Stop Asking for Real-Time Data (You Probably Don’t Need It) Or: Why “real time” is one of the most expensive words in software architecture.
The uncomfortable truth After decades of building enterprise systems, here’s an observation that makes some people uncomfortable: Most people who ask for “real-time” data updates don’t actually need real time. What they want is confidence , responsiveness , and trust — not millisecond precision. And yet, the moment the phrase real time enters a requirements meeting, costs go up, architectures get complicated, and teams quietly inherit a system they now have to babysit forever. What people say vs. what they actually mean When someone says: “We need this data in real time.” They usually mean: “I don’t want stale data.” “I don’t want to refresh the page.” “I want to react quickly.” “I want to trust what I’m seeing.” None of those requires true real-time infrastructure. They require fast-enough data and good UX . Once you cross into true real time , you introduce: Persistent connections Stateful servers Fan-out scaling challenges Reconnection logic O...