Zero Latency, a way of connecting computer systems using new forms of messaging middleware to speed business processes, will emerge as one of the most important computing trends over the next five years, analysts claim in a new report. According to market researchers The Gartner Group, who coined the new buzzword, zero latency is a technical and managerial breakthrough which enables computers to exchange information more quickly than in the past. This in turn speeds up business processes and results in streamlined, time-sensitive operations, reduced costs and increased sales and customer satisfaction, the analysts said. Gartner’s Roy Schulte said zero latency did not imply any specific technical architecture but rather it should include certain specific elements namely, a network; a software infrastructure capable of exchanging information across networks as well as browsers and other application programs capable of sending and receiving information quickly. The idea behind the architecture is that as soon as information is captured on one system it is immediately made available to all parties at the same time. Users will get the information pushed via the web or email. He described zero latency as the final step in the evolution of on-line processing. An evolution that began with batch processing, then graduated to on-line processing and now, through zero latency, will culminate in real-time processing. He said only cutting edge companies, such as those in the financial, transport, manufacturing and supply chain sectors, were currently adopting the architecture and added that it would be difficult to businesses to avoid it over the next 10 years. He urged companies to adopt the strategy and said that if they didn’t, their competitors inevitably would. Although still in its infancy Gartner says zero latency strategies have recently started to emerge more predominantly for two main reasons: new forms of publish and subscribe middleware have matured and are now capable of handling larger networks; push technology products are improving and are more capable of interactions with application databases.
