First, there’s a need to understand what real time is – definitions and perceptions of what constitutes real time have been all over the map. “The notion of what real time means varies depending on who you’re talking to and the specific domain,” says Joseph George, VP of product management with BMC Software. “While real time in mission-critical environments requires data to be processed within milliseconds or even microseconds, real time in the context of digital transformation and meeting customer expectations to deliver online services and information may have different requirements.” Its applications are broad. “Any application requiring instant changes to features based on external factors like user behavior, security, or bugs could require real-time capabilities,” says Nick Rendall, product marketing manager of CloudBees. “For example, in a SaaS application where users are able to trial and purchase new features instantly – provisioning. Or, in more advanced organizations, if a bug or security breach is detected, the ability to shut off the feature in question in real time without redeploying becomes very important and is part of a modern DevSecOps program. These examples would be equally relevant to B2B or B2C applications.” Real-time technology also plays a role in enterprise applications such as logistics, shipping, inventory, and products. “During the pandemic, tracking shipments from international sources became more complicated,” says J. Todd Jennings, CEO of Nexterus Technologies. “Applications with real-time technology should be very sensitive regarding shipments that need to be coordinated with the launch of sales and marketing efforts.” Real-time technologies may see applications as the Internet of Things proliferates. “With the advancement of IoT, customers not only can track their shipments, they can request specific information about the conditions the shipment experiences,” says Jennings. “For example, the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine needs to be stored at ultra-low temperatures. Real-time logistics technology allows the temperature of the shipment to be measured and tracked throughout its entire journey. The customer can monitor the progress to ensure quality control. Shipping devices can also track whether a container has been opened or fallen over during shipment. All that information, with the use of IoT, can now be tracked.” The customer experience is also being shaped by real-time technologies. “Customers increasingly expect a transcendent customer experience that gives them what they need, when and where they want it, tailored to their preferences,” says George. “Companies need to be able to deliver information to customers as close to real time as possible and, most importantly, meet customer expectations. Clearly, customer expectations have changed.” What does it take to build a sustainable real-time enterprise? Industry experts provide the following words of advice: Observability is a broad enterprise challenge, as it “involves collecting a wide-range of data including metrics, events, logs, and topology to provide the ‘why’ when something goes wrong,” George says. “Actionability goes one step further to look at how you can respond to a failure beyond what failed and why it failed. It looks at what you can do about it in the moment to remediate it or, using advanced insights, get ahead of it and take preemptive action to prevent it.”
