Every digital transformation initiative must deal with the ever-increasing pace of change – in the marketplace, in the technology environment, and in the world at large. Clearly, as customer expectations accelerate, technology must keep up. Squeezing every last millisecond of performance leads to the demand for real-time – technology with no delays whatsoever, moving at the speed of thought itself.
If we examine this real-time requirement more closely, however, important nuances emerge. First, real-time never actually means instantaneous, as it always takes a certain amount of time for bits to find their way to their destination. But even more important for any digital professional to understand, the concept of real-time has several subtly different meanings – and understanding the differences is critical for making effective technology decisions.
What is Real-Time, Anyway?
From the perspective of the digital effort, the most important definition of real-time is low latency. Latency refers to how long a website or app takes to respond to a click or other user interaction (either on a computer or a mobile device), and thus the faster, the better. Consumers are notoriously fickle, after all – add a few milliseconds of delay and they’ll defect in droves.
Read the entire article at http://www.nuodb.com/blog/multiple-meanings-real-time.
