Today most information regarding IPv6 has either the IT- or ICT-managers of organisations or the IPv6 implementors as target audience. They know about IPv4 addresses running out and the advantages of IPv6 in addition to the extended address space. They know the urgency of migration to IPv6 and have seen the graphs of Geoff Huston. They know that migration to IPv6 is not for free and struggle for budget to implement IPv6.

How much is there to gain if we continue to address the IT-managers and IPv6 implementors? Are we preaching for the already converted? Are we barking up the wrong tree?

When pleading for budget to make content accessible via IPv6 the usual and reasonable answer is “show me the IPv6-(only-)enabled users”. When asking users why they didn’t migrate to IPv6 their answer is “show me the IPV6-(only)-content”. So there is a chicken and egg problem, and we need to break a vicious circle.

One thing we know for sure is that soon - and in some countries sooner than others - ISPs will be forced to create IPv6-only users, simply because they run out of IPv4 addresses. Who feels the pain of content not being accessible for these users (apart from these users themselves)? In my opinion the answer is those responsible for marketing and sales via internet. Why? They don’t reach their targets when they don’t get their share of the growing internet population. A missed target implies a missed bonus, and that hurts. Let’s use the ‘pain in the wallet’ as a driver.

So we have to convince the directors of marketing and sales that soon, thanks to their great m&s campaigns they reach potential customers which subsequently will go to the competitor because their website is not IPv6 enabled. The only thing they need to do to avert this scenario is to spend a (small) part of their m&s budget on enabling their website for IPv6. And the other side of the coin is that if their website is IPv6-ready, they might get customers from a slow moving competitor. And everyone trained in m&s knows it is much easier to keep a customer than to (re)gain one.

Stopping at this point, the IT manager telling the m&s manager “give me your money”, is not likely to work. We have to explain to the m&s manager what his money will be used for in terms he can understand. I propose the following diagram for that purpose.

It is slightly more complex than the 2x2 matrices they are used to, but with a little explanation everyone should be able to understand. Let’s first look at the row with the IPv4 user. Both a website on IPv4 or on dual stack can be reached. An IPv6-only website requires initially many, many users that need a 4to6 translation and that is costly. Later, when the IPv4 users are a minority, that is the way to go.

Look next at the row with the IPv6 user. Again a matching or dual stack website is no problem. Some new standards are on their way for interconnection of an IPv6 user to an IPv4 website, but that is risky and not an option if you want to move now. Obviously, the dual stack is attractive: all users can access your m&s website. There is an IPv4 address for it now and that need not be changed. We just add an IPv6 address and adapt the back office software to handle the longer addresses. Furthermore, some additional work to fend of hackers is needed.

I think every m&s director (and his disciples) can understand this. And it is no trick. It is just getting the money for an urgent problem at the place where, even in these economically difficult times, there is still some.