As expected, Juniper Networks has begun announcing new partnerships as it seeks growth this quarter and throughout the rest of the year. The IT securities firm has teamed up with Dell to offer a range of options for mid-sized businesses in need of more security controls.

The deal is part of the expansion around Juniper Networks’ and Dell’s SMB-centric Unified Threat Management service, an existing project around network security. The added securities options include anti-spam, anti-virus and web filtering technologies.

The full portfolio will be available in the coming week, as the Dell J-SRX Services Gateway Series. The gateway already provides firewall, VPN, intrusion prevention and web-filtering. The hope is to extend more options to mid-level businesses, making these kinds of security options more accessible and cost-effective for their needs. Via Channel Insider,

“Given the still struggling economy, small and medium businesses have been slower to make new security investments, but the investments they are making have been focused on consolidating vendors and streamlining security processes, thus making the multifunction security platform a logical choice,” said Gartner Research vice president and research director Jim Browning.

The deal also provides a channel for growth and outreach as both Dell and Juniper Networks seek expansion. Dell is pushing forward on the manufacturing end, readying itself for future tablet releases among other things. Juniper Networks is accelerating product offerings and partnerships, also announcing its plans to acquire SMobile earlier this week. Both companies are facing scrutiny on their market performance, and would benefit from a more competitive gain moving forward.