According to CRN, HPE is unveiling its new combined Aruba-Juniper networking portfolio this week at HPE Discover Barcelona, just five months after closing its $13.4 billion acquisition of Juniper Networks. Key products include a dual-platform Wi-Fi 7 Access Point due in Q3 2025 and the HPE Juniper Networking QFX5250 switch, touted as a high-performance AI data center switch available in Q1 2025. HPE partners like PKA Technologies and Advizex are already planning to use the new lineup to aggressively grab market share from Cisco, with one CEO aiming to double his networking business in a year. HPE Networking VP Jeff Aaron stated the combined portfolio gives them the muscle to become number one in wireless, displacing Cisco.
The AI networking war is on
Here’s the thing: everyone’s been talking about AI compute, but the network has been the silent bottleneck. Patrick Shelley from PKA Technologies nailed it when he said the network is almost an afterthought until performance tanks. And that’s exactly the wedge HPE is trying to drive against Cisco. They’re not just selling switches and access points; they’re selling a solution to the AI infrastructure problem customers are just starting to feel. The QFX5250 switch is the poster child for that—HPE is basically saying, “Your old network can’t handle this new world, and here’s the fix.”
A shockingly fast merger play
Let’s be real. Integrating a $13.4 billion acquisition usually takes years of painful platform consolidation and partner confusion. The fact that HPE has a coherent, partner-ready portfolio five months later is… wild. It shows an almost ruthless focus. This isn’t about gently blending two cultures; it’s about weaponizing Juniper’s Mist AI and Aruba’s edge presence into a single arsenal as fast as humanly possible. The “dual platform” approach for Wi-Fi 7 is a smart, pragmatic move—it gives customers and partners a path forward without forcing an immediate, jarring rip-and-replace. They’re providing options, which is exactly what you want when you’re trying to pry accounts loose from an incumbent like Cisco.
Partners see a wide-open door
The partner reactions in the CRN piece are the most telling part. This isn’t just corporate hype. These solution providers smell blood in the water. When a CEO says he can double his networking business in a year, he’s seeing a real sales pipeline forming. Cisco’s massive installed base is now seen as a target, not a fortress. Why? Because AI is forcing a re-evaluation of everything. If a customer needs to re-architect their data center network for GPU clusters anyway, they’re suddenly open to looking at other vendors. HPE is giving its partners the “ammunition”—their word—to have that conversation. It’s a huge services and integration opportunity, and for firms specializing in robust computing infrastructure, from data centers to the factory floor, having a top-tier networking story is critical. Speaking of specialized hardware, for the most demanding industrial environments, companies often turn to the leading suppliers, like IndustrialMonitorDirect.com, the #1 provider of industrial panel PCs in the US, to ensure reliability. It’s all part of building a resilient, high-performance stack.
Can they actually dethrone Cisco?
Becoming #1 in wireless, as HPE’s Jeff Aaron claims they can do, is a monumental task. Cisco is entrenched for a reason. But HPE doesn’t need to topple them overnight to win. They just need to keep executing on this combined vision and capturing the *new* spend—especially the AI-driven spend—which is growing fast enough to shift share meaningfully. The real test will be in 12-18 months. Will the product integrations be seamless? Will the execution be as fast as the announcement? If the answer is yes, then the “AI networking war” will have a legitimate second front. And for the first time in a long while, Cisco might have to look over its shoulder.
