[arin-ppml] The non-deployment of IPv6 - The Economic Factor

[Matthew Keller]

Sorry to dredge an "old" thread back, but I'm catching up on PPML and 
Vaughn's note really nailed a large segment of what I've been explaining 
for several years now when dealing with the "deploy IPv6 or you suck and 
are a bad netizen" crowd.

> This (*The Economic Factor*) should not be underestimated

I'll go one step further - Deploying IPv6 across a perfectly-running 
enterprise network is excruciatingly daunting.

This isn't daunting because admins lack the expertise or confidence to 
do so, or haven't done it a bajillion times in test environments, it's 
because our customers (and bosses) don't care - they don't care one lick 
that you're rolling out IPv6, whatever that is. The network is 
_working_, everything is _fine_ and they very simply don't want to risk 
something not working anymore: If it ain't broke, don't fix it. The 
customer has plenty of other things they _do_ want.

There is little-to-no consumer-driver to enable IPv6 in established 
networks, and when coupled with Vaughn's assessment of economic 
dissuasion, it paints a picture that unless you are very well-off 
(capitally and/or human-resourcely), _forced_ by outside powers 
(something to show your customers and bosses to justify the risk of 
change), or setting up a new network from scratch (you'd be stupid not 
to): Trying to get "normal", established edge networks to deploy IPv6 is 
one-step down from trying to herd cats.

-- 
Matthew Keller
Information Security Officer/Network Administrator
Computing & Technology Services
State University of New York @ Potsdam
Potsdam, NY, USA