Juniper Networks CEO Shaygan Kheradpir has resigned, following “a review by the board of directors of his leadership and his conduct in connection with a particular negotiation with a customer”.

Kheradpir will be replaced by Rami Rahim, who has worked for the company for the past 17 years, most recently as SVP and GM of the research division.

“I want to thank my talented colleagues around the world for their hard work and dedication,” said Ravi in a statement. “The management team and I remain committed to our strategy and are excited about the opportunities that lie ahead for Juniper."

Surprise appointment
Juniper was founded in 1995 by network engineer Pradeep Sindu, who hired experienced businessman Scott Kriens to lead the company. In 2008, Kriens was succeeded by Microsoft’s Kevin Johnson, who had to make some tough decisions in the aftermath of the global economic crisis.

Kheradpir was recruited in December 2013 after a stint at Barclays, where he oversaw bank operations across 50 countries and helped launch mobile payment service Pingit. He was brought in to reorganize the company around Software-Defined Networking (SDN) – a trend which is eating Juniper’s traditional business.

Turns out the transition didn’t go according to plan. Kheradpir will step down as CEO and leave the board of directors, although none of the transgressions that would warrant such a response have been made public.

His place will be filled by Rahim, the 32^nd employee hired by the company back when it was still a start-up. Rahim has been overseeing all of the research and development programs at Juniper – he was one of the original architects of the popular MX series routers, and was likely responsible for the vMX virtual router, launched last week.

Rahim holds 17 US Patents in networking technologies and is a member of The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).

"Rami is the right chief executive officer to lead Juniper," said Kriens, current chairman of the board at Juniper. "He is a talented leader who brings deep instincts about the networking industry, and enormous support from our employees and our customers. Rami has succeeded at every challenge he's ever taken on at Juniper, and we couldn't be more excited about his ability to lead this company."

In addition to his duties as the CEO, Rahim will continue leading Juniper’s R&D efforts. The company said the appointment will have no impact on its strategy and financial targets.