Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) has big ambitions for its Juniper Networks-enhanced networking business, but my sense coming from HPE Networking’s recent investor day is that the vendor needs to get more aggressive if it wants to steal market share toward those lofty operational ambitions, a level of aggression that could begin with being more vocal in saying a rival that seemingly must not be named: Cisco.

Maybe it was just me being particularly in tune to hearing the word “Cisco” from anyone at the event, but that lack of reference became noticeable as the event wore on. Through several presentations, a panel discussion, and my own pestering of HPE Networking executives, the market’s largest presence was strikingly absent from the proceedings.

And I wasn’t the only one. In speaking with several analysts at the event, mention was made to the lack of Cisco mention despite those analysts also mentioning that HPE needed to be more aggressive in targeting its larger networking rival if it wants to gain the aforementioned market share.

Now, this was of course the “HPE Networking Investor Conference” and not the “Cisco Bashing Ball,” but what better time to drive a stake in the ground about how you’re going to compete in the market then when you have dozens of captive analysts and journalists primed for some fireworks?

Sure, we did get some great insight from HPE Networking head Rami Rahim, who touted successful integration efforts, plans for more financial “synergies” than initially expected, and even a handful of combined market wins. There was also more detail on the upcoming combined sales channel that will provide partners with a more robust inventory of products and services that can be used to drive sales.

And all of that is well and good. But coming from the year-plus-long slog that was HPE gaining approval of its Juniper Networks acquisition and the year-plus since that deal closed, I was hoping for a more pointed approach on how the now emboldened No. 2 networking vendor would strike at the heart of No. 1 Cisco’s market dominance.

I understand that during that government approval process there were some “questions” over market dynamics should the No. 2 and No. 3 players (HPE and Juniper Networks) be allowed to combine to be a more compelling competitor to No. 1, and maybe that has lowered some near-term attention grabbing. But any controversy around that deal gaining approval seems to have been remedied to everyone’s satisfaction, so nothing to see here, right? And if anything, HPE should take that approval as the signal that it now needs to be that more aggressive player taking on No. 1.

HPE and Juniper executives have at times put forth a more aggressive competitive approach toward Cisco and its rivals. Rahim at the time the deal closed noted that, “I am a technologist at heart and when I look at the opportunity here to combine technologies and teams to compete, not just with Cisco, but with this very vibrant, very competitive landscape, it's incredibly exhilarating to me.”

Sujai Hajela, EVP and GM for enterprise campus and branch at HPE Networking, earlier this year dismissed Cisco’s agentic AI efforts in comparison to what HPE Networking has in the market, noting, “yes, Cisco can claim agentic, but an agent knows what to do, but it does not know how to do it. How to do it comes in from a skill, and that is the key difference. Even if they can have an agentic framework, or a framework which is not agentic yet, they can’t talk about it. Our is in production and is running in the wild today.”

Let’s play the name game!

But both were more measured in their comments at the investor conference.

Rahim in a one-on-one interview during the event did admit that “we definitely need to be aggressive. We need to lean-in and we need to lean-in across all of the various dimensions and competitiveness, from marketing to sales to our product development.”

However, that notion precluded any direct mention by Rahim of who was going to feel that lean Rahim, who instead deftly pivoted to the opportunity the more robust HPE Networking will have to win share in the market. “That, I think, is the right recipe for how you grow market share in time,” Rahim said of that integrated opportunity.

Hajela in a separate interview did note that in “certain environments” the vendor is more open to bringing up its larger rival, hinting at a pair of recent European wins where “when it came to that, when we were fighting there, all gloves were off.”

That’s the spirit!

HPE’s reticence to mention Cisco stands in sharp contrast to many of their smaller rivals that can’t seem to mention their larger rivals enough. Of course, that is understandable as they have nothing to lose, but it also shows a level of market gumption that HPE may need to grab.

More important, Cisco has also not been afraid to poke down at its rivals, naming names and sowing consternation. If Cisco is in on the action, why not HPE?

Heck, Cisco and HPE held respective events earlier this year in Las Vegas, events held just days and casinos apart. We all know they are competitors! Let’s see some barbs thrown!

There is nothing more fun than to hear technology executives throw shade at each other. Maybe it’s just my decidedly youthful sense of humor, but an unexpected yet well-structured dis is music to my ears.

I just hope that this past interaction was just a step along the way for HPE Networking toward ramping its Cisco-focused efforts and not a dourer sign of some unneeded maturity that will only maintain the status quo.