Juniper veteran Gordon Mackintosh has joined Equinix as SVP of partner sales and programs. He joins the data center giant after vacating his worldwide (WW) VP role for global channel and partner ecosystem networking at Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE).

Mackintosh had joined Juniper Networks in 2020 as group VP for its partner organization. 2024 saw him promoted to SVP, a year prior to the HPE/Juniper buy-out.

He took on the WW VP role for HPE’s channel and partner sales in August, only to depart five months later for fellow HPE/Juniper mainstay Ben Fallon to take on the role last week. Mackintosh’s new role was under wraps during that transition, with the California-based exec blowing cover on Tuesday about his new Equinix gig.

“After six incredible years at Juniper Networks, I’m deeply grateful for the journey-and for the people, partners, leaders, and mentors who were part of it,” Mackintosh wrote on LinkedIn. “I wish the entire Juniper/HPE team all the best and will be rooting for your continued success.

“This week, I take on a new challenge and have joined Equinix as SVP of Partner Sales and Programs. Equinix has built something truly special, and I’m excited to build on that strong foundation-evolving the partner motion, unlocking incremental value, and helping turn it into an even more powerful growth engine for the company.”

Mackintosh’s HPE exit follows the recent departure of chief network strategist Neil McRae from the Juniper stable, who jumped ship to U.K. broadband firm CityFibre in December.

More recently, HPE this week saw EMEA VP Gos Hein van de Wouw defect to join cloud network firm Extreme Networks.

The Mackintosh move is a rare example of Equinix nabbing HPE talent, although the companies share some DNA. HPE’s Fidelma Russo, EVP and GM of hybrid cloud and chief technology officer, for example, was appointed to the Equinix Board of Directors in 2022.

The two firms extended their partnership in 2023 with a worldwide expansion of HPE GreenLake private cloud inside Equinix International Business Exchange (IBX) data centers.