Juniper's new CEO will be Shaygan Kheradpir, former chief operations and technology officer at Barclays plc.

Kheradpir, who has also joined Juniper's board, starts on Jan. 1, the company announced Wednesday morning. He'll replace Kevin Johnson, who had already announced his pending resignation.

While there weren't any standout candidates rumored to be in the running, one question around Juniper's decision was whether the board would go for a sales/marketing type of CEO or pick a technologist more similar to founding CEO Scott Kriens. It looks like they leaned toward the technology side.

Even though he's coming from the banking industry, Kheradpir isn't an unknown quantity in the tech world, having worked at Verizon at its inception in 2000. So, he's presumably bringing some experience that relates to the carrier market, which is Juniper's foundation — and having been at Barclays, he's also got experience inside the kind of high-pressure enterprise that all the switch vendors are eager to sell into.

We'll follow up as we learn more about Keradpir. (Step One: surfing around his personal web site.) Here's the text of Juniper's press release.

SUNNYVALE, CA--(Marketwired - Nov 13, 2013) - Juniper Networks (NYSE: JNPR), the industry leader in network innovation, today announced Shaygan Kheradpir as its chief executive officer, effective January 1, 2014. Kheradpir succeeds Kevin Johnson, who in July announced his plan to retire as CEO. Johnson will remain as a member of the board.

"The board has conducted a comprehensive search process and we're very excited to name Shaygan Kheradpir as our next chief executive officer," said Scott Kriens, chairman of the board, Juniper Networks. "Shaygan has a proven track record of successful business operations and technology leadership, with industry knowledge and technical vision from the perspectives of both telecommunications service providers and global enterprises. Most importantly, Shaygan's values and vision for the company align very tightly with our own, building a strong foundation for Juniper's future."

Kheradpir joins Juniper Networks from Barclays PLC, where he served as the chief operations and technology officer, and as a member of its executive committee. Prior to joining Barclays, he was executive vice president and chief information and technology officer at Verizon Communications.

"Juniper Networks delivers innovations that are transforming the way people interact, conduct business, and connect as a global community," said Kheradpir. "I am honored to lead this visionary organization and look forward to working with this group of dedicated and talented professionals to drive the next phase of the company's growth."

Kheradpir joined Barclays, a major global financial services provider, in 2011. While responsible for its operations and technology, he was also a catalyst for the bank's transformation imperatives of 21st century industrialization and customer-focused innovation.

Kheradpir was an original member of the management team when Verizon was created, and through a decade of leadership, was an instrumental member of the team that transitioned Verizon from a regional telephone company to a broadband, media and global communications leader. During his tenure, he helped to create and implement technologies and products that anticipated future market needs such as IP multi-media and Fiber Optic Service (FiOS).

Kheradpir holds a bachelor's, master's, and Ph.D. in electrical engineering from Cornell University.