WMS and RFID
Although Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) has been around for almost 15 years, it is only recently that the world has woken up to its immense potential. One of the obvious applications of this technology lies in tracking inventory with RFID-enabled tags. (Wal-Mart has already directed its suppliers to gear up and supply goods with RFID tags.) The US retail supply chain, which is today spending around $200 million on RFID, is expected to spend around $1,300 million by 2008.
RFID can be used to turn a WMS into a real-time system. This new possibility has invigorated the WMS market. RFID-enabled WMS will not only reduce operational costs but will also increase warehouse productivity by optimising storage and resource utilisation. RFID-enabled WMS can help implement collaborative sourcing strategies through the real-time flow of information to and from suppliers.
The challenges of incorporating RFID
Of course, RFID technology can create new challenges, and there are a number of technical difficulties that need to be tackled before the dream becomes reality. WMS has to be integrated into RFID readers; for greater efficiency, they will have to read RFID tags in bursts rather than sequentially. Also, the volume of data is going to be enormous, which is going to stretch the limits of a WMS. Making business sense out of the enormous volume of data is also a big challenge which has to be overcome. Error Proofing is another technical hurdle that needs to be surmounted. Accidental and inadvertent reading of adjacent RFID tags can result in incorrect data. Different materials like metals and liquids interfere with reads. It is believed that excessive exposure to radio frequency (RF) can lead to certain ailments. Even though this has not been proved scientifically, there have been cases where workers have resisted RFID implementations. The effect of RF on food and drugs still needs to be explored.
Standardisation has to be brought to the RFID reader and printer market. Without this, making a WMS capable enough of interfacing with all possible readers and printers is going to be a near-impossible task. Unless such standardisation is brought in quickly, it may even kill this promising market.
Tuesday, February 22, 2005
Monday, February 07, 2005
Better Evolution for Legacy Mainframes
HP strengths
Strategic and versatile partnerships with leading Independent Software Vendors and Systems integrators provide best-in-class solutions
World’s broadest server portfolio delivers unmatched performance, scalability, high availability and security
HP StorageWorks solutions, which attach to both mainframe and HP platforms, provide much higher value and lower TCO than mainframe storage alone
Complete business, migration, IT services, and education offerings help design, build, manage, and evolve your new environment
Flexible, world-class financial services make your move from mainframes to HP both affordable and cost effective
Misson-critical solutions: Did you know that HP -
Handles two-thirds of all credit card transations worldwide -- providing 24X7 service in key financial markets
Powers 14 of the world's largest stock exchanges
Supports 95% of the world's securities transactions
Handles 80% of all telecom billing and customer-care traffic in Europe and Asia
Is the hardware platform for half of all SAP deployments
Manages more than 50,000 heterogenous systems worldwide
Is an $80 billion company which runs entirely without mainframes
Friday, February 04, 2005
Credit Union and FSCC - An Information
What Is A Credit Union?
A credit union is a cooperative financial institution, owned and controlled by the people who use its services. These people are members. Credit unions serve groups that share something in common, such as where they work, live, or go to church. Credit unions are not-for-profit, and exist to provide a safe, convenient place for members to save money and to get loans at reasonable rates. Did you know there are at least seven ways you can find a credit union that you are eligible to join?
Credit unions, like other financial institutions, are closely regulated. And they operate in a very prudent manner. The National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund, administered by the National Credit Union Administration, an agency of the federal government, insures deposits of credit union members at more than 11,000 federal and state-chartered credit unions nationwide. Deposits are insured up to $100,000.
What makes a credit union different from a bank or savings & loan? Like credit unions, these financial institutions accept deposits and make loans--but unlike credit unions, they are in business to make a profit. Banks and savings & loans are owned by groups of stockholders whose interests include earning a healthy return on their investments.
What is FSCC?
Financial Service Centers Cooperative, Inc., (FSCC) is a cooperative credit union service organization, incorporated under the Cooperative laws of the State of California. FSCC is owned and governed by credit unions that are stockholders in the company. FSCC is the only international shared branching network. A company that prides itself on its technology, products and services to its owner and participating credit unions. FSCC is a founding and operating member of the CU Service Centers® Network, a cooperative National shared branching network of over 900 credit unions with over 1,000 locations in thirty-seven states and Puerto Rico. Locations are available on U.S. military bases in five countries. Linked by technology, the Network provides financial services to the credit union public where they live, work, and travel. An appropriate analogy is that of ATM networks, where technology and cooperative relationships between institutions enable the convenient delivery of financial services to consumers.
