Two high-ranking Juniper engineering executives have left the company to form a startup, a company
spokeswoman confirmed.
Ashok Krishnamurthi leaves after eight years with the network equipment
maker. His most recent title was general manager of the infrastructure
products group. In addition, R.K. Anand, vice president of ASIC
Kathy Durr, a Juniper spokeswoman, said the moves “had been planned for some
time” and won’t affect product development.
“Ashok was one of Juniper’s first employees and has continued to lead the
engineering organization since the company’s early days,” Durr said. “We
will miss him and R.K. and wish them the best of luck in their next
venture.”
No additional details of the pair’s next project have been disclosed. But
the climate for network equipment startups is improving after three dismal
years.
Although the acquisitions are occurring at nowhere near the pace or
valuation of the late 1990s, industry heavyweights like Juniper and Cisco
Systems are beginning to open their coffers to snap up
promising startups, especially those that can bring new security features.
Earlier this week, Juniper announced
a new security appliance offering for the small and medium business space.