1) A billion is actually a drop in the ocean in US software terms. It's one
of those analyst/journalist things, if you use a nice big number, reporters
lap it up. But we're talking 0.3% of the software industry, and I suspect
there's a lot more wasted in a lot of other places.
2) It's easy to forget that people bloat their products for a reason - yes,
it pumps the price, but would you bloat something if it meant fewer sales?
In cases like this, it's probably threefold ... consultants want the product
to fit every known contingency, customers who've ditched all their IT staff
want ticks in boxes, and market analysts award points for ticks in boxes
("...but if you want a fully-featured future-proof Java app server, then
Obese Software's offering is probably the way to go.").
3) Without new features, there's no press release; no press release means no
column inches; and by the way, some analysts get bonuses for mentions in the
press, at least in America.
Then, of course, it's always possible that Gartner misread the entrails
anyway!...
Richard Chirgwin
-----Original Message-----
From: James Morris [mailto:jmorris@intercode.com.au]
Sent: Saturday, 25 August 2001 9:56
To: Link Institute
Subject: [LINK] $1B (US) wasted on bloated Java servers.
>From http://www.informationweek.com/story/IWK20010822S0001
$1B Wasted On High-End Servers, Gartner Says
Companies wasted more than $1 billion between 1998 and
2000 on high-end Java application servers that provide far
more capabilities than are needed on most Web sites, says
research firm Gartner. And, if the trend continues, Gartner
estimates that companies could throw away another $2 billion
from 2001 to 2003.
Confusion over the appropriate use of the software needed to
power Web applications has led many companies to bypass
low-end application servers that meet most requirements and
cost 10 times less than the high-end products, Gartner says.
In the last three years, the cheaper models were sufficient for
80% of the projects in a typical midsize company, yet 60% of
the deployments were high-end.
[ snip ]
One can only imagine how much money has then been wasted on consulting
and support fees for said products.
I suspect this partly explains why companies have been burning so much
cash on Web sites over the last few years.
Unsurprisingly, there was no mention of the dozens of application servers
which are available at no cost, and are quite often far superior to
commercial equivalents at every level.
- James
-- James Morris <jmorris@intercode.com.au>
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