HP NONSTOP
Operating "Nonstop"
HP Using New OS For Robust, Fault-Tolerant Servers
Reliability is a true measure of any enterprise network. Corporate resources must often be up and available in the face of constant threats from users, bugs, and attacks. Network admins must implement and support fault tolerant systems, which is sometimes a challenge given today’s OSes and applications. Bill Buer, HP product manager, offered some information about HP’s NonStop OS and its recent support for 64-bit Intel servers.
A Long Road
The NonStop OS is certainly not a new platform. The kernel has been around for over 20 years, the result of a push to provide a complete fault-tolerant environment including a combination of hardware, software, and middleware that provides a 100% application uptime. Buer says, "Most systems strive to keep the [hardware] running, but the HP NonStop system addresses every level of the application stack to provide the most robust environment in the industry. Obviously one of the most key elements of the stack is the OS itself."
The improvements for NonStop have been many. "Over the years there have been new releases of the OS that were able to take advantage of new chip architectures, such as the MIPS RISC architecture. What is new here is that HP has announced that the platform that runs the NonStop OS is moving to a standard chip environment, which is the Intel Itanium Processor family. This means our customers will be able to take advantage of the 64-bit capability of Itanium, initially in the memory address space but longer term in having a full 64-bit operating environment," says Buer. Today, the NonStop OS runs on any MIPS-based HP NonStop server. In the future, this will also be any Itanium-based HP NonStop server. Of course, users may need to recompile their applications’ source codes to take best advantage of the Itanium.
NonStop is intended for multiprocessor servers but strives to overcome the loss of performance seen when SMP (symmetric multiprocessing) systems share memory resources. Buer says, "Each additional processor provides a sharply reduced benefit compared to the previous processor. Indeed, SMP systems become impractical with as few as eight processors. The NonStop server’s loosely coupled, shared nothing parallelism provides cost-effective, liner scalability, and, as a result, predictable response times in the face of swelling data volumes, expanding user populations, and a growing number of concurrent queries. Each processor has its own dedicated resources, so an added processor provides a full processor’s worth of performance." Results from large transaction processing and database benchmark tests using the NonStop Kernel OS show that even with more than 112 processors, each additional processor can execute at least 98.2% of the throughput of the first processor.
Performance Features & Management
HP NonStop servers already serve in many mission-critical applications, including the majority of the world’s securities, credit card, point-of-sale, and ATM transactions, as well as emerging zero latency enterprise systems. The NonStop OS is a versatile platform for parallel processing and application throughput. Buer says, "The NonStop Kernel OS enables critical business application processing to be transparently distributed across multiple processors and even multiple systems, either centralized locally or geographically distributed anywhere in the world. This is accomplished without application code changes or relocation of I/O devices because the NonStop Kernel message-based architecture efficiently connects all local and remote devices and processes between as few as two through as many as 4,080 loosely coupled processors working in parallel. Growth within a single server, an HP NonStop ServerNet Cluster, or the entire network can occur without disrupting application and database processing."
The combination of ServerNet technology and the NonStop Kernel OS enable both the data bandwidth and the number of processors to increase as needed to accommodate demanding and data-intensive applications. "Regardless of how large the system grows, the NonStop Kernel OS distributes the workload among the available processors, making efficient use of system resources and achieving exceptionally high aggregate throughput from parallel processing. The NonStop Kernel OS and its compilers automatically create a fully re-entrant code execution environment that makes replication and parallel processing highly efficient," explains Buer.
NonStop-based systems are also fully compliant with many existing system management applications, such as HP OpenView, IBM Tivoli, and CA Unicenter. Buer says, "System management products from HP’s NonStop Enterprise Division and its partners give flexibility and choice to tailor specific system and network management environments to specific business needs. All management solutions for HP NonStop servers automatically inherit the platform advantages of availability, scalability, and manageability."
