While the IETF is not a large organization, the RFPs that drive Microsoft, Google etc. to do things are written by people at large enterprises who get their information on what to ask for from certain sources which are in turn influenced by organizations and the press.
It is 15 years since I did that sort of thing and I have no idea whose ear you have to bend to get the outcome you want today but there is certainly some influence the IETF could exert if applied in the right way.
The problem would be making the case that a Gartner analyst or such is going to think is a compelling one for their clients to consider.
On Mon, Jul 1, 2024 at 4:35 PM John Levine <johnl@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
It appears that Ofer Inbar <cos@xxxxxxxxx> said:
>Are you really saying that the IETF is a special kind of buyer that
>needs to remain "neutral" in some way, and NOT exert any market force,
>even if the IETF does have preferences?
The IETF is not a large organization, and it is not a large buyer of
online or hosting services. If we tell vendors "you must provide IPv6
or you won't get our business," if they already have IPv6 for their
own reasons, OK. Otherwise the answer is "then we won't be doing
business with you."
We can certainly ask, but we can't force anyone to do anything.
R's,
John
