Network Infrastructure, Connected Devices, and Bandwidth Once an organization has assessed and adopted the relative value of UCaaS, the next important step focuses on the fitness of the underlying infrastructure. “You need to have conversations about the necessary network infrastructure to successfully operate in a cloud environment,” said 8x8’s Savwoir. “You want to have conversations around security, includ- ing endpoint protection and the possible need for encryption. You’ll also need to discuss reliability, and also the tools the UCaaS vendor needs to deliver in order to help the IT department monitor the system and respond to issues.” It’s important to consider if your network infrastructure supplies sufficient bandwidth to support a UCaaS solution. One relatively simple option is to dedicate a specific circuit to the support of UCaaS traffic. Other options are also available and should be evaluated in discussions with your trusted Ad- visor. In many cases, Software Defined Wide Area Network (SD-WAN) technology can be a very viable solution for the dynamic management of network traffic, prioritizing UCaaS over other applications that might adversely impact UCaaS quality. SD-WAN, which is widely viewed as an important strategic enabler of UCaaS, is explored in great detail in a previous 6-12 Report from AVANT Research & Analytics. Please visit https://ta.goavant.net/sdwan-report to download your free copy. 250-500 250-500 41% MPLS 10% SDWAN 500-1k 500-1k 49% MPLS 11% SDWAN 1k-2.5k 1k-2.5k 54% MPLS 25% SDWAN 2.5k-10k 2.5k-10k 62% MPLS 26% SDWAN Source: AVANT Assesment Data Copyright © 2020 AVANT Communications, Inc. 21