Juniper launches network automation bots

Juniper on Thursday announced Juniper Bots, a line of applications for its Contrail Cloud and AppFormix platforms that automate network management tasks and improve network analytics.

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Three bots will be available at launch: Contrail PeerBot, TestBot and HealthBot, and Juniper intends they change the way network operators interact with the network. Real time analytics are incorporated to translate "what" into "how."

• PeerBot automates the process of network peering to simplify policy enforcement and on-demand scaling.
• TestBot automates the continuous auditing of design, provisioning, and deployment changes in the network.
• AppFormix HealthBot translates troubleshooting, maintenance, and real-time analytics into an intuitive user experience for insights into the overall health of a network.

"Juniper Bots bring us closer to our vision for The Self-Driving Network, one that requires less human intervention and the ability to focus on more strategic business initiatives," Sally Bament, VP of service provider marketing at Juniper, said in a statement. "To move at the speed of business, network operators need to spend less time precisely managing manual network knobs and levers, and more time expressing intent."

In November, Juniper integrated into Contrail the automation and optimization functionality of AppFormix, which Juniper acquired in 2016. This integration provides real-time monitoring and service assurance of network functions virtualization (NFV) workloads. At the time, Juniper also announced enhancements to make it easier for service providers to build and deploy telco cloud environments.

Research firm IDC said in April that revenue from cognitive and artificial intelligence systems will hit $12.5 billion in 2017, up 59.3 percent from a year ago. The biggest portion of that spending in 2017 will go to cognitive applications. IDC projects 2017 spending of $4.5 billion for the year. Cognitive and AI software platforms with tools to organize, access and analyze data will see spending of $2.5 billion once the year closes out.