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Brocade Takes Aim at Cisco (Juniper): Page 2 of 5

The deal "could spur action from a host of others ranging from Juniper to F5, to potentially Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE: HPQ)," Citigroup analyst Paul Mansky writes.

Then again, Mansky adds, maybe Brocade acted defensively, its hand forced by Ciscos growing data center presence.

"An uncontested Cisco presence across all decision makers spanning all three data center layers makes them all the more formidable," he writes in a note released this morning.

Regardless of the exact target or motivation, Brocade has launched an ambitious plan to become a data center force, countering programs like Cisco's Data Center 3.0, centered on the Nexus line of switches, or Juniper's Ethernet offensive launched in January with the EX product line. (See Cisco's Nexus Targets Data Center's Future and Juniper Storms Into Ethernet Switching.)

"There's no end-to-end competiton to Cisco, and we offer that now," says Marty Lans, Brocade's senior director of marketing for the data center. ("Now" refers to the fourth quarter of 2008, when the deal with Foundry is expected to close.)