CEO SPOTLIGHT: Jerry Edgerton of Command Information on IPv6

January 19th, 2009 by JD Kathuria

It’s been 10-plus years since its creation and IPv6 is finally gaining adoption momentum. AT&T is building a production-quality IPv6 data network for the U.S. Army in Germany. Meanwhile, Google just announced the option for accessing Google services over IPv6. But how will the technology play out in the federal marketplace? In our CEO Spotlight, Jerry Edgerton, president of Command Information, a Herndon, Va.-based company that provides next generation networking services to Fortune 1000 and government entities, shares the latest facts and developments surrounding IPv6 — and why this is one technology you should keep on your radar.

What’s the business case for IPv6?

Jerry Edgerton: Currently, there are a finite number of IPv4 addresses, so there is always the threat that we are going to deplete them. That’s a reality, but there are methods to get around this.

Can you provide some examples of these methods?

Jerry Edgerton: Well, in terms of networking and using various IP methodologies, you can substitute and temporarily use IP addresses for network services and network connections. The problem arises when we have more and more proliferation of devices that require unique IP addresses, like the iPhone, for example.

Why can’t you use the same methods to get around the problem? What makes an iPhone so different?

Jerry Edgerton: I use the iPhone as an example, or the Google phone; whatever the example is going to be. We see more and more content being moved to these devices, and what that means is you are walking around with sort of a very powerful computer in your hand. In terms of geo-location services, it becomes necessary to uniquely identify my computer from your computer, both in terms of where we are and how we are connected. We see the need for more and more uniqueness, and that need will become the driving requirement of IPv6, more so than the depletion of the numbers.

What other factors are driving these requirements?

Jerry Edgerton: The United States government has taken a position and said “IPv6 is very important.” That’s a factor in itself. This has been going on for a long time; there is a 2005 document by the General Accounting Office calling for a need to plan for transition. The need to plan and manage for it has been recognized. Requirements were set. The Office of Management and Budget put out a mandate — OMB522 — and said that all agencies need to be ready by June 30th. So on June 30th all the agencies declared victory because they were able to log onto their network and make an IPv6 transaction — then they walked away from it. So, the mandate put some attention on the problem, but did not force agencies to really deal with it.

What has stood in the way?

Jerry Edgerton: One of the points to make is that this transition to IPv6 is massively complex. You have got a significant investment in infrastructure. This whole infrastructure now is sitting there and the question is, where is the best place to start with the transition? The government mandate is not answering that question. Each individual agency has to answer that question; ideally they would answer according to their own needs and situation, but there are other government mandates, separate to OMB522, requiring that equipment and attachments be IPv6 compatible. So you have several activities running on parallel paths, but not leading in any particular direction.

How is industry dealing with the change?

Jerry Edgerton: Industry is struggling with a different set of questions. On the one hand you have device manufacturers — the builders of the iPod, the iPhone, Google Phone, and devices like security cameras and other systems that are on an integrated network. These devices are being built and introduced with new capabilities and new requirements. The United States Postal Service and Diebold just announced a major security network that’s going to have IPv6 enabled cameras on them. That’s great. The question, however, is how do you manage that in the network environment?

In what ways are communication providers dealing with that?

Jerry Edgerton: They are at various stages of implementation. They have the ability to pass a packet, but basically what they do not have is a comprehensive plan for managing a native IPv6 environment. It all has to do with how they approach it; will they consider the adoption of IPv6 as just another technology replacement, or will they think about how to improve their business by being an early adopter? “How can I identify ways to generate additional levels of security, additional networking possibilities, and additional revenue?” This is more than a technology replacement. You can do all kinds of things that you could not do in a classic environment with all kinds of data flowing. How do you manage that? How do you take advantage of it? The communication providers have to answer that question and many of them have yet to do so.

What about internationally?

Jerry Edgerton: The rest of the world is moving. The European economic community has identified IPv6 as a major economic opportunity, looking at ways to enable it, to not only mandate it, but provide incentive to move to it. China, Japan, and Korea are recognized broadband leaders; they already have IPv6 going to the home. China now has a stated objective of at least a half million IPv6 users on the network.

What issues are holding the U.S. back in this regard?

Jerry Edgerton: Security. We happen to believe that one of the starting points in this conversion and transition is, what are you doing to manage your security vulnerabilities? What are you doing to manage the fact that by default you have left your network open to IPv6 intrusions? We may have firewalls and routers that are not IPv6 compatible, and so you have the potential for significant vulnerabilities in your infrastructure. Why? Because we have IPv6 devices running on — essentially — IPv4 networks. It’s the result of what I call the mismatching or the lack of coordinated planning for your infrastructure.

What’s the logical path to a successful transition?

Jerry Edgerton: A road map for the Next Generation Internet is required. You look at security and you start planning for what needs to be done from an infrastructure perspective. Communication providers are still in the early stages. The AT&T’s, the Verizon’s, the Qwest’s, and the Sprint’s basically have to figure out what their infrastructure is going to look like; how they are going to handle this traffic; how they are going to do network management. We have chosen to work with the communication providers because without their plans and capabilities, it’s very difficult to migrate applications and migrate agencies.

What are the major marketplaces for IPv6?

Jerry Edgerton: Certainly the federal government is a significant marketplace — the Department of Defense has been the leader in this space. They understand the possibilities around being able to geo-locate. They have lots of things in the global environment that are always moving, whether it is warfighters or equipment or inventory or ships and airplanes. The communication providers are another significant marketplace because their ability to provide future service is critical. Software and hardware manufacturers play a major role because they have to become IPv6 compatible. Finally, in the short term major international corporations are faced with IPv6 challenges because of their global reach. They have to figure out how to effectively participate in a global economy where China and Japan and many others are operating in an IPv6 world.

Interview with Jerry Edgerton was conducted by JD Kathuria

Read more interviews here: http://blog.executivebiz.com/category/interviews/

Tags: Command Information, ipv6, Jerry Edgerton
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