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CIOs may think they can wait to start planning for IPv6. In fact, IPv6 migrations tend to be more complicated and take longer than many organizations anticipate.

Google began migrating to IPv6 in 2008. The company’s initial approach involved a small, core team of engineers who devoted 20 percent more time to their regular work hours for 18 months to make Google publicly available over IPv6. It was no easy task. In fact, Google’s effort to deploy IPv6 on its own enterprise network was a larger, longer undertaking than the team anticipated.¹ During a 2009 meeting of the Internet Engineering Task Force, Lorenzo Collitti, a network engineer at Google, reportedly said IPv6 needs to be production-quality or it’s of no use. Translation: the IPv6 migration must be done properly.

Transitioning services to IPv6 involves more than just software and hardware updates. The time required for auditing, upgrading, reconfiguring, and testing hardware and software for an IPv6 rollout can take 12 months or more, and the associated costs of those activities are likely to far outweigh the costs of any required software or hardware updates.²

Fortunately, leading practices for planning IPv6 migrations have emerged from the experiences of early adopters. IT organizations should begin by identifying technology assets that need to be upgraded, starting with Internet-facing devices and services, then moving to legacy software and hardware that may not be IPv6 compliant. With that inventory complete, IT organizations can assess deployment options, create a plan and road map for addressing affected technology assets, and execute an iterative, risk-managed roll-out.

Even before companies tackle the baselining, planning, and execution, they need to answer the following big picture questions about timing, first steps, and the business case for IPv6 adoption.

When should we start? While many CIOs understand the looming shortage of public IP addresses that’s driving the need to adopt IPv6, few have felt much urgency to begin planning, in part because workarounds have been effective. But CIOs may find their hands forced for several reasons, including:

Their companies expand into geographies with depleted public address registries.

They might see an uptick in enterprise assets that rely on 4G connectivity (which is based on IPv6).

Sensor and embedded connectivity initiatives increase across manufacturing and their companies’ extended supply chains.

Their companies interact closely with government organizations, many of which are being mandated to adopt.

Even without a clear forcing function, by 2015 17 percent of global Internet users will use IPv6, and 28 percent of new Internet connections will run the protocol, according to Gartner Inc.’s estimates.³ Eventually, a need to maintain communication with customer and business partners who’ve already adopted IPv6 may force companies to migrate.

In short, we recommend starting now. Since many corporate IT assets will be affected in some way, the move to IPv6 poses potentially high risks to core business operations. Starting sooner can give organizations enough lead-time for a deliberate, phased roll-out, while waiting could lead to a costly, risky fire drill.

Where should we start? Regardless of your industry and market position, each organization should first assess their environment and determine what needs to be upgraded. They need to know which assets and services may already be IPv6 compliant, not to mention where they might experience upgrade challenges. Then, they can evaluate their options for implementing IPv6. Gartner Inc. identifies three:

Upgrade all Internet-facing systems to support IPv6. Upgrade only front-end devices and deploy IPv6-to-IPv4 protocol gateways. Build a separate, IPv6-only, Internet presence.⁴

Consider your options for migrating to IPv6 in the context of the results of your assessment and in terms of your IT service delivery teams’ readiness to handle a broader migration.

What’s the business case? Unlike mobile, social, or analytics adoption, much of IPv6’s impact takes place behind the scenes. Users probably won’t see a tangible difference in their lives immediately after the upgrade.

Yet effective migration can help confirm that critical network infrastructure will be capable of meeting the business’s requirements. Companies can anticipate obtaining network management and routing efficiencies from IPv6 migrations. They can also expect improved security and a simplified network: IPv6 can handle encryption in the native protocol, which may reduce the need for other network data encryption technologies, such as IPsec or GRE tunnels.

To create a business case that is more compelling than fear, uncertainty, and doubt, explore the cost and management efficiencies that can be derived from the network management and security benefits IPv6 offers. Another option may be to bundle infrastructure readiness for IPv6 with a broader mobile enablement or digital backbone effort. This can help to balance the allure of new business capabilities and technology-based innovation with critical infrastructure retooling.

As Vinton Cerf, one of the founding fathers of the Internet and Google’s chief Internet evangelist, has reportedly said, “There are no more excuses [for companies]. You have to be able to run both IPv4 and IPv6 all the time, anytime, because this is not going to be turned off.”5

—by Edward Reddick, director, Deloitte Consulting LLP and Bruce Short, director, Deloitte Consulting LLP

¹ Babiker, Haythum, Irena Nikolova, and Kiran Kumar Chittimaneni, “Deploying IPv6 in the Google Enterprise Network: Lessons Learned,” December 2011

² “How to Upgrade Internet Connectivity With IPv6, While Keeping IPv4,” Gartner Inc., June 27, 2012

³ “Internet Protocol Version 6: It's Time for (Limited) Action,” Gartner, Inc., May 24, 2012

⁴ “How to Upgrade Internet Connectivity With IPv6, While Keeping IPv4,” Gartner Inc., June 27, 2012

5. Huque, Shumon, “Are You Part Of The 1%,” InformationWeek.Retrieved December 9, 2012