Juniper Networks this week said it formed an internal group to focus on opportunities in the government market.

Called Juniper Federal Systems, the group will market Juniper routers to the U.S. Department of Defense, intelligence and civilian agencies.

Juniper has been selling routers to the federal government since 1999. But with the advent of the $900 million RFP for the Global Information Grid Bandwidth Expansion (GIG-BE), the market now requires a more focused and targeted effort, observers note.

GIG-BE is an effort to upgrade the Defense Information Systems Agency's network with optical, Ethernet and enhanced security technologies. Though contracts have not been awarded as yet, analysts believe Juniper has won the core and edge IP router portion of GIG-BE.

Juniper said the group’s formation was not specifically in response to GIG-BE but a more coordinated and expanded effort with which to address the government’s overall requirements. Headquartered in Herndon, Va., the group has 30 dedicated people and is led by Dubhe Beinhorn, vice president, Juniper Federal Systems.

Juniper also formed an advisory board to assist Federal Systems in planning and developing systems for the government marketplace. The advisory board members represent a mix of Pentagon, intelligence and civilian agency officials, as well as IT industry leaders.

The Advisory Board chairman is Richard Clarke, chairman of Good Harbor and former special adviser to the president for cyberspace security. Other Board members include: General Mike Canavan (retired), vice president, Anteon, former commander of the U.S. Joint Special Forces Command and director of security for the Federal Aviation Administration; Lt. Gen. Don Kerrick (retired), vice president strategic development, General Dynamics, former deputy national security adviser and deputy director of the Defense Intelligence Agency; Dale Watson, principal, Booz Allen Hamilton, former associate director of the FBI and Lt. Gen. Ken Minihan (retired), principal, Paladin Capital Group, former director of the National Security Agency.