Managing the Deployment

IPv6 deployment process is cross-functional and network wide. It is likely to have very high visibility so select your project team judiciously. A well-documented project plan generally helps streamline the deployment phase, though unforeseen issues are inevitable. This chapter illustrates the general deployment process as involving three prongs, the first involving current vendors as needed to coordinate upgrades for IPv6 compliance, the second with new vendors for new network, IP management, security, or network management components, and the third with internal or consulting staff for assigning and managing tasks. IPv6 deployment needs to be qualified in a non-production or laboratory environment to minimize possible disruption with the production IPv4 network. While the project plan defines the implementation of network devices and systems, the test plan serves as the final gate through which these systems must pass before production deployment.