ATMs Are IT Too!

September 5, 2017 / G C Network / Comments Off

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Virtual Machines in Virtual Networks

By G C Network | August 4, 2008

One of the key value propositions in cloud computing is built around increase efficiencies. These eficiencies are diven by the use of virtual machines (VMware, XEN, etc.) and the automated…

SOA-R Interest Grows

By G C Network | August 1, 2008

Interest continue to grow in the use of cloud computing concepts for national security missions. Although some view the idea of a “private cloud” as an oxymoron, I personally see…

Microsoft: “Cloud Computing is the Plan”

By G C Network | July 31, 2008

From the Wireless Business & Technology Cloud Computing News Desk : “Ballmer highlighted software-plus-service, associating it with a ‘platform in the cloud and delivering applications across PCs, phones, TVs, and…

CC Tidbits

By G C Network | July 31, 2008

Interesting tidbits from Maureen O’Gara in Apple, Google, Yahoo & Cloud Computing: Industry gadfly John Dvorak is advancing a theory culled from the blogosphere that Microsoft wants Yahoo for some…

Correlative Analytics: Cloud Computing Google Mindshare

By G C Network | July 30, 2008

Correlative Analytics (A.K.A. “The Google Way of Science“) postulates that extremely large databases of information, starting in the petabyte level, may be sufficient to skip the theory part of the…

What is Cloud Computing? — Another view

By G C Network | July 29, 2008

Irving Wladasky-Berger, chairman emeritus of IBM’s Academy of Technology, recently wrote and article on cloud computing titled “What is Cloud Computing, Anyway?”. The following is my interpretation of a few…

Dark Cloud Computing

By G C Network | July 28, 2008

In his blog article “The Rise of The Dark Cloud” Reuven Cohen wonders about a growing interest in covert computing. Although he briefly mentions malevolent uses of the net, the…

July Military Information Technology magazine

By G C Network | July 25, 2008

This month’s issue of Military Information Technology magazine has the Army’s Chief Information Officer, Lieutenant General Jeffrey A. Sorenson, on the cover. The enclosed special report, titled LANDWARNET Transformation, has…

“The Big Switch” and Intellipedia Highlighted

By G C Network | July 24, 2008

During last week’s SOA-R session, Steven Armentrout referenced “The Big Switch” by Nicholas Carr as a very enlightened view of our changing world. On July 17th, Information Week’s Richard Martin…

Does anybody really know what cloud computing is?

By G C Network | July 23, 2008

Less than 2% of the CIOs in an Infoworld survey said that cloud computing was a priority. The surveyed indicated that server virtualization and server consolidation are their No. 1…

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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.