ATMs Are IT Too!

September 5, 2017 / G C Network / Comments Off on ATMs Are IT Too!

Cloud Services Brokerage: Adding Trust and Oversight to Complex Cloud Deals

By G C Network | September 15, 2014

According to the Gartner IT Glossary, “Cloud services brokerage (CSB) is an IT role and business model in which a company or other entity adds value to one or more…

Learn Hadoop and Big Data in 7 Minute Flat!

By G C Network | September 13, 2014

How do I install Hadoop, and on what platforms? What are the differences between versions of Hadoop? How do I Extract, Transform and Load in Hadoop? The answers to these…

Tech Equity & GovCloud Network Team For Cloud Education

By G C Network | August 25, 2014

GovCloud Network is proud to announce that we have teamed with Tech Equity Ltd to deliver cloud education and training on a global basis. With this partnership, GovCloud Network will…

National Cybersecurity = Cloud Computing Security

By G C Network | August 13, 2014

A recent article Inc.com article claimed that the percentage of U.S. small businesses using cloud computing is expected to more than double during the next six years, from 37 percent…

Vets 360 Sponsoring Service Members To Attend Gartner Catalyst Conference

By G C Network | August 5, 2014

Veterans 360 will be attending the Gartner Catalyst Conference. They are also sponsoring the attendance of active duty service members that are currently in the US military and serving in…

ERPGovCloud: Your Path to DCAA Compliance

By G C Network | July 28, 2014

So you won your first Government Contract… Congratulations!  Among the new issues you will need to consider, your accounting systems, both practices and technology, will need to pass muster with…

GovCloud Media Network Feature: Army IT Playlist

By G C Network | July 17, 2014

The GovCloud Media Network features agency specific video playlist for registered members. Please enjoy this feature on the Army IT. Please visit the new GovCloud Network Media Library for more…

Security & Defense People Launches – Use “GovCloud” for 50% Discount

By G C Network | June 28, 2014

This is quite an unusual post for me but I would like to congratulate GovCloud Network partner SDP Networks on their launch of the Security & Defense People website! Security…

The Cloud Credential Council releases Executive FedRAMP certification course with leading government cloud expert Kevin L. Jackson.

By G C Network | June 23, 2014

Palo Alto, USA – June 23rd, 2014 – Addressing the global cloud skills gap is the number one priority to help accelerate the successful adoption of Cloud, according to the Cloud…

Learning Tree’s Expert Cloud Instructor Kevin Jackson Announces Multiple Speaking Engagements

By G C Network | June 22, 2014

(Reposted from LearningTree’s “Perspectives on Cloud Computing” at https://cloud-computing.learningtree.com/2014/06/12/expert-learning-tree-cloud-instructor-kevin-jackson-announces-multiple-speaking-engagements ) Kevin Jackson, a certified Learning Tree cloud computing instructor and Learning Tree Cloud Computing Curriculum Initiative Manager, is set to…

That world of homogenous IT technology managed entirely by the internal IT organization has long disappeared.  Operations today require efficient and global management of technologically heterogeneous environments. The challenges and mistakes organizations make when tackling this important task include:
  • Operational disconnects caused by ineffective internal communications;
  • Resource contention when multiple, independently developed project plans compete;
  • Incompatible technical documentation; and
  • Inconsistent communications with vendors.
A case in point is the finance industry which has endured some rather unique pains in this area, especially when it comes to ATM Fleet Management. According to Diebold Nixdorf, a world leader in connected commerce, this problem has been caused by three major trends that have changed the nature of ATM network management.
The first, and broadest driver of these changes has been the rapid adoption of newer and more sophisticated technology. Some reports cite that in 2014, up to 95% of the world’s ATMs were running Windows XP. That year, the entire industry was basically forced to transition to Windows 7 and this was when some banks were still using OS/2!
“These more sophisticated systems, requiring updates, patches, and support in real-time, along with software and hardware that can operate nimbly in an agnostic ecosystem. And as more and more transactions are migrated to self-service terminals, the devices must advance in complexity, too.”
Security challenges, the second key trend, are also morphing daily as threats become more and more diverse. Specific problems include physical security of the cash inside the terminal, malware threats to software and the use of data skimming devices. As banks expand their self-service networks, competition around their ability to deliver greater functionality and more complex transactions within an even tighter personally identifiable information regulatory environment is daunting.
The final trend is around management and overhead. As the traditional focus of IT support groups has changed from PCs, firewalls, routers towards the administration of an extensive network of remote self-service terminals, the scope of the required core competencies has changed tremendously. These teams must now deal with multi-vendor hardware, software, security, and services. To deal with these tectonic shifts, financial institutions are now looking to partner with technology services companies.
In this strategy shift, they are looking for a provider that brings broad multi-vendor management skills and analytics-based, proactive technical support. Additional criteria for selecting a multi-vendor management partner include:
  • Global presence with the ability to provide on-site engineering support to any ATM site;
  • Demonstrated continuity of support as exhibited by an ability to dispatch the same customer engineers on most occasions;
  • Customer engineers with proven and demonstrable experience with the same type of installation and configuration;
  • Support organizations with the breadth and depth of resources necessary to deliver high-quality support with minimal service disruption; and
  • A global logistics infrastructure capable of providing the timely delivery of parts from any vendor, if required.
IBM has proven to be a major player in this space. Their ATM and branch services support provides a predictive maintenance solution that uses advanced analytics to identify potential concerns. They then work with financial organization’s IT teams to schedule proactive support services. This proactive approach ensures proper intervention before customer service is disrupted. As a proven, global provider of multi-vendor service support, IBM can be your single agnostic vendor supporting your multi-vendor ATM environment. If your team is in need of a multi-vendor support partner, consider IBM.

This post was brought to you by IBM Global Technology Services. For more content like this, visit Point B and Beyond.

 

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