Real Time Article

The term's misuse creates misunderstanding both inside organizations and out in the market. Real time is expensive. Creating and managing technology applications that operate in real time require a lot of infrastructure, people, and processing power. These are unnecessary if you don't mind if an action occurs "just in time" or "some time later on."

A few examples:

* Real-time analytics and reporting. Does it matter? Depends on the use. For people only concerned with strategy insights, such as paths different visitors types take, or those focused on use of different navigation tools, real time is meaningless. If no action you can take in real time changes the user experience, then time and money spent to get information faster is overkill. The extra information is probably a distraction.

If you're an editor and constantly adjust stories and headlines to respond to audience interest, then real-time data can make a difference. It may be a worthwhile investment. Bottom line, real-time analytics are good for tactical applications, overkill for strategic ones.

* Real-time actionability. As with the above example, this matters if the desired action is tactical. Would very fresh information help someone or something take an action at the same time?

If resulting actions are strategic only and not intended to be taken at the same instant the information is created, then real time is wasted technology. You don't need real-time audience information if you only use it at a weekly meeting to discuss behavior trends.

* Real-time personalization. In personalization, real time is essential. If you want to personalize content for individual visitors, such as weather or commerce recommendations, you must do it in real time. You can't wait minutes or hours to update pages. Visitors won't be there anymore.

You can't personalize content without recognizing users and changing content the moment they arrive. Of course, this can be quite expensive. Those with content management systems with personalization have a special appreciation for the processing and data management costs associated with real-time actions at scale.

* Real-time ad segmentation and targeting. Another example of where real time can really matter. Ad targeting is a very frontline, tactical operation. If you want to deliver a specific ad