Juniper sells SSL-VPN - what a sad day

[spuluka]

The sale has formally closed.  I'm looking forward to seeing some clear assertions about Juniper's security offerings and strategy going forward. 

http://forums.juniper.net/t5/The-New-Network/Introducing-Pulse-Secure-A-New-Stand-Alone-Security-Com...

Hopefully, the agreements with Aruba and now Pulse Secure combined with the focus on open source also bode well for interoperation and orchestration between network vendors in Juniper's new world.

[MaeltorRSI_]

I have to admit I'm excited for this.  I was very frustrated with their communication surrounding this move initially and voiced those frustrations at the Juniper SE Americas Summit this past August. 

I believe the reasons they divested this product line are sound based on some discussions I had at that point.  The Pulse client has stagnated a bit of late so hopefully "Pulse Secure" is prepared to really push some much needed improvements to the product line and Juniper is fully prepared to OEM that technology as they see fit.

As a Senior Engineer with an Elite partner/var I'm awaiting the transition process with some trepidation but an equal amount of hope that they'll get this right.

[lyndidon_]

I reallyhope it works out well. it appeared to have been one the nore stable products with lots of promise.

"The Pulse client has stagnated a bit of late..". Really? The product was junipers' product. For it to stagnate must have been a conscious calculated decision, which I hope works out for the customers and the new owners and the support continues. I really, really was getting to like the prodcut the more I learned teh product. That said, I still find it hard to figure out why Juniper finds it so difficult to support most of teh Linux versions when a google search shows plenty of people who which up something quickly and voila, connection done. But, I know that my thoughts are mainly due to very little marketing, R&D and maybe just business in general. Hoping for teh best and success.

[MaeltorRSI_]

Unfortunetly it has stagnated a bit.  The UI and feature set hasn't changed for some time, and there has been NO development on the Linux Pulse client.  It may have been Juniper's product, the facts point to it not being a very profitable one when compared to Enterprise and Carrier Switch/Route.

I'm hoping for good things from the new company and I'm quite glad that its a technology focused private equity firm that took the ENTIRE product line (including development teams, etc).

[DanSmart_]

My #1 request for the new company is to implement something like uservoice.com to garner and track product enhancement requests.  It wouldn't take much to fix the little functionality problems that drive me crazy.

1. Customizable java install page to help users through the quagmire that is Java.

2. Allow pushing a Java Deployment Rule file to users BEFORE trying to load hostcheck.

3. Have a supported / unsupported client check that determines if hostcheck and other feature will run without me having to write complex browser UA string rules.  The SA already records this in the Active User list.  Why must browser tags be the only way to determine client types?

4. Allow Junos Pulse Collaboration for iPad to use a MyMeeting name for the meeting ID.

5. Allow HTML in the Pre and Post authentication popups (so we can add <a> tags and format page)

6. Have an option in Citrix resource policy for "VPN" that doesn't automatically set role options upon save.

...

[Jickfoo_]

I did a large scale SSLVPN bake off back in the Aventail and Whale days when the technology was new. Neoteris (now Juniper) blew everyone away. The platform has grown over the years and still nothing can come close to it.

This lead us to Juniper Firewalls, Juniper NAC, Juniper Switching. To sell off  the SA is really, really dumb. We're moving to Citrix for VPN access. Makes more sense to us since they are already in house and seem to have no plans to mutilate their own company.

Talk about cutting off your nose to spite your face. Just odd.

[zanyterp_]

Hey Jickfoo,

I am sorry to hear that you are not comfortable with moving forward with us, Pulse Secure, for your VPN needs. Is your concern that we are our own company, and as such an unkown entity, or is there something more to it? Is it something you are willing to discuss with a member of our team to find out if there are concerns that can be addressed? If yes, can you PM me your contact details and I will forward them to those who may be able to assist?

If not, that is fine; we do respect your decision but wanted to make sure that your concerns had been addressed in association with the divestiture. Or if the time is not such that you can move back to us for your VPN needs, are you in a position to discuss the reasons for the move over to Citrix so that we can work on addressing those needs (if possible)? I may be reading your note wrong, but it sounds like this may have already been in the works.

As an employee that is impacted by the change, I can say that this is a positive thing for the product.

Thanks!

[Jickfoo_]

<begin rant>

My concern is that a company I strongly believed in made a bad business decision by selling off what I and many other people on this thread feel is their strongest product. I compare it to if Apple was to sell their iPhone to a unknown company. Was it broke ? Why fix it ? Is someone getting rich off of this decision ?

Our hardware is end of life. I dont want to pay a premium and go through the growing pains yet again. Feels very similar to dumping ScreenOS for Junos. Also, the only way Juniper could redesign their product is to sell it ? Seems unimaginative and short-sighted. Whats so wrong with Juniper that they couldnt reboot their own product ? Do I need to worry about the other products I use ? In short .. WTH ? Do you worry about your reputation and your standing with your loyal customers ? You should.

No, I dont want to talk about it. The consolidation of VPN products was inevitable for us. Juniper just made the decision much easier. I'm just glad I'm not one of the companies that bought a MAG just before this was announced.

Anyway, that's my 2 cents.

Justin

<end rant>

[lyndidon_]

Agree with every word of your rant. It seems it is more about pleasing a few rich large customers, maybe 5% of the base while giving a finger to to the other 95%. And while I am still angry, disappointed and frustrated that Juniper appears to be floundering, the MAG is still a great product which could be made into a MAGnificient prodcut with a few improvements. Like built in Load balancer- should be very easy to implement just think VRRP and virtual routers- done! DNS server, BIND is already available, and a few other features (Netscaler built of FreeBSD offers some). Juniper just has been operating like Secretariat with a bug on board, who with a 15 length advantage and nothing to do other balance an armchair ride home, manages to flounder, fall of the champion a few yards from the finish line. They seem to be just clawing and snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. I would not be surprosed if juniper is bought off in the next 3-5 years. Hopefully if that happens, it will be a company who will revive the ScreenOS development to appease and support the thousands of customers who prefer to use that product that works for them in their environment. I agree with your Apple analogy

[zanyterp_]

Hi Justin,

Thank you for sharing your concerns. I can say that I do worry about the reputation my company and product have with our loyal customers. And hope that we are under consideration again in the future if you re-evaluate your VPN solution in the future (if that were to happen; it sounds like it is unlikely as you already had consolidation plans in place, but if something changes).

An an alternate analagy, I propose the following for thought: this divestiture is more like Apple moving the AppleTV group to it's own company rather than the iPhone; however, in both instances, if the group that makes the product so great moves as well (support, development, product management, etc) the learning curve/risk is reduced and the product will not suffer.

Thank you again for sharing your concerns so we can keep this in mind.