Riding Shotgun

Riding Shotgun
Tags: Transaction Processing
February 25, 2011

Today's payment transactions are like the cross-country wagon trains of the 19th century - they start with a simple goal (get their precious cargo to the destination), stop at numerous points, or "multiple hops," along their destination path, and rarely arrive with 100% of those who began the journey.

The typical "bandits" that impede the completion of a journey range in hostility, from crippling show stoppers, to less severe "hold ups." In transaction terms, these may be under-performing systems, unresponsive applications or problems related to third parties such as issuing banks, card networks, or third party processsors typically encountered in the authorization and settlement processes.

If you were saddling up for this ride, you'd be well-advised to interview anyone and everyone who's successfully completed the journey so you could plan the optimal path and proactively prepare for the "bandits" you are sure to encounter along the way.

You'd be especially interested in analyzing two groups - the 3% that die along the way and the 4% that got waylaid in a roadside saloon for a week. Once you've collected these stories, you'd be in an incredible position to plot the safest, most reliable and cost effective route.

Now, think of your payments system, where 100s of transactions leave every second, and 1000s are "in transit" at various points along the end-to-end transaction path. Imagine if you could "interview" and obtain performance reports from every single one of them, every second, on a continuous basis.

From an operational efficiency and resources standpoint, you would be better prepared to address issues, get to the bottom of problems faster, and adjust your strategy going forward. From a business standpoint, fewer transactions would fall victim to "bandits," and those that did could be quickly set along their way again.

So ultimately, what do you need to make sure more transactions successfully complete their authorization and settlement journeys? The power to analyze every single payment transaction, every second, on a continuous basis, so that you leave no transactions behind. It's time to move on over existing monitoring tools...there's a new sheriff in town.