[AusNOG] IPv6 - What Should an Engineer Address when 'Selling' IPv6 to Executives?

[Robert Hudson]

On 6 March 2013 11:11, Paul Gear <ausnog at libertysys.com.au> wrote:

>  Respectfully, Robert - you have not addressed Don's question.  You've
> made an excellent case for what *not* to do (and i wholeheartedly agree),
> but nothing on the side of the case for what to *do*.
>
> I'd really be interested in hearing the group's take on the actual
> benefits of IPv6 *now*.  The only one i can think of is:
>
>    - reduced network complexity and support costs due to the elimination
>    of NAT
>
> I expect that this benefit would be eliminated many times over by the cost
> of:
>
>    - implementing IPv6 operationally on the network
>     - retraining staff (I can't even get the help desk folks to stop
>    using IPv4 addresses when DNS is already set up and working!)
>     - re-implementing firewalls to eliminate NAT
>    - (for small multi-homed organisations):
>       - applying for provider-independent address space
>       - implementing BGP (including acquiring the hardware and
>       skills/partners to roll it out)
>
> All the other benefits of IPv6 that i can think of are future:
>
>    - ability to grow the network beyond the present limits imposed by
>    IPv4 addressing
>    - not being subject to the increased cost of acquiring more than a /22
>    of IPv4 address space
>    - competitive advantage over competitors who have neglected to plan
>    for the future
>     - not being subject to the exhaustion of IPv4
>     - not being cut off from customers who have already fallen victim to
>    the exhaustion and are IPv6 only
>
> It would be a foolish manager who ignored that big list of future benefits
> (especially the last two), but i can very much understand him or her
> continuing to defer it until next year's budget, or at least pushing the
> project down the priority queue until bitten.
>  IPv6 is a technical *must **do*,* *and i continue to be wracked with
> professional guilt that i didn't start sooner, invest more learning time,
> and build up more practical experience with it, but i haven't managed to
> find a silver bullet for convincing management.  Some of the best Internet
> minds in the Asia-Pacific region are on this list.  If they can't come up
> with some good sells for the benefits of IPv6 now, what hope does the
> average IP professional have?
>
> Regards,
> Paul
>

Hi all,

So, what we need to come up with then are some clear benefits.

Removal of NAT is a negative - it may be better to say "true end-to-end
connectivity" and explain that?

Other benefits that I'm aware of:

* Natively integrated autoconfigure - lowers cost of management.
* Integrated IPSEC  - tighter native security.

Am I on the right track?

Regards,

Robert
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