Two design baselines with one deployment discipline: documented design, controlled installation and evidence-based acceptance.
| Decision area | Enterprise Standard | Value Standard |
|---|---|---|
| Best fit | Sites with more demanding security, resilience and centralized operations requirements. | Branch environments with straightforward requirements and a cost-conscious lifecycle plan. |
| Reference topology | Primary and backup WAN → managed security edge → managed PoE switching → business, guest and device networks. | Primary WAN → managed gateway → managed PoE switching → business, guest and device networks; backup WAN scoped to continuity needs. |
| Segmentation | Documented VLANs, access policies and management boundaries; site-to-site access as required. | Documented business, guest and device separation with approved access rules. |
| Resilience | Dual-connectivity design and tested failover; redundant equipment where the site requirement justifies it. | Defined recovery procedure; backup connectivity and spare equipment options scoped per site. |
| Management & support | Central configuration policy, monitoring ownership, support escalation and renewal tracking. | Central visibility, configuration backups, named support ownership and lifecycle tracking. |
| Technology options | Cisco/Meraki or Fortinet-based designs, selected against the approved operational requirements. | UniFi-based designs where requirements fit; scoped Fortinet or Cisco/Meraki alternatives when security or support requirements warrant them. |
| Commercial scope | Itemized equipment, subscriptions, support, deployment and ongoing operations. | Itemized equipment, applicable subscriptions, deployment and selected support options. |
Specify the bill of materials, labor, site-readiness assumptions, travel, validation and closeout. Identify and approve construction, additional cabling, carrier charges, after-hours work and unforeseen remediation separately when applicable.