Quick question: Do you know precisely how many IP addresses your organization owns right now?
Most IT departments can’t say and the potential upside for unused and unmonitored IP space could be significant.
The Overlooked Asset
IPv4 addresses have been depleted years ago. There is no new supply coming on the scene. Whatever is on the market now is the total amount of existing inventory. This scarcity has transformed a once cheap and abundant resource into a true market asset that appreciates in value over time, similar to real-estate.
So if you're business is sitting on inventory that it cannot consume, it's actually not dead weight. It's equity.
Where This Space Usually Hides
Unused IPv4 blocks are not obvious. They can accumulate for various reasons, e.g.
• Old infrastructure decommissioned but not formally returned
• Oversized subnets allocated with the expectation of future expansion that were curtailed
• Consolidations through mergers and acquisitions resulted in overlapping allocations
• Simple lack of ownership of the audit process
None of these scenarios present an obvious alert on a dashboard, but represent valuable, under-utilized assets that are currently unmonitored and unmonetized.
Why This Matters Right Now
Two facts are true at the same time:
- Demand for IPv4 space keeps increasing as the cloud, hosting and network infrastructure keep growing
- Supply is permanently fixed, it can only be moved within companies, not increased That combination is what makes that the option to lease or sell unused IPv4 space has become a source of revenue for companies who want to take the time to check what they're holding.
What to Do About It
Even if you have a small project to evaluate your performance, there are only three things to do:
• Do an audit of all your allocations: compare what you have with what is used
• Highlight all the idling resources: decommissioned systems, old subnets or clusters
• Have it all verified and ready to market as soon as possible: buyers and lessors want clean and well-organized IP space
