30 January 2012
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Even as businesses in Singapore and around the world acknowledge the inevitability of transitioning to an IPv6 (Internet Protocol version 6) inclusive world, some of the key migration concerns include change management and timing issues.
These were some of the key concerns raised by delegates at the "Unleashing the Potential of IPv6 for Business Continuity and Growth" executive briefing organised by the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA) on 17 Nov 2011.
IPv6 has become a necessity for business growth and sustainability and companies should not choose to ignore it. While the lively session touched on many issues, the undisputed bottom line was that it is important for companies to be prepared for the business opportunities available with the advent of IPv6.
Panel discussion was moderated by Ms. Miwa Fujii, Senior IPv6 Specialist of APNIC.
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There are many upsides of IPv6 that can become a door of opportunities. It is important for companies to start investing time and resources to look at the benefits IPv6 can bring for their business operations and strategic planning.
In order to achieve a smooth transition to this new protocol and glean optimal benefits, companies are strongly encouraged to actively learn about the technology, train their staff, and put in place a transition plan. They will also need to work closely with service providers and other members of the Internet community to ensure a smooth transition to IPv6.
The following are the key highlights of the lively question and answer session of these speakers and delegates. Ms Miwa Fujii was the moderator in the panel discussion.
Miwa Fujii, Senior IPv6 Specialist, APNIC
, regularly represents Asia Pacific at global IPv6 summits and forums.
Tony Hill, Chair of Asia Pacific IPv6 Task Force
, is also Managing Director of IPv6 Now!, a company dedicated to providing services, training and consulting in IPv6.
Yew Hock Meng, Chief Marketing Officer, LGA
, spearheads the marketing of the company's Internet solutions to corporate customers.
Willy Sutrisno, Head of Provision, Matrix Networks
, has a primary role to oversee the provisioning of new circuits between Singapore and Indonesia.
Cyrus Daruwala, Managing Director, Asia/Pacific, IDC Financial Insights
, has a
strong influence with the financial services community.
Hirokazu Takahashi, Senior Manager, Innovative IP Architecture Center NTT Communication Corporation
, researches and develops IPv6 access technologies.
Chan Fan Yong, Senior Internet Manager, NewMedia Express
, has extensive knowledge in database management and web application programming.
Victor Tang, Managing Director, Progreso Networks,
is one of the pioneers of IPv6 training in Singapore.
1. Many companies are very heavy IT users with hundreds of applications. Transitioning to IPv6 is a big problem requiring a lot of manpower. What approach should one take to manage the scale?
Key Takeaway
: The panellists agreed that making a smooth transition to IPv6 involves many factors, including learning about the technology, ensuring staff are trained adequately, and proper planning. It is important therefore to start immediately to ensure IPv6 readiness when demand kicks in. The amount of time needed to completely implement and test the system cannot be underestimated.
Tony Hill
shared his take on this practical problem based on his wealth of experience.
“We had the same experience in Australia. It took 12 months before government agencies take IPv6 seriously. And then, they discovered they had so many apps to deal with. How they approached it was to divide the world between external and internal. The external world will be the first phase to operate in dual stack environment. For the internal world, it gets more complicated. It might require an internal audit.”
Hill also noted that network management tools can automate the audit process and quickly take stock of network components that lack IPv6 support with minimal time and manpower. This is particularly useful when managing large networks, as time and manpower costs saved can be significant compared to a manual audit.
“Although at layer 7, apps shouldn’t be impacted by layer 4 and 5, often times, coding can be suspect. Companies should have a test bed network where users can test their apps. This could be done on an internal IPv6 day.”
Yew Hock Meng
understands the pain points well. He advocates early planning and migration.
“It took us three years to plan, three months to test and three months to migrate. The important thing is to start planning and take stock of your network. Which one lacks IPv6 functionality? Taking the plunge into IPv6 takes months, but once you have a methodology, it is not so scary”.
Willy Sutrisno
stressed the importance of ensuring the peaceful coexistence of both IPv4 and IPv6 networks.
“Think of IPv6 coexisting with IPv4. IPv4 won’t just expire.
For example
,
we have a company portal which does not need to be IPv6 capable as it is only for internal use. But if your system needs to be accessed from the Internet, then you should consider a transition as soon as possible.”
With multiple methods that companies can adopt to transit to IPv6 depending on their specific circumstances,
Miwa Fujii
advocates learning as much as possible before choosing a method.
“There are so many different ways to transit: dual stack, NAT444, DS-Lite, and NAT64. Different ways are more applicable for different customers. So, learn as much as possible.”
Getting IT staff properly trained is part of the process to ensure a smooth transition to IPv6.
Victor Tang
thinks that companies should do this by taking advantage of the heavily subsidised training programmes available in Singapore.
“IDA has taken the initiative to build IPv6 competency in Singapore. We provide IPv6 Forum certification courses. This allows a company’s engineers to appreciate the fundamentals, learn the different aspects of IPv6, and understand how to implement it in a network. We provide these courses with IDA funding of up to 70 percent. Companies can send their engineers for our courses to prepare themselves for the transition to IPv6.”
