Enterprise
Lorenzo Colitti speaks about the business case behind Google’s IPv6 deployment.
Deploying IPv6 is like managing any other IT project. This simple checklist should help to get you started:
- Appoint a project manager
- Talk to your Internet Service Provider
- Identify the network components that will need to be changed or upgraded
- Identify the training needs for team and project manager
- Determine costs of new hardware and software
- Select suppliers (possibly the same as you have today) and consultants
- Develop a project plan
- Present costs to the decision maker in the organisation
To keep your business connected now and beyond 2011, you need to ensure that the technologies you use are compatible with the next generation of IP addresses, IPv6. Basic steps include:
- Check that your Internet Service Provider (ISP) can fill your IPv6 requirements
- Organise IPv6 connectivity and address space
- Carry out a hardware and software audit to determine the compatibility of existing technologies with IPv6
- Configure your routers, other hardware, operating systems and applications before IPv4 addresses run out
- Train staff to deploy and manage IPv6
- Rewrite any of your own applications that store IP addresses to be IPv6 compatible
Regardless of the economic climate and shrinking IT budgets, planning for IPv6 deployment needs to start now. Businesses need to invest in IPv6 to save in the long-term and protect return on technology investments that depend on the Internet.
The longer a business waits to adopt IPv6, the more expensive it will be. Last minute deployment makes it less likely that equipment upgrades can be integrated into your existing upgrade cycles, and will require more intensive training of staff. Both of these factors can serve to increase costs dramatically.
Businesses need to develop a comprehensive deployment plan now to ensure they stay connected in 2011 and beyond.
Next: Talk to your ISP