News

Making the most of Middleware

In the realm of ATM software, cutting out the middleman -- more precisely, middleware -- could be dangerous. Middleware helps ATMs run smoothly and profitably, providing a bridge of functionality between the machines and their networks.

March 7, 2002

Eliminating the middleman in business is most always seen as a good thing. It enables companies to reduce customer costs and allows corporations to function more efficiently.

But in the realm of ATM software, cutting out the middleman-more precisely, middleware - could be dangerous. Middleware helps ATMs run smoothly and profitably, providing a bridge of functionality between the machines and their networks. In short, middle wear is a necessity.

Finding "middle" ground

Defining middleware is challenge even for experts, but what's certain is that it helps connect ATMs and ATM networks.

"Middleware is a nebulous concept," said Mike Bengtson, vice president of product strategy for Mosaic Software, a middleware provider based in Deerfield Beach, Fla. He said some software operates between the ATM and the network, while other software operates on the ATM between the user application and the ATM's hardware devices, such as card readers and cash dispensers.

Bob Usner is marketing director for Nexus Software, a Raleigh, N.C.-based company that supplies software products to the ATM industry. He said middleware's importance might not be evident even to some in the industry.

"Middleware usually ties the backend together in a transparent way," Usner said. "We're trying to do that with client hardware."

As transparent software, middleware adds rarely noticed value.

Declaring vendor independence

The development of commercial middleware in the ATM market follows an earlier trend in the business computer market: vendor independence. Like the rest of the computer world, ATMs began as proprietary machines and vendors created their own hardware and software solutions. Now, although proprietary solutions are still common, PC-based ATMs and open standards such as XFS and ActiveX make it possible for third parties to get in the business. Third party middleware developers bring new capabilities and options to ATM deployers.

Brian Evetts, managing principal of Dallas-based software provider Carreker Corp., said that new technology and new suppliers of middleware allow ATM deployers more choices in selecting a software solution.

Another factor, according to David Bringhurst, head of marketing communications at ATM software provider Gasper Corp., is the changing nature of the industry. Bank mergers and acquisitions often require that ATM fleets be retrofitted, and changes in ATM network ownership often necessitate software changes.

"The industry is in a great deal of flux," Bringhurst said.

The result is that ISOs and banks often have fleets featuring a mixed bag of machines, produced by different manufacturers at different times.

Chris Klein, Mosaic Software's executive vice president of marketing, said that his customers are constantly faced with the challenge making these fleets of ATMs consistent for users. And the software required for that must work on machines made by different manufacturers.

"Some of our customers have a real mishmash of different brands and different technology within the brands, because of acquisitions," Klein said.

To the ATM and beyond

To understand how middleware works in the ATM market, it's helpful to look at some of the most popular products on the market.

Nexus' INvolve works within the ATM, and is used by applications to identify and run ATM hardware.

For example, if an ATM application must access a printer or bill acceptor, INvolve's software solution provides communication between the ATM and the application.

Application designers, who install the product on the ATM, license this type of software.

Nexus' Usner said INvolve is typical of middleware products in that it allows solution providers to write a single solution that can be deployed on any ATM.

Consider a self-service application capable of dispensing cash and accepting deposits. Usner said the software recognizes the ATM and connects to all the necessary banking-specific hardware devices, including pin pads and card readers.

X Factor

The development of middleware products came about in ATMs for two reasons, Usner said. First was the move toward PC-based machines, and second was the adoption of the XFS standard.

"XFS does for the ATM what Windows does for printers, mice, etc. - it provides the standard to allow all the peripherals to be talked to in the same way," Usner said. "Windows doesn't do that because banking devices are more complicated."

Bridging machine and network

Mosaic Software takes another approach to middleware with its Postilion product. It connects the ATMs to the financial transaction networks.

"People consider us to be middleware because we operate in between all these inbound ATM devices and various channels and all the outbound network and service providers," Bengtson explained. "We act to aggregate transactions across all these channels and to provide the system functionality across all of them, which is just another definition of middleware."

All ATMs require host networks. But because Mosaic is not tied to any vendor's host solution, it is flexible, scaling from small to major networks, and running different types of host services, Bengtson said.

"What an ATM host does varies depending on what kind of ATM you have," he said. "For some ATMs the host does a whole lot of processing and for other ATMs it does mainly regular EFT processing."

Postilion contains basic ATM monitoring tools as well.

"We have a monitoring component that's bundled with the software that gives you a view of the ATM in terms of their cash positions at that moment in time," Bengtson said.

Remotely controlled

Remote management represents another important type of middleware product. Two middleware solutions in this category are Gasper's Manager, and Carreker's eiManager.

Programs such as these take ATM status messages from the host network and respond to them appropriately. Gasper's Bringhurst said the software supports all status messages on ATMs.

"We take a feed off of the host - anything the host supports, we support," he said. "So when a host is accepting information from an ATM all the time, we listen into that and trap those messages. We get status codes from the ATMs: cash out, communications failure, card reader isn't working, and so forth."

Management programs can be configured to respond to ATM conditions by sending e-mail to staff, sending an order for cash replenishment, or ordering service.

"It can even track when service teams arrive," Bringhurst said. "We know how long it took service to fix the ATM and bring it back to operability."

Carreker's Evetts said his software works in much the same way. Its ieGateway package offers real-time Internet communication. It allows ATM providers to automate service calls, request cash replenishment, and balance and reconciliation between armored car cash companies and the machines.

Since middleware has so many different purposes and applications, it may be difficult to adequately define. There's no doubt, however, that credit for the functionality of modern ATMs and their networks goes to the providers of middleware.