Preparing for the next phase of the Internet

by Heather B. Hayes
for Virginia Business
Novermber 2006

The next generation of the Internet — Internet Protocol version 6, or IPv6 — will be more robust, simpler to install, friendlier to mobile users and more secure than the current IPv4 version. But making the switch from the old World Wide Web to the new one will require specialized technical knowledge, which is why Command Information, a 1-year-old Herndon firm, recently established the country’s first IPv6 training center.

Tom Patterson, founder and CEO of Command Information, says that the best way to understand IPv6 capabilities is to work on an IPv6 network. For this reason, the new training center boasts an IPv6 laboratory with a complete infrastructure, including IPv-6 enabled computers, phones, cameras, network routers and network sensors. "The important piece for organizations is figuring out how IPv6 is going to help you perform your mission better, and that’s something that is best learned in a hands-on environment," Patterson says.

The education center will offer a variety of two-day and five-day, instructor-led courses on issues such as IPv6 adoption, security, application development and mobility. Patterson notes that class participants are a mix of functional personnel, including network administrators, software engineers, security specialists, supply chain managers, human resources managers and business executives. Patterson expects to initially train about 100 students per week and even more beginning later this year when a Web-based training program is expected to come online.

Command Information got under way as a result of a $20 million venture capital investment from The Carlyle Group and Novak Biddle Venture Partners. It provides other IPv6 services to government agencies and commercial firms. These services include reorganizing business processes and helping with rewriting applications, redesigning security and integrating mobile devices.

Federal agencies are required to adopt IPv6 by June 2008. This year, the U.S. government has put out task orders worth $4 billion for IPv6 products and services. Next year that number is expected to top $25 billion.
Patterson — who once headed up Deloitte & Touche’s global risk business — expects Command Information to have revenue of more than $50 million this year. The company currently has 330 employees. Patterson plans to hire another 130 people by the end of next year. "We’re standing at the forefront of a brand-new technology sector," he says. "Our big growth is still ahead of us."