News

Middleware: Reliable software evolution

December 2, 2004

The growing use of middleware - a layer of software that sits between applications and hardware - brings banks a step closer to integrating their ATMs with other financial channels such as teller stations, the Internet and telephone banking systems.

But it's going to be a pretty long hike to get there.

"Channel integration is significantly simplified with middleware - but it's still not simple," said Robert Usner, director of marketing and product management for Nexus Software.

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Usner said middleware products make it easier for developers to create applications that can be used across multiple channels - reducing development costs and speeding time to market.

"We isolate the application from the hardware, so you have the assurance that no matter what kind of hardware you have underneath it, the application is going to work," he said.

David Denny, self-service manager for Bank of New Zealand, said that BNZ gained the ability to quickly bring new applications to market after hiring software developer Phoenix Interactive, a Nexus client. While Phoenix helped BNZ design its ATM user interface, BNZ's in-house development staff now designs most applications using a Phoenix toolkit.

"Now, we just say, 'Hey I want to do this,' and write our own application, whereas before we had to write up a project plan, get a couple of managers to sign off on it, get the money approved and get the vendors to submit proposals for it," Denny said.

BNZ has migrated several applications from other channels to the ATM: bill payment from the Internet and currency conversion from the branch. "Everything is developed behind the back-end and then goes through middleware, which gives us consistency across all of our channels," he said.

Yet challenges remain. For true integration, channels need a common way of interacting with a host to obtain up-to-date customer data, said Aravinda Korala, CEO of KAL, a software developer that uses its own middleware for its Kalignite development platform.

"You've got to be able to bring that data together to get a common view across the channels," Korala said.

The pace in the middle

Technology moves at a far different pace, Korala said. "You might update the software every three years for the ATM, versus every three months for the teller station. You've got perhaps 10 transactions at an ATM compared to 150 at a teller station."

Stephen Risto, director of NCR's APTRA Software Center of Expertise, said true integration must span many areas of responsibility across the enterprise, including the individual channels themselves, infrastructure, management systems, business intelligence systems, back-end systems, marketing and security.

Middleware can help banks more reliably evolve their systems over time, said Nexus Software's Usner. "It lets you use the same application program interface on the client, the server and anything in between."

In addition to middleware, Risto said other enabling technologies facilitating channel integration include the developing IFX standard, client/server-based ATM applications, TCP/IP communications and Windows-based software. They are "moving the ATM channel to a base level of IT technology, which is more on a level that is complementary to peer delivery channels," he said.