Gathering middleware requirements

With the increasing popularity of Internet based businesses, more and more e-commerce Web sites are being constructed. These sites are often constructed using robust, reliable, scalable and high performing middleware. However, in order to build an enterprise-wide e-commerce system that can stand the test of millions of 'hits' a day, and provide fast response times to Internet clients, it is critical to correctly define the middleware requirement of the organisation, and hence making the right purchasing decision. The paper presents a systematic approach to gathering and analysing middleware requirements, the documentation process, and the corresponding requirement evaluation techniques.