Verizon gets into the Business IPv6 Market

Some of the major ISPs are finally getting a clue and realizing that they need to help their corporate and government customers move to IPv6. Verizon, with its new Verizon IPv6 Transition Professional Services, has announced that its ready to help organizations navigate through IPv6 omplexity to assess and ensure their readiness for the IPv6 Internet.

It's about time! The American Registry for Internet Numbers (ARIN) announced at the end of the November that we're down to 2.73% of the Internet's available IPv4 addresses). In short, we're running out of IPv4 addresses even faster than the experts had predicted.

According to Waliur Rahman, Verizon's Professional Service Manager of its IPv6 Practice, the new Verizon IPv6 Transition Professional Services will span the IPv6 implementation lifecycle and comes in three divisions:

IPv6 Impact Assessment and Gap Compliance Analysis: Verizon IPv6 experts can take stock of an enterprise's physical and logical configurations and network and security architecture; identify compliance and operability needs; develop pre-deployment and testing plans; and validate network requirements so the migration is successful.

Rahman added that Verzion will work with a company's IT department to look not just at the corporate's intranet connect to the Internet but also at the company's network logic, systems, applications, tools, and echnical and business drivers. Indeed, Rahman, added Verizon will work with IT organizations to help them create the business case need to get the CEO and CFO on board for IPv6 .

You could see this last part as just Verizon trying to drum up more business, but it's more than that. Even now most executives have, at best, only a vague idea of why they need to start moving to IPv6 for their networking. I think many CIOs and CTOs would welcome this kind of help.

IPv6 Transition Planning:  Verizon consultants can develop a comprehensive transition strategy that incorporates logical implementation phases, cost and timeframe considerations, and effective architectural, planning, testing, and validation processes.

Here, Verizon will be working with other networking partners to deliver a comprehensive design. They'll either work with your existing network equipment partners, such as Cisco or Juniper or, if you want, bring in a new hardware partner.

IPv6 Implementation: Verizon can implement IPv6, both physically and logically, across systems and networks. Verizon provides thorough, dedicated project management of every aspect of the implementation process, including configuration documentation, testing, training, and process improvements.

This can also include end-user training and working on your network work processes. For example, Verizon can work with Microsoft to deliver DirectAccess on Windows 7 and Server 2008 R2 or other Windows IPv6-dependent network services.

In a statement, Anthony Recine, Verizon Business' VP of networking solutions said, "Global organizations can no longer sit on the sidelines, maintaining a wait-and-see position toward IPv6 deployment. It's our obligation to help ensure that we--along with our business and government customers--are taking the appropriate steps now to prepare for the inevitable depletion of IPv4 addresses in 2011. "

He's right of course. I wish Verizon, and other telecomms and ISPs that are supporting the move to IPv6, like Hurricane Electric, the best of luck with these efforts. Like it or lump it, we're all moving to IPv6 for our networking soon and the more expert help we can get, the better.