Juniper Networks is acquiring Apstra in a deal that will drive deeper automation into Juniper’s Junos-based data center networking platform. The acquisition should better position Juniper in the intent-based networking segment against rival Cisco.

Apstra is a pioneer in the intent-based networking field. Juniper noted that the Apstra platform allows users to “describe how the data center should behave in terms of outcomes and the system implements and continuously assures that the network operations and experience match the intent.” This provides proactive insights and automated root cause identification and remediation.

Apstra’s platform is targeted at integrating closed loop automaton and analytics into multivendor deployments. This includes layer-3 IP fabric environments, Ethernet VPN virtual extensible LAN (EVPN-VXLAN), and the Linux-based Software for Open Networking in the Cloud (SONiC). Juniper’s switches already integrate with Apstra today to automatically deploy services and implement changes.

The vendor earlier this year added its Time Voyager operating system to its AOS product that allows network administrators to return their network to a previous setting.

Financial terms of the deal were not released, but Juniper said that the deal will water down its earnings for the first half of fiscal 2021, before starting to add value. Apstra Founder David Cheriton will join Juniper as chief data center scientist.

Forrester Research placed Juniper Networks in the “leaders” category of its latest Wave ranking of programmable switch vendors alongside Arista Networks, Huawei, and Nvidia. Juniper has been very vocal in touting the commercial success of its automation efforts, even stating that its Mist artificial intelligence (AI)-driven WiFi technology was seeing an 80% win rate in the market compared to Cisco.