Challenges
Mergers and acquisitions are rife in the cable industry, complicating network infrastructure, technologies, and even services offered. In these complex environments, the accurate allocation and management of IP addresses is essential. Any under-utilized resources can result in higher costs on the IP transfer market and create unnecessary project delays in the rollout of new services requiring IPv4 addressing.
One major U.S cable provider recently discovered the difference that efficient IP address management (IPAM) can have on project delivery.
As a result of growth and multiple mergers, this Tier One provider now operates in more than 20 states and supports a range of voice and cable services for both residential and commercial customers. The fast rollout of new services is therefore essential to remain competitive; however, the provider faced multiple challenges. These included:
- Decreased productivity due to complex and slow IP requests
- A complicated address plan that led to few people utilizing the existing IPAM system
- Low IPv4 optimization due to difficulty identifying and reclaiming unused resources
- Redundant and slow processes for managing regional Internet registry (RIR) reporting
Rigorous network discovery and efficient IPAM was clearly needed for this service provider to increase the speed of project delivery without escalating OPEX.
The Solution
IP planning, discovery, and management needed a shake up. The provider implemented Address Commander from Incognito Software Systems across the company’s entire cable and voice network to provide a faster, holistic solution that completely eliminates the need for patchwork tools.
A Single Network View
It was essential to find a solution that offered an accurate and reliable picture of the entire IP network. Address Commander is a service-provider grade solution built for managing IP addresses in complex networks.
This solution ensures all IPv4 resources are properly allocated with network-wide visibility, eliminating the need for relying on the expensive IP transfer market, while also discovering and representing IPv6 assignments.
Address Commander provides a single system to manage IPv4 public, IPv4 private, dynamic and static assignments, public assignments for business customers, and IPv6, eliminating the need for multiple IPAM tools and spreadsheets.
Results Faster Processes for Increased Productivity
Simple and responsive flows enable network engineers to request and reclaim IPs from thousands of different address pools with a single click of a button, rather than relying on multiple datasets and manual processes.
Streamlining this process has reduced IP request times from 30 seconds to an instant and meant that tickets related to IP requests can close in a matter of hours, rather than several days. This has supported faster activation of customer services and enabled staff to focus resources on project rollouts.
Simplified RIR Reporting
Address Commander allows for business customers to be properly represented in the IP address plan by collecting the required Regional Internet Registry (RIR) data as part of the IP assignment process.
Previously, the company managed RIR assignment information as a separate silo but Address Commander provides a single system to act as a central repository of information. This eliminates data inconsistencies, as well as the duplicate effort required to manage two different systems with similar data. Comprehensive reports detailing IP address allocations, RIR reconciliation, or IP utilization can be customized to meet business requirements.
Enhanced QoE
Address Commander also enhances IP discovery on the network, detecting IP conflicts and preventing network outages related to duplicate assignments. Engineers are able to identify and proactively address IP conflicts on the network to avoid outages or service disruption. The solution’s device discovery and reconciliation process makes it simple to quickly identify inactive devices and reuse IP addresses.
An IPv6-Ready Solution
Address Commander discovers and assigns IPv6 space while ensuring IPv4 resources are correctly allocated and accounted for. This saves time with IP planning and helps with handling IP requests in a complex network environment.
Benefits
- 30x reduction in time spent on IP request processes
- Optimized more than 90% of public space
- Simplified IP planning with faster network discovery
- Streamlined workflow to decrease project timelines
- Smooth migration from legacy system