The Security Question
Given the long line of security vulnerabilities appearing for such OSes as Windows, the security and integrity of a NonStop OS should be a real concern for any admin considering a platform shift. NonStop is certainly not invulnerable to attack, and identifying vulnerabilities and releasing fixes/patches are a high priority for HP. "Security related patches will be communicated to our customer base with appropriate dispatch, with full disclosure of the risks involved with not applying the patch. HP has a team of people that helps identify vulnerabilities on all HP platforms, and HP has policies for identifying and responding to potential vulnerabilities as quickly as possible." Still, he emphasizes that NonStop’s modularity and process separation help to make the OS more secure than other platforms. Pricing for NonStop should be established later in 2004, with general availability in 2005.
HP Using New OS For Robust, Fault-Tolerant Servers
Reliability is a true measure of any enterprise network. Corporate resources must often be up and available in the face of constant threats from users, bugs, and attacks. Network admins must implement and support fault tolerant systems, which is sometimes a challenge given today’s OSes and applications. Bill Buer, HP product manager, offered some information about HP’s NonStop OS and its recent support for 64-bit Intel servers.
A Long Road
The NonStop OS is certainly not a new platform. The kernel has been around for over 20 years, the result of a push to provide a complete fault-tolerant environment including a combination of hardware, software, and middleware that provides a 100% application uptime. Buer says, "Most systems strive to keep the [hardware] running, but the HP NonStop system addresses every level of the application stack to provide the most robust environment in the industry. Obviously one of the most key elements of the stack is the OS itself."
The improvements for NonStop have been many. "Over the years there have been new releases of the OS that were able to take advantage of new chip architectures, such as the MIPS RISC architecture. What is new here is that HP has announced that the platform that runs the NonStop OS is moving to a standard chip environment, which is the Intel Itanium Processor family. This means our customers will be able to take advantage of the 64-bit capability of Itanium, initially in the memory address space but longer term in having a full 64-bit operating environment," says Buer. Today, the NonStop OS runs on any MIPS-based HP NonStop server. In the future, this will also be any Itanium-based HP NonStop server. Of course, users may need to recompile their applications’ source codes to take best advantage of the Itanium.
NonStop is intended for multiprocessor servers but strives to overcome the loss of performance seen when SMP (symmetric multiprocessing) systems share memory resources. Buer says, "Each additional processor provides a sharply reduced benefit compared to the previous processor. Indeed, SMP systems become impractical with as few as eight processors. The NonStop server’s loosely coupled, shared nothing parallelism provides cost-effective, liner scalability, and, as a result, predictable response times in the face of swelling data volumes, expanding user populations, and a growing number of concurrent queries. Each processor has its own dedicated resources, so an added processor provides a full processor’s worth of performance." Results from large transaction processing and database benchmark tests using the NonStop Kernel OS show that even with more than 112 processors, each additional processor can execute at least 98.2% of the throughput of the first processor.
Performance Features & Management
HP NonStop servers already serve in many mission-critical applications, including the majority of the world’s securities, credit card, point-of-sale, and ATM transactions, as well as emerging zero latency enterprise systems. The NonStop OS is a versatile platform for parallel processing and application throughput. Buer says, "The NonStop Kernel OS enables critical business application processing to be transparently distributed across multiple processors and even multiple systems, either centralized locally or geographically distributed anywhere in the world. This is accomplished without application code changes or relocation of I/O devices because the NonStop Kernel message-based architecture efficiently connects all local and remote devices and processes between as few as two through as many as 4,080 loosely coupled processors working in parallel. Growth within a single server, an HP NonStop ServerNet Cluster, or the entire network can occur without disrupting application and database processing."
The combination of ServerNet technology and the NonStop Kernel OS enable both the data bandwidth and the number of processors to increase as needed to accommodate demanding and data-intensive applications. "Regardless of how large the system grows, the NonStop Kernel OS distributes the workload among the available processors, making efficient use of system resources and achieving exceptionally high aggregate throughput from parallel processing. The NonStop Kernel OS and its compilers automatically create a fully re-entrant code execution environment that makes replication and parallel processing highly efficient," explains Buer.
NonStop-based systems are also fully compliant with many existing system management applications, such as HP OpenView, IBM Tivoli, and CA Unicenter. Buer says, "System management products from HP’s NonStop Enterprise Division and its partners give flexibility and choice to tailor specific system and network management environments to specific business needs. All management solutions for HP NonStop servers automatically inherit the platform advantages of availability, scalability, and manageability."
