I mentioned last month that following several reports by Frost &

Sullivan, people are being urged to prepare for a move to IPv6.  It

seems more analysts are urging companies to start planning as the switch

to IPv6 comes ever closer.  An article in this weeks computer weekly

further backs this stance.  Arif Mohamed writes that while Operating

Systems such a Windows Vista, OS-X and Linux all have IPv6 installed by

default–network devices such as routers, switches and printers should

be reviewed sooner rather than later, as some will need to be replaced

due to incomparability with the new protocol.

Michael Disablo, vice president of analyst firm Burton Group warned “It

is essential to plan for IPv6.  Eventually you will need to upgrade”.

Neil Richard, research vice president at Gartner said “Migrating to IPv6

is a huge undertaking, at least as big and complicated as Y2K projects,

if not more so”.

I wonder whether we’ll see a last minute panic when the world moves to

IPv6, much like the mass hysteria which surrounded Y2K?  If you have

experience and a full understanding of IPv6 at this time, there may well

be some great opportunities in consulting!