It is a very simple equation:
clueless consultant + inapropriate faith in vendor = massive over
specification.
It gets really out of hand when everyone doing the requirements expects
growth, and at each stage they each add a 'little' just in case growth is
higher than expected. I have had stand up fights with people who assured me
that web servers wouldn't run on Pentiums (this was a while ago) and $30,000
SUN kit (which admittedly is lovely) is needed to host a little brochureware
site.
Regards,
Michael Skeggs
> -----Original Message-----
> From: James Morris [mailto:jmorris@intercode.com.au]
> Sent: 25 August 2001 12:56
> 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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