The Security Question
Given the long line of security vulnerabilities appearing for such OSes as Windows, the security and integrity of a NonStop OS should be a real concern for any admin considering a platform shift. NonStop is certainly not invulnerable to attack, and identifying vulnerabilities and releasing fixes/patches are a high priority for HP. "Security related patches will be communicated to our customer base with appropriate dispatch, with full disclosure of the risks involved with not applying the patch. HP has a team of people that helps identify vulnerabilities on all HP platforms, and HP has policies for identifying and responding to potential vulnerabilities as quickly as possible." Still, he emphasizes that NonStop’s modularity and process separation help to make the OS more secure than other platforms. Pricing for NonStop should be established later in 2004, with general availability in 2005.
Sunday, January 30, 2005
Smart Card Technology - An Overview
Smart cards, also called chip cards, are old news for many. Most people are aware of their applicability to payments, but have seen many programs fail in the US. Target's rescindment of its smart card program last year seemed to many to seal the fate of the cards in the US. Many businesses have a rather grim outlook on the adoption of smart cards in this country and have shelved their smart card initiatives. However, the movement is not one of extinction, but rather one of hibernation. Those close to the payments industry and with an eye on the progress of smart technology know that smart cards will one day take over magnetic stripes and revolutionize the payment industry. It is only a matter of when and how. Industry estimates of when smart cards will have a strong US presence range from five to 10 years and beyond. Celent does not expect them to have a significant presence for at least seven years.
Celent believes that several factors will determine the fate of smart cards. Some have been known in the market since the decline of the first American smart cards, while others may come as a surprise to those who have had their eyes set on the wrong horizon. They include the proliferation of smart card technology across industries, elimination of cash-based systems, rise in fraud, and the global migration of smart card-enabled payments. No one factor is necessarily more important than another. Every factor is affected by at least one other, so isolating the effects of any one of these issues is virtually impossible. Together they weave an intricate web of events and forces that will ultimately drive the adoption of smart cards in the US.
EMV: The shift in liability associated with EMV is driving many banks to issue smart cards. Under many EMV rules, responsibility for liability fraud that could have been prevented by chip technology will fall on the party that has not made the upgrade. Aside from the threat of increased liability, merchants and banks are being incentivized by lower or higher interchange rates for transactions made with chip cards or POS systems.
Proliferation of Smart Card Technology: For years people have looked at smart technology and its potential, but have hesitated due to the traditionally high cost. Historically, smart card applications were reserved for industries that had either high-margin businesses, a need for strict security, or products for which a one-time fee could be charged to cover the cost of the chip. However, the cost of manufacturing smart technology has dropped significantly over the last few years. The reduction in cost has led managers in low-margin businesses to realistically consider the potential and applicability of smart card technology. The use of smart technology across applications and industries will begin to create familiarity with the technology, not only among managers, but also consumers. This familiarity will come as an epiphany to some as they discover that they have been surrounded by the technology without realizing it. Smart technology's proliferation through all industries, including payments, is most likely inevitable.
Elimination of Cash-Based Systems: The evolution of payments has always been guided by convenience and the cost of doing business. As purse technology evolves, it will become easier to replace cash transactions as well, particularly at locations servicing low-value transactions. Smart cards will also become preferred as business owners realize smart card readers, particularly RF ones, require less maintenance than magnetic stripe readers and currency feeds.
The Rise of Fraud: The US card industry has enjoyed low rates of fraud in recent years. As such, the anti-fraud benefits of a smart card have done little to motivate US adoption. This is certainly not the case in other countries that have experienced astronomically high rates of fraud. Although Celent does not believe that the rise of smart card use in other nations will drastically drive fraud to the US, the existing rise in skimming scams and related frauds in the US, coupled with the increasing use of payment cards will likely push the industry to consider the ennhanced security of a smart card.
International Expansion: Issues of fraud notwithstanding, smart card use in other countries will create pressure in the US to move to smart cards. The movement to smart card programs is beginning to span the globe. Regions around the world are beginning to implement smart card programs, with many of them making such programs mandatory, while others are beginning to lay the foundation for what is to come.
