{"id":505939,"date":"2026-06-22T19:35:14","date_gmt":"2026-06-22T19:35:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/505939\/"},"modified":"2026-06-22T19:35:14","modified_gmt":"2026-06-22T19:35:14","slug":"hpe-discover-vs-cisco-live-what-the-leading-vendors-are-saying-about-campus-networking","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/505939\/","title":{"rendered":"HPE Discover vs. Cisco Live: What the Leading Vendors are Saying about Campus Networking"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\t\t[wp_tech_share]\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"follow<\/a><\/p>\n

If you want to amp up the pressure in your life, try getting up in front of twenty to thirty thousand people, some of whom influence whether or not you keep your job, and lay out a clear, concise strategy in a world full of upheaval.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s what Cisco and HPE\u2019s leaders did this month, addressing customers, shareholders, employees, and analysts and making the case for why their respective IT brands are best suited to guide enterprises through the uncertainties of AI.<\/p>\n

\"Cisco<\/a>Cisco and HPE CEOs, Chuck Robbins and Antonio Neri, address stakeholders at their June 2026 annual conferences, Cisco Live and HPE Discover, respectively. Both conferences were held in Las Vegas and had tens of thousands of attendees.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Together, these two vendors dominate more than two-thirds of the campus networking market outside China (see Figure). But while industry focus is on the jaw-dropping spending on GPUs and Data Center infrastructure, it\u2019s a challenge for both Cisco and HPE to explain why campus networking remains relevant.\u00a0 Executive quotes captured during the conferences reveal similarities and differences in these vendors\u2019 messages\u2014and provide insight into where they see opportunities to gain share.<\/p>\n

\"DellOro-Trailing<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Theme 1 \u2013 The Enterprise AI Revolution<\/p>\n

\"What<\/a><\/p>\n

Takeaway<\/p>\n

Both vendors have tied the AI revolution to changes required in campus networks.\u00a0 Cisco executives pointed to higher traffic levels extending bottlenecks from GPUs to networking, even to the campus, driving the need for refresh. To meet this new demand, Cisco announced the C9550, a 400G Fixed form factor switch for the Campus core.<\/p>\n

HPE executives positioned the impending AI transformation first and foremost as an operations challenge, emphasizing Juniper\u2019s advanced AI operations capabilities, such as a powerful set of AI Agents and skills, a Large Experience Model to prevent problems with Zoom, and a suite of autonomous actions that can be undertaken by Marvis.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Theme 2 \u2013 Security and Networking
\n\"What<\/a>
\nTakeaway<\/p>\n

Neither Cisco nor HPE has been able to challenge Palo Alto\u2019s lead in the network security space, so arguments that leverage strengths in networking to advance security market share gain make sense.<\/p>\n

Cisco brought a new angle on security at Cisco Live, dubbing the \u201cMythos Moment\u201d as a wakeup call for enterprises with unsupported equipment.\u00a0 They announced Live Protect on their new Campus Smart switches (GA September 2026), which will allow enterprises to track whether specific vulnerabilities are being exploited, and then apply compensating remediation, even before patches are available. Cisco also emphasized post-quantum security of their new switches.<\/p>\n

HPE\u2019s security focus was on converging SSE and SD-WAN, announcing HPE Networking EdgeConnect, which unifies the two products in an AI-native console. HPE executives underlined the importance of a universal ZTNA, covering universal policy as well as universal identity for humans, workflows, and agents. Identifying, securing, and putting up guardrails for AI Agents was seen as a critical step by both vendors.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Theme\u00a0 3 \u2013 Digital Complexity<\/p>\n

\"What<\/a><\/p>\n

Takeaway<\/p>\n

Both Cisco and Juniper addressed the increasing complexity of IT by presenting a single point of entry to their management ecosystems; to systems managing campus equipment as well as other domains such as compute, applications and workflows.<\/p>\n

Through Cisco Cloud Control (which is in \u201ccontrolled availability\u201d in the US), enterprises can gain access to the Meraki Dashboard and, through the dashboard, access Catalyst Center.\u00a0 Cisco executives hope that Cloud Control will be a breakthrough in addressing enterprises\u2019 complaints about the complexity of Cisco\u2019s deep feature list.\u00a0 However, the coexistence of Meraki Dashboard, AI Canvas, and Cisco Cloud Control may also contribute to enterprises\u2019 perception of complexity.<\/p>\n

HPE emphasized the necessity of an agentic framework in hybrid deployments (across different clouds and on premises) and announced GreenLake Intelligence, which is being rolled out across 2026 and 2027.\u00a0 While the HPE Discover keynote showed it interacting with Aruba Central, Mist is not available in GreenLake Intelligence today.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Theme 4 \u2013 Convergence<\/p>\n

\"What<\/a><\/p>\n

Takeaway<\/p>\n

It took Cisco about ten years to combine the Catalyst and Meraki product teams, something that HPE did (by combining Aruba and Mist development teams) in a few months. However, Cisco has now passed through the heavy lifting phase: their Wi-Fi 7 APs can be managed either through the cloud or by a controller, and at Cisco Live, the company completed its WLAN lineup by introducing the CW9177, an outdoor Wi-Fi 7 AP. The newer Catalyst switches can also be managed from the cloud. This has allowed Cisco to shift the focus onto convergence across their broader portfolio, with Cisco Cloud Control as a key piece of this strategy.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, less than a year after HPE acquired Juniper, the company announced that its first converged AP was generally available.\u00a0 The hospitality AP (723H) can be deployed with Mist or Aruba Central, has the Aruba tessellated case design, and includes the dedicated scanning radio to provide the necessary telemetry for Mist.\u00a0 HPE also announced that Aruba\u2019s CX switches are now supported in Aruba Central, although some variants will become available in the fall.<\/p>\n

Over and above the hardware platforms, HPE has continued on its journey of cross-pollinating Aruba Central and Mist.\u00a0 At HPE Discover, they announced that Marvis Actions would be available in Aruba Central.\u00a0 The company\u2019s consistent message about commitment to both cloud-managed platforms is reassuring to existing customers, but can confuse new, potential customers interested in a cloud-managed solution from HPE.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Is Campus Networking Relevant?<\/p>\n

\"DellOro<\/a>With enterprises increasingly distracted by AI projects, the emphasis on campus network security, operational simplicity, and automation by both Cisco and HPE was designed to refocus attention back to basics. Revenue from LAN equipment (WLAN and Campus Switches) represents a significant portion of both companies\u2019 sales (see Figure).<\/p>\n

In Cisco\u2019s vision of the future, every worker manages a team of AI Agents, with these agents behaving more like unruly teenagers than fully formed humans. The vision is underpinned by an urgency to refresh campus equipment, both for security and to prepare for growing agentic traffic.<\/p>\n

HPE, on the other hand, is focusing attention on reassuring its Aruba customer base as Juniper is brought into the fold. \u00a0AI is only as strong as the foundation beneath it, say HPE executives. Autonomous operations and AI-driven networking are prerequisites for scaling enterprise AI, and a solid foundation starts with a self-driving network.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"[wp_tech_share] If you want to amp up the pressure in your life, try getting up in front of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":505940,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[85,46,125],"class_list":["post-505939","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-technology","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/505939","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=505939"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/505939\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/505940"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=505939"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=505939"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=505939"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}