IBM and Juniper Networks, Inc. has announced they have signed a five-year, data center hosting agreement with IBM to support Juniper's global operations.

As part of the agreement, IBM will provide Juniper with a next-generation, global hosting environment to support its enterprise resource planning (ERP) and customer relationship management (CRM) application deployments worldwide. IBM will host Juniper's operations from its new energy efficient "green" data center in Boulder, Colorado. The center features leading-edge technologies and services, including high density computing systems utilizing virtualization technology, along with energy efficient power and cooling technologies. Juniper will utilize IBM's latest microchip technology, System p servers, BladeCenter technology and enterprise storage, along with Juniper Networks high-performance network infrastructure including routing, switching and security elements, all powered by JUNOS^™ software. In addition to the Boulder facility, IBM will provide management and support at a second site for quality assurance.

"In tandem with our continuous focus on addressing the high-performance networking requirements of our global customers, we remain equally focused on achieving operational excellence in each and every aspect of our own business," said Michele Goins, chief information officer, Juniper Networks, Inc. "We turned to IBM for an innovative and environmentally friendly solution to scaling our IT infrastructure and business-critical application deployments in-line with the escalating demands of our business."

"By partnering with IBM, Juniper will have access to energy efficient data center technology and hosting services freeing them to focus on serving their customers," said Bronwyn Guthrie, IBM vice president, Strategic Outsourcing, Americas. "The robust hosting solution will create a highly scalable and flexible platform for Juniper's business operations."