The motivation for IPv6 deployment stems from the fact that there are currently more people on earth than there are Internet Protocol addresses for IPv4. The RIR is a non-profit organization which manages and registers global IP addresses.

To ensure continued Internet growth, new applications and services, and business continuity and productivity, companies must seriously consider deploying IPv6. It is because IPv6 represents the only sustainable option in the long term.

The IETF (Internet Engineering Task Force) which oversees Internet standards, initiated the development of IPv6 more than two decades ago. IPv6 now offers trillions of IP addresses and is preparing the Internet for growth and improved business productivity.

IPv6 Growth and Why Deployment is Important

In the current industry, members of the global online community are already making a significant contribution to IPv6 deployment.  The online search engine giant Google has reported a substantial increase in traffic which uses IPv6.  Akamai Technologies in Cambridge Massachusetts is currently handling 10 billion requests every 24 hours. With a threefold increase in Its traffic over the last year.  Facebook, YouTube, and Yahoo have also reported a noticeable difference in its visitors.

Regarding company growth and productivity, there are specific reasons why IPv6 deployment should be a critical part of your company’s strategic IT roadmap.

• Cost Reduction

  As IPv4 becomes depleted, more companies will coerce into spending more money to implement a workaround for IPv4.  Interim workarounds such as NAT can prove to be more costly than initiating a gradual migration to IPv6.

• Empowerment  

  With the inception of new technologies such as mobile, video, cloud apps, and social media, employees have become empowered. Which increases collaboration with customers, suppliers, and internal communications within your enterprise.  It provides the opportunity to deploy real-time exchange of data and communications using multi-modal collaborative virtual environments.

• Prevent Problems with Website Access

  McKinsey Global Institute Internet Matters says, “75 percent of the economic value produced by the Internet benefits traditional industries, not Internet-based enterprises, indicating that this could present a significant disruption to business on a broader level.” It means that failure to plan and initiate migration to IPv6 will pose a risk to enterprise website access as well as other company locations which are connected and provide services.

• Global Outreach                    

  For enterprises who are looking to expand to other global regions, the use of IPv6 will be a requirement in order to reach areas of the world where IPv4 has become depleted.  Additionally, there are government mandates in order for the support of IPv6 for public Web services which will extend to all operational networks within the next two years.

• Prevent Compromise of the Customer Experience

  More and more consumers are connecting to the Internet using mobile devices which are enabled.  For this reason, customers need Its capabilities for the products and services which companies offer. In addition to the interactive applications which are used to improve the customer experience. Company development teams need to make sure that those products are compatible.

• Operational Reasons         

  There are functional reasons for making an early transition to an IPv6 internal network. It is inevitable, and the sooner an enterprise gets started, the more prepared it will be for some event such as new applications that will force a migration. For example, if a database application is released which only supports IPv6, this could be a costly proposition for companies that have been avoiding the transition to IPv6 with temporary workarounds.

• Improved Security

  It can offer security which embedded in the protocol. As opposed to IPv4 that may have NAT deployed in conjunction with IPv4 which requires workarounds. IPv4 workarounds result in waste regarding configurations or errors in implementation.

• Easier Networking    

  By deploying it you are eliminating the requirement for older capabilities.  For example, IPv4 requires DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol) to allocate IP addresses.  It can work if there is only one server. The use of DHCP is unnecessary mainly with IPv6 due to auto-configuration.

• Company Competitiveness  

  Primary ISPs, home networking equipment manufacturers, Web enterprises, and other organizations globally are joining together. This to permanently enable IPv6 for their products and services. Hence the reason for the World IPv6 Launch mentioned earlier.  Choosing to remain with an IPv4 infrastructure could leave some enterprises behind regarding new applications and services.

For the above reasons, enterprises which continue to use IPv4 with no strategy in place for migrating to IPv6 will run the risk of encountering many business challenges. Some of the difficulties range from costly workarounds to limited website access and restrictions on company growth regarding global expansion and emerging markets.

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