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July 26, 2011, 8:49 PM EDT
By Peter Burrows and Brian Womack
(Corrects Juniper’s stock exchange in eighth paragraph of story that ran yesterday.)
July 25 (Bloomberg) -- Juniper Networks Inc., the second- largest maker of Internet networking equipment, is reorganizing its software business under the leadership of Bob Muglia, a 23- year employee of Microsoft Corp.
Muglia will be executive vice president for the Software Solutions unit and oversee Juniper’s overall software strategy, the company said today in a statement. At Microsoft, Muglia most recently ran the unit that makes server software for corporate computers. He will report to Juniper Chief Executive Officer Kevin Johnson, who also formerly worked at Microsoft.
Juniper is bolstering its management ranks as it tries to take market share from larger rival Cisco Systems Inc. The addition of Muglia will help improve Juniper’s focus on the software that underlies its various networking products, including cloud-computing technology. Cloud systems let companies run their programs from a few Internet data centers, rather than keeping software on local hard drives.
“There’s a lot of growth in networking, with the explosion in devices and the development of the cloud, and Juniper is the best positioned for this opportunity.” Muglia said in an interview today. “Cisco is a great company, but I think Juniper has a more modern approach, a more consistent approach.”
Server Shift
In the 1990s, Muglia helped spearhead Microsoft’s expansion from personal-computer software into more powerful business software for servers. Until then, many corporate-computing tasks were handled by more expensive machines such as mainframes. The Server and Tools division had revenue of $17.1 billion in fiscal 2011, making it Microsoft’s third-largest business behind Windows and Office.
In recent years, Muglia had focused on developing Azure, a key element of Microsoft’s cloud-computing strategy. Azure consists of technologies for running software from an Internet data center, where it can be updated and secured more easily than on local servers.
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer announced Muglia’s departure on Jan. 10, saying the group needed “new leadership.”
Juniper, based in Sunnyvale, California, fell 60 cents to $30.67 today on the New York Stock Exchange. The shares have declined 17 percent this year.
--Editors: Jillian Ward, Cecile Daurat
To contact the reporters on this story: Peter Burrows in San Francisco at pburrows@bloomberg.net; Brian Womack in San Francisco at bwomack1@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Tom Giles at tgiles5@bloomberg.net
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(Corrects Juniper’s stock exchange in eighth paragraph of story that ran yesterday.)
July 25 (Bloomberg) -- Juniper Networks Inc., the second- largest maker of Internet networking equipment, is reorganizing its software business under the leadership of Bob Muglia, a 23- year employee of Microsoft Corp.
Muglia will be executive vice president for the Software Solutions unit and oversee Juniper’s overall software strategy, the company said today in a statement. At Microsoft, Muglia most recently ran the unit that makes server software for corporate computers. He will report to Juniper Chief Executive Officer Kevin Johnson, who also formerly worked at Microsoft.
Juniper is bolstering its management ranks as it tries to take market share from larger rival Cisco Systems Inc. The addition of Muglia will help improve Juniper’s focus on the software that underlies its various networking products, including cloud-computing technology. Cloud systems let companies run their programs from a few Internet data centers, rather than keeping software on local hard drives.
“There’s a lot of growth in networking, with the explosion in devices and the development of the cloud, and Juniper is the best positioned for this opportunity.” Muglia said in an interview today. “Cisco is a great company, but I think Juniper has a more modern approach, a more consistent approach.”
Server Shift
In the 1990s, Muglia helped spearhead Microsoft’s expansion from personal-computer software into more powerful business software for servers. Until then, many corporate-computing tasks were handled by more expensive machines such as mainframes. The Server and Tools division had revenue of $17.1 billion in fiscal 2011, making it Microsoft’s third-largest business behind Windows and Office.
In recent years, Muglia had focused on developing Azure, a key element of Microsoft’s cloud-computing strategy. Azure consists of technologies for running software from an Internet data center, where it can be updated and secured more easily than on local servers.
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer announced Muglia’s departure on Jan. 10, saying the group needed “new leadership.”
Juniper, based in Sunnyvale, California, fell 60 cents to $30.67 today on the New York Stock Exchange. The shares have declined 17 percent this year.
--Editors: Jillian Ward, Cecile Daurat
To contact the reporters on this story: Peter Burrows in San Francisco at pburrows@bloomberg.net; Brian Womack in San Francisco at bwomack1@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Tom Giles at tgiles5@bloomberg.net
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