Despite the recent economic downturn, the volume of on-line transactions continues to grow at a phenomenal rate.

 

r:eThought defines an on-line transaction as any interaction between two or more parties that requires an auditable exchange of value in real-time or near real-time and where failure to provide a consistent view of the transaction across the entire processing chain will yield liabilities or disputes. This obviously applies to on-line auctions, business-to-consumer purchases, business-to-business transactions, stock trading, as well as other forms of monetary or asset exchange. But in our view, a "value exchange" can include exchanges of valuable information, such as traffic patterns, shipment status, transport schedules, or customer service histories. While we have relatively accurate data for transaction volumes involving commerce and electronic payments, it is very difficult to estimate the volume of other types of transactions, especially those that occur within organizations. Yet by our estimates, these transaction types subtantially dwarf payment volumes.

The result has been an explosion of new technical approaches to transaction processing that are as varied as the variety of organizations designing these systems. Some are based on proprietary technologies like Encino, Tandem Guardian, MQ, or AMTI. Others are based on open standards such as CORBA 3, J2EE, or XML. Architectures range from distributed, to centralized, to every shade in between. Some are point-to-point, others hub and spoke, still others publish-and-subscribe, activity-based, or event-driven. The possible technology combinations have become almost limitless, and because most companies already have a wide range of existing systems, the cost of building transactional systems can be large while the return on investment remains hard to clearly delineate.

r:eThought's Approach

r:eThought specializes in helping both companies planning or building transactional systems, as well as vendors building technologies for transactional systems, to cut through the complexities associated with transactional infrastructures. Our technical knowledge of payment systems and transactional middleware, along with knowledge of the markets for these products makes us uniquely capable of serving customers who need to:
  • Evaluate new payment standards - such as revisions to ISO8583, Project Action, or Verified by Visa - and determine their business and technical viability.

  • Design web-centric architectures for the delivery of new transaction types.

  • Convert line of business requirements to technical designs.

  • Evaluate various technical approaches and build a business model for management to justify a specific approach.

  • Convert process-centric and RPC-centric technologies to distributed, object-oriented designs.

  • Review existing architectures and designs to ensure completeness and reliability.

r:eThought's team of senior executives have extensive experience building and managing payment products, transactional enterprise middleware, and legacy integration products. Numerous assignments have provided deep knowledge of both the technologies and the methodologies needed to successfully bring transactional systems to market with proven returns on investment.

Feel free to call us at 831-659-7384 to learn more about our capabilities, or email us at payments@rethought.net.