Sindhu: I don't think we have a direct effort.
Advanced IP Pipeline: I think everyone may agree the Infranet Initiative is a good idea. The problem with these kinds of efforts always seems to be that when one company is too visible a leader, it's hard for some companies to get behind the idea. Java, for instance, still suffers from being seen as mainly a Sun product. Are there any of these possible roadblocks to adoption of the Infranet?
Sindhu: Let me state very clearly : No. 1, our goal is to surface the issues, identify the gaps that are there, and be a catalyst for filling the gaps in a particular way. We insist that they are an open standard. Juniper has never implemented a closed standard in its entire history. We don't believe in that. We don't believe in that precisely because of the very nature of communications. Our customers all agree that they want vendors to support open standards.
For something like this, to have one mediocre standard is far better than three or four 'perfect' standards. The reason is subtle but simple: If I have two standards, I'm taking an entire marketplace and dividing it up into two pies. And the size of each pie does not have critical mass, and this is a bad thing. When I have a multiplicity of standards, it's even worse. Look at the problem with [power] plugs -- a stupid daily example. If I take a plug from here to Europe, I can't use it.
When the very essence of technology is to communicate, you need to plug things together. Having multiple standards mean everybody loses. In the end everybody pays, and the market is smaller than it could be by far.
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