The crystal ball for smart cards in the US is cloudy. Too many factors will ultimately have an effect on the timing and strength of adoption. Answering the "when" part of the smart card question is a bit trickier, as several variables will impact the outcome. The speed at which other countries implement EMV and phase out magnetic stripes will affect the timeline; so will international travel volume. Should a disaster occur that impedes the international travel industry, universal card use and acceptance will be stymied. Another factor is the migration of chip and the speed with which criminals find a way to crack smart cards. Should one happen before the other, the movement of fraud will be affected. Movement will also be affected by concurrent measures to stop crimes such as identity theft, which could give criminals an alternative to compromising cards in their country. So much uncertainty does make planning difficult. Ultimately, smart cards are a payment product and must be driven by the financial services industry, not merchants or consumers. If they were left up to the latter two, the classic card conundrum would take effect and lead the industry nowhere. It is a game of monkey in the middle, and the financial institution must grab the ball and run with it.
Celent believes that several factors will determine the fate of smart cards. Some have been known in the market since the decline of the first American smart cards, while others may come as a surprise to those who have had their eyes set on the wrong horizon. They include the proliferation of smart card technology across industries, elimination of cash-based systems, rise in fraud, and the global migration of smart card-enabled payments. No one factor is necessarily more important than another. Every factor is affected by at least one other, so isolating the effects of any one of these issues is virtually impossible. Together they weave an intricate web of events and forces that will ultimately drive the adoption of smart cards in the US.
EMV: The shift in liability associated with EMV is driving many banks to issue smart cards. Under many EMV rules, responsibility for liability fraud that could have been prevented by chip technology will fall on the party that has not made the upgrade. Aside from the threat of increased liability, merchants and banks are being incentivized by lower or higher interchange rates for transactions made with chip cards or POS systems.
Proliferation of Smart Card Technology: For years people have looked at smart technology and its potential, but have hesitated due to the traditionally high cost. Historically, smart card applications were reserved for industries that had either high-margin businesses, a need for strict security, or products for which a one-time fee could be charged to cover the cost of the chip. However, the cost of manufacturing smart technology has dropped significantly over the last few years. The reduction in cost has led managers in low-margin businesses to realistically consider the potential and applicability of smart card technology. The use of smart technology across applications and industries will begin to create familiarity with the technology, not only among managers, but also consumers. This familiarity will come as an epiphany to some as they discover that they have been surrounded by the technology without realizing it. Smart technology's proliferation through all industries, including payments, is most likely inevitable.
Elimination of Cash-Based Systems: The evolution of payments has always been guided by convenience and the cost of doing business. As purse technology evolves, it will become easier to replace cash transactions as well, particularly at locations servicing low-value transactions. Smart cards will also become preferred as business owners realize smart card readers, particularly RF ones, require less maintenance than magnetic stripe readers and currency feeds.
The Rise of Fraud: The US card industry has enjoyed low rates of fraud in recent years. As such, the anti-fraud benefits of a smart card have done little to motivate US adoption. This is certainly not the case in other countries that have experienced astronomically high rates of fraud. Although Celent does not believe that the rise of smart card use in other nations will drastically drive fraud to the US, the existing rise in skimming scams and related frauds in the US, coupled with the increasing use of payment cards will likely push the industry to consider the ennhanced security of a smart card.
International Expansion: Issues of fraud notwithstanding, smart card use in other countries will create pressure in the US to move to smart cards. The movement to smart card programs is beginning to span the globe. Regions around the world are beginning to implement smart card programs, with many of them making such programs mandatory, while others are beginning to lay the foundation for what is to come.
The crystal ball for smart cards in the US is cloudy. Too many factors will ultimately have an effect on the timing and strength of adoption. Answering the "when" part of the smart card question is a bit trickier, as several variables will impact the outcome. The speed at which other countries implement EMV and phase out magnetic stripes will affect the timeline; so will international travel volume. Should a disaster occur that impedes the international travel industry, universal card use and acceptance will be stymied. Another factor is the migration of chip and the speed with which criminals find a way to crack smart cards. Should one happen before the other, the movement of fraud will be affected. Movement will also be affected by concurrent measures to stop crimes such as identity theft, which could give criminals an alternative to compromising cards in their country. So much uncertainty does make planning difficult. Ultimately, smart cards are a payment product and must be driven by the financial services industry, not merchants or consumers. If they were left up to the latter two, the classic card conundrum would take effect and lead the industry nowhere. It is a game of monkey in the middle, and the financial institution must grab the ball and run with it.
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