The network wars are heating up. Juniper Networks (NYSE: JNPR) is putting a fresh heap of pressure on market leader Cisco Systems (Nasdaq: CSCO) with its acquisition of wireless routing specialist Trapeze Networks.

Taking Trapeze off the hands of electrical equipment builder Belden (NYSE: BDC) for a mere $152 million may not sound like a game-changer, but a high-quality wireless solution was sorely lacking from Juniper's portfolio. The combination puts secure and centralized Wi-Fi tools together with Juniper's ultra-fast routing platforms, marrying convenience to capacity, as it were. "Together, we will simplify enterprise networks to enable a seamless, high-quality, secure user experience to an increasingly mobile workforce," says David Yen, Juniper's executive vice president of emerging technologies.

It's a large market, and Cisco is the 900-pound gorilla in the room. If Juniper can capture a larger slice of the $2.2 billion enterprise wireless networking market than Belden could, this might be the best $152 million Juniper ever spent. That's before accounting for the synergies created by having an end-to-end solution rather than just one piece of the puzzle. If IBM (NYSE: IBM) taught us anything, it would be the power of integrated solutions when you go to war over a big, juicy customer.

Cisco took that lesson to heart and is now selling everything from server systems to consumer-level Wi-Fi routers, touching every point in between those extremes. Juniper is a much less complete conglomerate, but is working hard on its Cisco (and IBM) impersonation skills. At the moment, the underdog is growing faster than the gorilla. With a few strategic acquisitions along the way, such as this agile Trapeze move, I don't see why that trend would reverse over the next couple of years.

Watch out, Cisco -- Juniper is coming after your biggest customers. How do you plan to fight back?

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