But the OMB is gung-ho, not go-slow. Last June, the OMB announced that federal agencies will be required to use IPv6 by June 2008. In fact, those agencies are already inventorying their existing IPv6-capable equipment and analyzing the financial impact and risks of a switch.

Who will win this battle of the bureaucrats? The OMB will -- it's requiring, not recommending. True, it will cost more to make a hard push to IPv6 than it will to wait for everyone else to go first. Yes, there will be rough spots, including security glitches. And sure, the schedule will slip; on June 30, 2008, the U.S. government won't likely be end-to-end IPv6.

But the IPv6 chicken-and-egg problem will be history. IPv6 will be rolling. And it won't be going slowly.

Why does this matter to corporate IT? Because when the world's biggest IT buyer goes to IPv6, then products, support and knowledge will follow. That government transition will force the long-delayed shift on companies that connect with the government. They, in turn, will force a shift on their other business partners.

Like Wal-Mart with RFID, the feds will mandate IPv6. And ready or not, it will come.