UC is now a core utility for the enterprise workplace. When voice and video wobble, the impact is immediate: meetings stall, decisions slow down, and support teams get swamped.
In 2026, buyers are responding in two ways. First, they are treating reliability as a strategic risk, not a helpdesk nuisance. Second, they are expanding their stack with tools that can prevent issues, detect them earlier, and shorten time-to-fix.
To keep this actionable, we are separating these trends by category. Take a look at the different areas within this Service Management & Connectivity, and the defining trend within it.
What are the latest ITSM trends?
One of the biggest AI-enabled ITSM trends is AI moving into everyday service work, like incident summaries and resolution notes, so teams spend less time writing and more time fixing.
Network & Connectivity Services
What it does for UC: Network and connectivity services keep the routes between employees and cloud UC platforms stable, so voice and video traffic stays smooth. In enterprise UC, this matters because even small spikes in latency can degrade real-time experience.
Trend to watch: SD-WAN plus automation becomes the default “reliability layer”
The headline enterprise connectivity trends shift is that networks are becoming software-controlled and policy-driven. SD-WAN is a big part of this because it supports dynamic, policy-based application path selection across multiple WAN connections, helping prioritize real-time collaboration traffic.
At the same time, Gartner predicts a major jump in automation: by 2026, 30% of enterprises will automate more than half of their network activities, up from under 10% in mid-2023.
For UC leaders, the implication is clear. Reliability is shifting from “detect and respond” to “avoid and reroute.”
UC Performance Monitoring & Quality of Experience (QoE)
What it does for UC: UC performance monitoring tools act like health trackers for calls and meetings, measuring what users feel through signals like packet loss, latency, and jitter. They help pinpoint whether the issue is the device, Wi-Fi, network path, or the UC service itself.
Enterprise Connectivity Trend to watch: QoE moves from dashboards to proactive detection
Buyers are demanding monitoring that spots quality dips before users complain and makes root cause easier to prove. Microsoft notes that device, software processing, and network latency all contribute to user experience and UC call quality.
Zoom similarly describes analyzing parameters like packet loss, latency, and jitter to improve MOS and user quality.
This is where UC call quality tech is heading: not just measuring quality, but turning it into clear actions and faster triage.
IT Service Management
What it does for UC: ITSM platforms organize incidents, changes, and service requests so issues are owned, prioritized, and resolved consistently. In enterprise UC, ITSM turns “calls are broken” into a predictable workflow with escalation, playbooks, and accountability.
Service Management Trend to watch: AI-assisted ITSM becomes the baseline, not the bonus
The most practical ITSM trends shift is AI being embedded into service workflows. ServiceNow, for example, describes using generative AI for enhanced self-service search, incident summaries, and resolution notes generation.
For buyers, the key is outcomes. If AI does not shorten time-to-diagnosis or improve resolution consistency, it is not delivering the ROI that buying committee expects.
