By Mike Sapien

The new internet protocol IPv6 is being marketed as essential to the future growth of the internet as it opens up a wealth of new address space for web portals and applications. However, in a new report (IPv6 Transition – What’s the Rush?), the telecoms analyst Ovum claims that pressure from players such as telecoms and internet service providers is falling on deaf ears and enterprises see no need to start the transition to IPv6.

The recent World IPv6 day is one example of industry players promoting the protocol as the ‘next generation internet’ and pressurising enterprises to prepare for the move. But our recent research suggests that they are failing to make an impression on enterprise customers, who don’t see any need to even think about it.

There may be a degree of ‘head in sand’ mentality among enterprises, but our research stands in glaring contrast to the industry’s efforts to promote IPv6 over the past several years. Furthermore our research suggests that many enterprise customers think they are already using IPv6, when they are not.

Metrics carried out by industry players have revealed that IPv6 traffic counts for less than three per cent of all internet traffic today.

According to the report, one of the major reasons for enterprises’ lack of urgency is that there are still plenty of IPv4 addresses available, meanwhile issues such as a lack of return on investment and more pressing IT priorities are also playing a part. Most enterprise customers assume that having plentiful IPv4 addresses alleviates any need to make the move; it is just not that simple.

According to the report, there are some triggers that will motivate enterprises to make the move. For instance, the growing number of new consumer devices, such as smartphones, that will be assigned IPv6 addresses, and the new web applications that will be accessed by these devices. In addition, as Asia-Pacific leads the world in IPv6 adoption, enterprises (and their many suppliers) doing business within this region will be influenced to follow suit.

In the meantime, it advises that education and planning are the key. Internet application and service providers should continue to focus on customer education so that enterprise and consumer customers increase their awareness of the transition to IPv6. They should explain what the transition entails for the customer’s computers, network equipment, routers, servers and web infrastructure so that they are clear about what is involved. Every enterprise needs a plan before they hit the IPv6 wall unexpectedly.

About the author

Mike Sapien is Ovum principal analyst and author of the report IPv6 Transition – What’s the Rush?). Ovum provides clients with independent analysis. Its research draws upon over 400,000 interviews a year with business and technology, telecoms and sourcing decision-makers. Ovum is part of the Informa Group.