XML: The Good and the Bad

 
Dec 22, 2004
by C. Hatton Humphrey

XML has proven itself as a much needed tool in the growing interactive Internet market. It has saved companies time and money when compared to older data delivery and manipulation methods. However, this technology is now starting to generate noticeable traffic that has network administrators scrambling to reorganize resources. According to a ZapThink analyst, network traffic increases due to the quantity and size of messages, and some existing corporate infrastructures are being taxed to their limits.

According to a report by ZapThink, XML traffic on corporate networks will grow from about 15 percent in 2004 to about 48 percent by 2008. This is helping to create a growing market in XML optimization which is projected to reach $1.2 billion by 2010. In addition, web services delivery will dominate XML traffic on the network by the end of next year.

While network administrators struggle to keep their systems up to speed with growing demand, developers say that any performance hits incurred are more than worth it. Mike Crisan, a web technology analyst at Denison University indicates that his Granville, Ohio-based college is moving aggressively with web services and XML despite any risks of network issues. "My two cents on network slowness 'caused' by XML: if the web services are truly needed, then the network is used for it's purpose," Crisan said. He makes the analogy of a car trying to get into a garage; if the car can't fit into the garage then there are other things that need to be moved out.

Most telling are the financial results. DaimlerChrysler corp said that switching to an XML-based publishing system saved them weeks in proofing time and tens of thousands of dollars when they published their latest catalogs. According to a source within the company, they are projecting an additional $800,000 in savings next year.

Users Adjust to XML Tax on Networks (eWeek, November 30, 2004)

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