Sindhu, Pradeep

(1953-)
Juniper Networks, Inc.

Overview

Pradeep Sindhu, through the company he founded, Juniper Networks, Inc., helped revolutionize broadband access, speed, and reliability to Internet service providers with the high–speed router hardware that he developed and marketed. In only five years Juniper became a leader in network technology, boasting an impressive 30–percent share of the multi–billion router core market and standing as the only serious competition for networking leader Cisco Systems. Sindhu's simultaneous involvement in the control of his company and the development of the M40 router was a both a business and technological feat. The M160 router, which was the same size but four times as powerful than the prototype M40, was an unprecedented technological achievement that helped Juniper become one of the forerunners in its field.

Personal Life

Pradeep Sindhu is both a husband and a father. He has received a number of awards, including the Technologist of the Year award from SiliconIndia in 2000. His company also received numerous awards, including the Data communications Testers Choice Award, the Nikkei Industry Awards for Superiority, and PC Magazine's Best Internet Product Award.

Sindhu was born in 1953 in India. In 1974 he graduated with a bachelor's degree in technology from the Indian Institute of Technology in India, and received a master's degree in electrical engineering from the University of Hawaii. In 1983 he earned a Ph.D. in computer science from Carnegie Mellon University's School of Computer Science. Sindhu then took a job as a principal scientist at the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center, where he developed design tools for high–speed interconnects for shared–memory multiprocessors. He later worked at Sun Microsystems and was involved in the design and development of Sun's first high–performance multiprocessor systems family, incorporating the SS1000 and SS2000.

Career Details

In 1995, while was working at the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center (PARC), Pradeep Sindhu formulated the idea to create a new company. He saw a growing need for high–end Internet routers that was not being met by manufacturers. "I felt networking was an area with maximum growth potential," he told Indiatimes. "We decided to focus on the Internet router market because the number of Internet users was doubling rapidly and the cost of bandwidth was coming down, but the routers that were existing back then were very limited in their capability."

Sindhu established Juniper Networks in 1996. Operating the firm from his home, he immediately began securing financial support and recruiting experienced professionals. Renowned venture capitalist Vinod Khosla, former founding CEO of Sun Microsystems, invested $200,000 for the formation of the Silicon Valley–based Juniper. In a shrewd move, Sindhu, being a technology specialist with no business background, soon hired Scott Kriens as the company's president and CEO. He lured the most talented engineers away from his former employers as well as such rivals as Sun Microsystems, Xerox PARC, and Cisco in order to create a workforce capable of providing the speed to market required of the complex, high–tech products. An increase in the number of Internet users resulted in more data traffic over the lines, and Juniper sought to fill the need for faster and more efficient routers. The new routers that Juniper developed were the most powerful on the market, able to transmit high volumes of data for Internet and telecommunications companies.

In 1999 Juniper Networks went public. Its opening price was $34 per share, and by the end of the year it had jumped tenfold to $304 per share, raising $76 billion for the relatively new company.

One of the keys to the company's success was the advanced technology of its products. Unlike its competitors' decade–old recycled technology, JUNOS router software was specifically designed for Internet use. At the heart of each of its M–series router was the Internet Processor II ASIC. Sindhu described its function on Juniper's website: "The Internet Processor II ASIC's ability to process packets intelligently with uncompromising performance is unique to Juniper Networks routers and is the key to enabling smart IP services. Juniper Networks M–series routers, powered by the Internet Processor II ASIC and controlled by JUNOS software, enable a truly integrated multiservice IP network for the first time in the industry."

The fact that the company specialized in one area, Internet routers, and did it better than any other company was another reason that Juniper became a leader in its field. The third key to Juniper's success rested in the speed at which it could develop and deliver technology. Despite its small size, Juniper was able to execute the difficult task involved in new router technology with greater speed and efficiency. The final explanation for Juniper's meteoric rise to success was that it outsourced all of its manufacturing, enabling it to focus 100 percent on development. Sindhu's role as chief technology officer allowed the entrepreneur to focus wholly on plotting the future of technology at the company, as well as participating in actual design and development of products. Proof of that success: in 1999 the company generated $103 million in revenue. One year later this figure jumped more than 550 percent, to $674 million.

Chronology: Pradeep Sindhu

1953: Born.

1974: Received bachelor's degree from IIT Kanpur.

1983: Received Ph.D. in computer science from Carnegie Mellon University.

1996: Formed Juniper Networks, Inc.

1999: Juniper went public.

1999: Juniper generated $103 million in revenue.

2000: Revenue jumped 550 percent to $674 million.

2000: Juniper's M160 router was the fastest on the market.

2000: Juniper acquired Micro Magic.

2000: Partnered with Blue Star to distribute routers in India.

In March 2000 after 18 months of development, Juniper's M160 router was unveiled as the fastest on the market. The new product gave Juniper a distinct advantage over its competition. "The significant thing about this development is that this machine is four times more powerful than the M40 and is the same size as the M40," Sindhu told The Economic Times Online. "This is the first time in the history of communications or computing that this has been achieved." As companies lined up to order the M160, such rivals as Cisco, Nortel, and Lucent rushed to build a similar router, though none appeared on the market until early 2001, nearly a year later.

