In a surprise announcement yesterday, Juniper Networks CEO Shaygan Kheradpir has stepped down after having taken the helm at the beginning of this year.
EVP, general manager, and longtime Juniper veteran Rami Rahim has been tapped to take over the CEO role at least for now. The usual platitudes weren’t there, however, and it seems something ugly went down.
According to the announcement, Kheradpir resigned after a review related to a customer negotiation in which the board questioned his conduct. No further details were available, but for such an abrupt departure it can’t have been a pleasant situation. Clearly Juniper’s board wanted to quickly put some distance between them and something.
Juniper has been restructuring and streamlining this year, reviewing its various lines of business and cutting costs and all that. Technology never rests, and the SDN revolution is shaking things up.
This past week they unveiled their first carrier-grade virtual router product that runs off of x86 hardware, beginning to move away from the specialized gear they’ve historically been associated with.
I’m sure they wish the focus would stay on that effort, but of course the markets are reacting negatively to the CEO change. Hopefully it will blow over quickly as Rahim takes the reins.
This article was authored by Rob Powell and was originally posted on Telecomramblings.com
Rob Powell is founder & editor of Telecom Ramblings, which was set up in 2008. The website is dedicated to discussing trends and developments in the telecom industry.