If you’ve relied on an on-premises Unified Communications (UC) solution to maintain the level of security and control that your business needs, you may be navigating the difficult decision of determining the right path forward now that NEC has discontinued its on-premises PBX phone systems.
The good news is that this transition provides an opportunity to modernize your systems by taking a hybrid approach that adds new features and value from select cloud services to your existing on-premises infrastructure, but it’s important that you move forward strategically to mitigate unnecessary risk. There are many factors that are essential to finding the right hybrid solution, so here’s a high-level breakdown of the key considerations and outcomes that should be top of mind when taking a hybrid approach to your UC solution.
Areas to prioritize in a Hybrid UC Solution
1. Maximizing the Value of Existing Infrastructure
Budget realities make replacing everything at once impractical for many organizations. When moving to a hybrid communications model, it’s important to evaluate which elements of your current environment can be leveraged during the transition, while also recognizing where modernization is necessary.
A flexible hybrid approach allows organizations to integrate existing infrastructure where feasible, minimize disruption, and phase in newer technologies over time. Working with the right partner ensures your migration strategy balances near‑term operational continuity with a a clear path toward a modern, supported communications environment.
Key Outcomes:
- Optimized investment utilization: Select components of your existing environment may be leveraged during the transition, reducing unnecessary disruption while modernizing strategically.
- Controlled financial evolution: A phased hybrid model helps spread costs over time, aligning investment decisions with budget cycles and business priorities.
- Technology clarity: A clear roadmap ensures legacy systems are transitioned or retired thoughtfully before end-of-support risks impact operations.
2. Taking a Phased Approach
A move to the cloud does not have to be all or nothing. By taking a phased approach and embracing a hybrid environment, you can navigate any compliance, security, funding, or operational constraints that serve as barriers to the cloud and move departments as they are ready so they can start gaining the benefits of cloud immediately. This ensures you’re equipped with communication tools that support your team and their evolving needs while still moving at your own pace and avoiding risk in the areas of your business that are most sensitive to change.
Key Outcomes:
● Speed to value: A hybrid approach empowers you to quickly gain value from flexible solutions and modern features without waiting for a full infrastructure overhaul.
● Data sovereignty: Data remains secure, private, and compliant with regulations during each phase of the migration.
3. Simplifying Your Communication Solution
You also want to determine how to deliver the most simplified and streamlined experience as you take a phased, hybrid approach forward. Unified orchestration allows you to manage both on-premises and cloud elements through a single pane of glass, avoiding complexity and confusion while promoting observability that leads to optimized system performance.
Key Outcome:
● Unified orchestration and observability: Gain a holistic view of your dispersed networks, platforms, and technologies so you can effectively manage your hybrid environment without any blind spots.
4. Mitigating Risk
Lastly, but perhaps most importantly of all, is considering how you can avoid unnecessary risks. Moving at your own pace is essential to ensuring the continuity of essential services. You can balance stability with agility by keeping critical emergency services on-premises while moving administrative tasks to the cloud, allowing you to see immediate benefits in day-to-day functionality without making hasty changes that compromise your business.
Key Outcomes:
● Technical stability: Protect the long-term stability of your business by moving areas to the cloud when ready and beneficial to day-to-day operations while maintaining critical on-premises control where necessary.
● Seamless connectivity: Maintain the high level of communication services that your users expect and rely on by ensuring your services remain stable across all devices and environments.
Getting Started
NEC’s discontinuation of its on-premises PBX phone systems presents a compelling opportunity to evolve your business communications. By moving to a hybrid solution, you can supplement your existing investments with cloud solutions that deliver the modern, secure experience your business demands. However, a hybrid approach can quickly become complicated without the help of the right strategic partner. Get in touch with our team of experts to learn how Forerunner and Avaya can help your business tackle its challenges and reach its goals with our wide range of hybrid communication solutions tailored to your needs.