It is not just SMP implementations either. If a vendor is not using their latest and greatest products and technologies in TPC testing, there is a reason for it. TPC results once again provide a trigger for further inquiries if those new products not featured in testing are being offered for sale. This next issue could arguably be linked to the previous point. Linear SMP scalability is the Holy Grail to which all aspire, but no one achieves, and TPC results show this.
Some vendors come closer than others.
TPC results provide some real data to allow one to make their own assumptions about the scalability of one vendor's SMP implementation over another's. Something that would be impossible if comparing vendors' own claims, or very costly to conduct your own testing. Compare Technologies With a sufficient pool of results one can step back from system to system comparisons and look at technology comparisons and trends. An example being parallel processing. Interest in commercial applications for parallel processing has grown during 1994.