Juniper Networks (JNPR) will acquire BTI Systems for an undisclosed sum as the company jockeys for position within the Data Center Interconnect (DCI) and metro Ethernet markets, Juniper’s Jonathan Davidson announced on Tuesday.

In an official blog post, Davidson said Juniper entered into an agreement to purchase the cloud and metro networking systems and software provider. He said the acquisition will allow Juniper to provide “open and automated packet optical transport solutions” that integrate with the company’s NorthStar Controller.

The combined solution is also expected to include network management features for end-to-end provisioning of new services, according to Davidson.

DCI is a solution that utilizes BTI Systems’ packet optical transport architecture to deliver greater scale and flexibility to service providers and managed hosting providers, according to the company’s website. BTI said its scalable architecture (sometimes referred to as “bursting” data) is necessary for data centers that have to contend with both the increasing complexity of web traffic and the massive influx of data generated by photos, videos and social media on the network.

Juniper Channel Chief Matt Hurley added that the acquisition will allow the company to deliver best-of-breed, open, automated and more efficient packet optical transport solutions to customers.

This is a big deal,” said Hurley, in a blog post. “We believe that joining forces with BTI Systems will help accelerate our strategy of optimizing converged packet optical integration and shorten the time to market for new solutions.”

So how will the integration affect Juniper’s channel partners? Hurley said the company’s go-to-market strategy will utilize its existing channel for service providers and focus on targeting its existing customers and resellers. Juniper will also go after members of the service provider channel both directly and indirectly – in short, Juniper channel partners can expect to receive the company’s full support in pushing out the new solutions to as many customers as possible.

Hurley teased several upcoming training and certification programs for partners, but did not elaborate on when the programs are expected to be available.