwide partner programs and development at Juniper Networks, has left the company to head up channels at Pulse Secure, a new mobile security company based on the Junos Pulse business Juniper recently spun off.
News of Erickson's jump came Thursday, when Pulse Secure was launched as an independent company by Siris Capital, the private equity firm that purchased Juniper's Junos Pulse business for $250 million in July. Pulse Secure's portfolio is based largely on Juniper's legacy Junos Pulse technology.
Erickson's new title at Pulse Secure is VP of Partner Sales. The plan is to transition the roughly 1,800 Juniper partners that were selling Junos Pulse into the new Pulse Secure partner program, according to a Pulse Secure statement.
[Related: Juniper Networks To Sell Mobile Security Suite For $250 Million]
Mark Robinson, president of CentraComm, a Findlay, Ohio-based solution provider and Elite Juniper partner, said CentraComm plans on continuing to sell the Junos Pulse mobile security solutions under the new Pulse Secure brand. He also applauded Erickson's move and said it suggested Pulse Secure's commitment to being a channel-friendly company.
"I think we were a bit surprised initially when Juniper spun this out, but, in hindsight, I think it's great," Robinson told CRN. "From my perspective, Junos Pulse at Juniper was a very small piece of a very big pie, but when you spin it out and make it its own company, you have to get it right."
In addition to Erickson, Chris Stoddard, former senior director of security sales at Juniper, is also joining Pulse Secure.
A Juniper spokesperson could not immediately confirm who will assume Erickson's and Stoddard's former responsibilities at Juniper.
Pulse Secure said it will continue to go to market with legacy Juniper products including its Pulse VPN solution, Pulse network access control (NAC) gateway and Pulse mobile security solutions.
Pulse Secure also revealed upon its launch plans to acquire fellow mobile security player MobileSpaces.
San Jose, Calif.-based Pulse Secure is being led by Siris Executive Partners Alfred Zollar and Andrew Monshaw, who serve as chairman and CEO, respectively.
Juniper spun off its Junos Pulse business as part of a broader restructuring and cost-cutting initiative laid out by CEO Shaygan Kheradpir earlier this year.
Erickson is one of several channel executives to leave Juniper over the past year. Juniper's worldwide channel chief David Helfer left the company in August to head up global channels at mobile security provider Lookout.
PUBLISHED OCT. 3, 2014