Throwing hardware at the problem

Recent survey data made public by Conformative Systems, though skimpy, points to to an issue that is increasingly being faced by companies in the midst of multiple Web services or SOA projects -- systems performance.  The survey estimates that the median XML LAN traffic load among participants in 2004 was 20%, with over half anticipating XML traffic to grow to more than 40% in 2005. (My blogmate Britton also posted details on the survey last week.)

In a press release, Mark Nagaitis, VP of marketing for Conformative Systems, remarked that "although enterprises are now realizing significant benefits from deploying SOA and Web services, most companies are still solving their performance issues by over-provisioning hardware and tightly-coupled software solutions."

If there is data in the survey that backs up Nagaitis' analysis, this points to a very serious and nagging mindset that needs to be watched carefully by companies embarking on Web services and SOA. Standardized components are supposed to alleviate the duplication of hardware and systems, not make things worse.