Juniper continued to grow and expand, raising $1 billion in early 2001 for acquisitions, research and development, and marketing. It partnered with LM Ericsson to produce mobile Internet devices and joined with Blue Star Limited to distribute routers in India. Juniper acquired Micro Magic, a leading integrated circuit solutions company, in December 2000.

While many technology companies, including Cisco, warned of a slowdown in the industry in 2001, Juniper raised its yearly forecast by 14 percent to $1.6 billion. However, as of November 2001, Juniper's stock was valued at $21.92 per share, down from the previous year's lofty $185.88. Although it appeared that Juniper had joined the other victims of the technology downturn, its possibilities for future growth remained bright. According to leading researchers, the $2 billion market for high–end routers will soar to $12 billion by 2003. Sindhu believes his company will grow along with it.

Sindhu himself expanded into the field of venture capitalism, investing his company's profits into start–ups not unlike Juniper Networks. His native India had emerged as one of the fastest–growing information technology markets, having blossomed from $100 million to nearly $100 billion in 10 years. Sindhu intended to capitalize on India's healthy market, also benefiting from the fact that the venture capital business was still in its infancy there. Vishuni Varshney, chairman of the Indian Venture Capital Association, said that of the $1 billion in venture capital invested in new Indian technology start–ups in 2000, most came from U.S. investors.

Social and Economic Impact

Only five years after its formation, Juniper Networks became a leader in its field, Internet routers. This business accomplishment was remarkable, yet Pradeep Sindhu's scientific contributions have been equally impressive. His own groundbreaking work, along with that of the specialists that he gathered at Juniper, pushed the outer limits of technology and set the bar for others in the industry by designing the fastest, most advanced products in the least amount of time. "By far the biggest unsung hero is Pradeep Sindhu," said venture capitalist Khosla in Inter@ctive Week. "He permanently changed the definition of what a router does and how it is built, and got Internet Protocol on a robust footing."

Sindhu steered his upstart Juniper Networks into uncharted territory, vying with industry giant Cisco Systems, which had a near monopoly in the sector. With his vision of producing faster, more powerful routers and delivering them more quickly to the market, Sindhu was able to grab a healthy share of market and change the face of technology in the process. Building on the success of Juniper, Sindhu quickly dove into the profitable world of venture capitalism, funding start–ups like his own in Silicon Valley and worldwide.

Sources of Information

Contact at: Juniper Networks, Inc.
1194 North Mathilda Ave.
Sunnyvale, CA 94089
Business Phone: (408)745–2000
URL: http://www.juniper.net

Bibliography

Dutt, Ela. "Juniper Unveils Router Four Times More Powerful than Predecessor." The Economic Times Online, 2 April 2000. Available at http://economictimes.com.

Fusco, Patricia. "New Juniper Networks Processor Takes on DOS Attacks." InternetNews, 18 April 2000. Available at http://www.internetnews.com.

Iwata, Edward. "Juniper Attacks Cisco with 'Smart Bomb' Accuracy." USA Today, 21 August 2001.

"Juniper Networks Deepens Expertise in IP Infrastructure Technology." Sunnyvale, CA: Micro Magic Inc., 11 December 2000. Available at http://www.micromagic.com.

"Juniper Networks, Inc." Hoover's Online, Inc., November 2001. Available at http://www.hoovers.com.

"Juniper Networks, Inc. and Blue Star Join Hands." Mumbai, India: Blue Star Ltd., 31 October 2000. Available at http://www.bluestarindia.com.

Korzeniowski, Paul. "Jumpin' Juniper." Business 2.0, May 2001.

Mackinnon, Ian. "Web Warriors." Newsweek, 16 October 2000, 50.

"Pradeep Sindhu: Vice Chairman, Chief Technical Officer, and Founder." Sunnyvale, CA: Juniper Networks, Inc., November 2001. Available at http://www.juniper.net.

"Routing a Neutral Course." America's Network, 1 October 2000, 95.

Shinal, John. "Juniper: The Upstart That's Eating Cisco's Lunch." Business Week, 11 September 2000. Available at http://www.diehardindian.com.

"Shining Stars." Pittsburgh, PA: Carnegie Mellon University's School of Computer Science, 2000. Available at http://www.cs.cmu.edu.

Sindhu, Pradeep. "How to Build a Better Router." Telecom Asia, September 2000, 68.

Sindhu, Pradeep. "Infotech Interview." Indiatimes, 2001. Available at http://www.indiatimes.com.

"Top 25 Unsung Heroes of the Net." Inter@ctive Week, 6 March 2000, 35.

"Websmart: Pradeep Sindhu." Business Week, 14 May 2001, EB52.

"What is Driving the Need for Smart IP Services?" Sunnyvale, CA: Juniper Networks, Inc., 15 May 2001. Available at http://www.juniper.net.

"Who's Who: Pradeep Sindhu." SiliconIndia.com, November 2001. Available at http://www.siliconindia.com.