2. As a content provider with an international user base, if we are still on IPv4 and users are on IPv6, can they still access us? Whose responsibility is it to ensure compatibility?
Key Takeaway
: Rather than delegate responsibility, the panellists noted that it was more important for companies to work closely with service providers and other members of the Internet community to ensure a smooth transition to IPv6.
Cyrus Daruwala
feels that the responsibility must be shared between the service provider and the company. Both parties must work closely together to ensure the Internet community can continue to access content on the company’s servers
.
“The content provider has to work with its Internet service provider to make sure its content is disseminated to an IPv6 capable server. You can move that system to the cloud to hasten the process.”
Tony Hill
notes that some companies may find network translation solutions the viable temporary alternatives to implementing full scale IPv6 transition on their networks.
“The scale of reworking can be huge. However, there are short circuit approaches using translation to make IPv4 sites visible to IPv6. Such an approach is viable only for smaller scale operations.”
Yew Hock Meng
also notes that the Internet community is larger than just service providers and their customers, and sometimes connections may be outside of their control.
“The responsibility to ensure downstream access via IPv4 and IPv6 is a collaborative effort between customers and providers. For customers with huge networks and high demand for IPv4, we have to work hand in hand. There are many issues, but no guarantees as providers are also at the mercy of their upstream IPv6 transit providers.”
3. What is the push factor to move to IPv6 if one has enough IPv4 addresses in reserve? IPv6 seems inevitable, but are we rushed into it?
Key Takeaway
: While acknowledging that there s no immediate need or deadline to implement IPv6, the panellists pointed out that the earlier one starts transitioning to IPv6, the better. There is already tremendous momentum from major economies towards IPv6 and companies need to be prepared when the tipping point occurs, perhaps as soon as 2012.
Miwa Fujii
agrees that IPv6 is not immediately critical, but she sees it as a case of the earlier the better for business reasons.
“In the future, there will only IPv6 addresses available. If your resources are not IPv6 capable, you may lose cash flow, because new companies will only be given IPv6.”
Cyrus Daruwala
also supports early transition as it will eventually lead to lower total costs of ownership.
“The need for interoperability will compel you. If you can only respond to IPv4 and need to convert IPv6 traffic to IPv4, there will be latency. The conversion cost is also not cheap, and sooner or later, IPv6 will become a demand. It is not a do or die situation, but customer experience, interoperability and demand will be issue. Then it will be an escalating cost.”
Tony Hill
’s perspective is that companies tend to procrastinate if they think it is not urgent, and eventually, may react later than they expect to.
“I don’t think we have a long time. Our experience is that the world reacts better with a date. So, I created 8 Jun 2011 as IPv6 day this year. It gave a focal point for technical, media, and everyone else. It proved effective in garnering support. It meant that no single provider had to travel the road alone. There will be a date for world IPv6 week next year. The end of 2012 is a significant timing point for most economies around the world. They will be doing IPv6 by that time. That is not a bad planning horizon time.”
Yew Hock Meng
adds that companies who have ample supplies of IPv4 addresses have an advantage, but still need to take action.
“With your reserve of IPv4 addresses, you are fortunate. You don’t have to do translation. Take a very simple approach. Make your network dual stack. That is good enough. By the time you exhaust your IPv4 addresses, IPv6 will be dominant.”
4. What is the motivation and benefits of moving to IPv6?
Key Takeaway
: IPv6 can be a powerful catalyst for companies wanting to tap into next generation Internet technologies. It provides significant innovation potential, and allows businesses to scale easily to meet latent demand. These are paramount for business success and continuity in the future.
Cyrus Daruwala
notes that the key benefit is about sustained growth, which only viable in the Internet world with IPv6.
“If you can’t cater to the consumer, it goes against business continuity. If you can scale up, then it also feeds into growth. From this perspective, the drive is not what the government is doing. It is the consumer that will drive it; he wants instant, connectivity, security. That can only be on IPv6.”
While most companies think about IPv6 as added costs,
Tony Hill
takes a different tack and feels that the potential of IPv6 has been vastly underrated.
“I think the feel that there is no money to be made in IPv6 is slightly misunderstood and misleading. The analysis is very one sided. For ISPs, the analysis is all about cost. The other side of revenue, growth, and benefits should be considered. Very few analyse both sides and implement that. In fact, very few people are looking at the detailed list of technical benefits. There are huge business benefits available.”
Yew Hock Meng
, agrees that IPv6 is potentially highly profitable, but more importantly, it provides significant competitive advantage.
“I believe we should look at adoption of IPv6 as a measure of economic competitiveness. The moment you are connected, you will have a very strong impact on economic growth and interactivity around the world. It is important to be connected. How can you grow if you don’t have scalability? I can’t give more on IPv4. The only way forward is IPv6. While we see tons of money to be made, we have to see continuity. It is not a service provider or content issue, it is a national issue.”
Willy Sutrisno
, ended the discussion by noting that while moving to IPv6 is imperative, it is even more critical for Singapore and Asia.
“Singapore falls under APNIC for IP allocation. It is inevitable that IPv4 resources are finished in Asia first. Even if you have reserve IPv4 allocations, what about others? You have to reach the IPv6-only people.”