How do I convince management to approve IPv6 deployment?

I currently have the idea to deploy IPv6 on the corporate network of my enterprise. But my boss (CIO) asked me what the benefits are? And I did not have an answer.

So what could I say to make the case for IPv6?

It will run in dual stack with IPv4.

We use firewalls, VPN, and multiple WAN connections.

A few of the benefits of IPv6, off the top of my head:

• NAT goes away. This isn't a large issue in your organization, but it is an issue since you are likely using small bits of private address space for...
• VPN goes away. In IPv6 you achieve the same things with IPSec, firewall rules, and...
• Mobile IPv6. Laptop users can automatically remain connected to the corporate network with the same IPv6 address they use internally.
• The RIR won't come back and ask you to give up some of your addresses (if they haven't approached you yet, they will soon).
• It'll probably cost more the longer you put it off. IPv6 is not optional; everyone will have to deploy it sooner or later. "Emergency" projects can be really expensive...

Hurricane Electric has a management-level presentation The Business Case for IPv6 which you may find helpful.

It's a bit dated, but still useful: eweek's How to Build a Business Case for IPv6.

You can find much more from an Internet search.

If you don't know why you're making a change, or the benefits of making a change, you shouldn't be making, it period.

At the risk of making an unpopular statement, you shouldn't be promoting IPv6, let alone changing to it, because for you, you're creating a solution in need of a problem, and the only thing you'll get out of doing that is a headache. Seriously, your asking this question made me think of Joel's article on :Cats.

If you invent something that doesn't solve a problem, it better be entertaining.

And I don't know about you, but building a network from the IP scheme up does not strike me as good entertainment, particularly with IPv6 support leaving so much to be desired at present.

What you should be doing is reading up on IPv6, learning what problems it actually solves, and thinking about how implementing it can benefit your environment. Once you've done that and tested it a lab environment (so you know what new risks it creates and problems it causes), then you're ready to think about how to sell it for use in production up the chain of command.

You can tell him that it's the future ;-)

Benefits would be, that the internal part is done, when the external part has to be done later, and so that technicians can get used to use IPv6 internally.