The Network Assessment

THE NETWORK ASSESSMENT AS

A BASELINE FOR SUCCESS

A White Paper by

The Network Assessment as a Baseline for Success

White Paper

Introduction

As IP Telephony and other bandwidth-intensive applications emerge as

viable choices for implementation, organizations need a way to accurately

evaluate their network capabilities before undertaking these projects.

Recurring network issues for existing infrastructure also demand expert

detection and analysis. Many organizations determine that a feasible

solution is to have their network assessed for current performance issues.

This paper explains the concept and practice of the network assessment

in planning for future implementations or troubleshooting existing ones,

and the process behind NEC Unified Solutions’ Network Assessment.

What is a Network Assessment?

Several goals are accomplished with a network assessment:

• It is an objective review of an organization’s data or voice

environment in terms of current functionality.

• It is a review of network design based upon standards, its

current performance and ability to meet the organization’s

requirements

• It provides a baseline for future implementations.

The first two tasks are achieved through comprehensive surveys of an

organization’s business goals and network environment, as well as

through specific documentation of its network infrastructure and links.

Network testing and analysis of an organization’s current network

performance establishes a baseline that may then be measured against

future expectations of performance. Identifying a baseline enables a

company to adjust and set a more appropriate level of expectation for

planned technology implementations.

Say, for example, that an organization with separate PSTN and IP

networks wants to implement IP Telephony within 12 months. A network

assessment might uncover the need to first upgrade all existing cabling,

switches, servers and routers to meet quality of service...