Most organizations deploy optimization as a separate layer in the network, but an overwhelming majority (83.3%) don’t necessarily want to. Instead, most of them (66.7%) would like to have optimization integrated with other core network functions (routing, switching, telephony, security), and another 16.7% would be happy either way. The few that prefer a separate optimization layer do so not on functional grounds but on risk mitigation grounds — they would prefer to maintain modularity to reduce the risk of over-reliance on a single vendor. The rest would like to reduce the number of boxes they have in the branch, and the number of vendors they have to deal with. As unified communications pushes out into more organizations and more deeply where it is already in place, with the potential of itself increasing the amount of network gear in branch office wiring closets, this may lead to further integrations or partnerships to combine UC support with optimization.
