esq posta-na whitepaper

BY SHANNON CHISTER

POS Transaction Analyzers

ESQ BS/ I • 800-959-4580 • i n fo@esq . com • www.e sq . com

A White Paper describing the POS Transaction Analyzer and how it works.

Introduction .............................................................................................................3

Transaction Analysis ..............................................................................................4How does it work? ...............................................................................................4How can Transaction Analyzers work specifically for POS? .............................5What are the features and benefits of POSTA ....................................................5

Who is ESQ? ..........................................................................................................8

Other ESQ solutions ...........................................................................................8

Table of Contents2


Customer transactions are the lifeline of all retail businesses.

tion to your business with on time delivery providing transaction monitoring that will dramatically increase visibility into your customer transactions. It will help you reduce lost revenue and lower business risk by ensur-ing the highest possible service levels for your customers.

Real-time Business Activity Management (BAMS)POSTA provides real-time analysis of transac-tion data to ensure that IT and the business operational personnel can monitor and main-tain the highest possible service levels for your customers. It can significantly impact the way in which transactional data serves real busi-ness needs. This paper explains POS Transac-tion Analysis for capturing and presenting this data providing real-time business and IT status to help make decisions across all lines of businesses.

POSTA can reduce costs and identify ineffi-ciencies in your business that could be costing your business millions of dollars a year. In many instances the return on investment can be recouped in less than a year.

Introduction


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POS TransactionAnalyzer

Customer transactions are the lifeline of all retail businesses. To ensure that your business is working according to plan, execution of your business

transactions is critical. Monitoring of these transactions is paramount to the health of the overall business. A successful business has a core set of targeted statistical indicators that are defined to ensure that each level of man-agement can monitor their functional area of responsibility in real-time and initiate correc-tive actions when needed.

One of the top reasons why businesses lose customers today is due to transaction delays and outright failures. Customers want to be able to complete their transaction hassle free. According to a retail Queuing Behav-iour Survey study conducted by MasterCard International, the research reveals that over two-thirds of consumers abandon their purchase all together if it means standing in a long line, while 75% of these shoppers will take their money elsewhere in the future. To reduce these delays, you must be able to trace your transaction data, analyze the statistical data and isolate any problem areas quickly. As Motti Tal, author of the research study writes, “Transactions are the most effective early warning sensors indicating impending outages before they occur, allowing time and providing insight to address them.” Another thing to consider in customer transactions for your business is, was the transaction processed as cost efficiently as possible? Analyzing the statistical data will help your business be more profitable by saving and improving in areas you may not be aware of.

They key to reducing delays and improving your business is by using the POS Transaction Analyzer (POSTA). POSTA provides optimiza-

Analysis

Data

Reports and Queries

Key Features:• Determine instantly if transactions are ex-

ecuting as expected • Provides a breakdown of the types of trans-

actions being processed• Reduce mean time to repair by quickly iso-

lating problems in critical business transac-tions

• Real-time decision support• Data mining and data analysis in real time• Visualization/Dashboards, Scorecard• Capacity planning for future growth• ETL for real time data gathering• Support for industry standard data access

methods (ODBC,JDBC,OLAP)

How does it work?The Transaction Analyzer (TA) helps ensure continuous, real-time management of transac-tions hosted on any computing platform. TA’s ETL agents that run on a variety of platforms to gather details on transactions processed and recorded in the Entry Journal (EJ) data files. TA can present transaction details and metrics in dynamic, customizable, web-based (WEB2.0) views that are relevant to a diverse community of business and technology man-agers.

Transaction Analysis


POSTA

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The Transaction Analyzer helps ensure continuous, real-time management of transactions hosted on any computing platform.

Retailer Operations

Approve/Denied

Transaction

Transaction

Transaction Processor/ Authorizer

CardIssuer

POSTA Server

Customer Interaction (POS/Kiosk)

Business Operations

IT Operations

POSTA

How can Transaction Analyzers work specifically for POS?POSTA offers continuous, real-time manage-ment of POS transactions, including trans-actions per second, denial, reversal rates, stand-in transaction rates, and interchange response times. Live dashboard views of the POSTA data provides instant snapshots of Key Business Indicators (KBI).

What are the Features and Benefits of POSTA?1. Flexible Web-Based Monitoring - Being a web-based product, POSTA enhances the flex-ibility of monitoring transactions by provid-ing platform and location independence to the user. POSTA web interface displays the transaction details and can be customized based on your data.

2. Interactive Ad Hoc Dashboards - The dashboard allows you to drag and drop your data and start generating meaningful reports on your system. Simply select your data source, choose the elements and time frames you wish to view, and select the visual repre-sentation (Chart, Grid, Graph, etc.) and your power-user dashlettes are displayed.

3. Powerful Ad Hoc Reports and Queries - POSTA provides an easy to use reports & Queries builder to assist in keeping the POS network running at maximum efficiency and to improve the performance of your POS Network and Devices. It also allows custom-ers to evaluate their POS environment status and performance, and discover the causes of problems and SLA compliance failures.

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Powerful Ad Hoc Reports and Queries

Flexible Web-Based Monitoring

Interactive Ad Hoc Dashboards

What can POSTA do for Retailers?POSTA can greatly benefit retailers by

providing the statistical data for:• Cashier Matrix• Register / Lane optimization• Fee structures• Monitor and report on SLA’s for

Interchanges• Provide sales by hour, district and

region • Transactions by Register Type (i.e.,

Self Checkout or Lane)

4. Easy System Administration – POSTA al-lows you to keep your data safe by building the security levels that you prefer. This allows the regular review of permissions granted to individually owned accounts and accounts used by automated processes.

5. Real-Time Transaction Management – POSTA processes transaction logs in real-time to provide statistics such as approved and denied transactions. The operations staff can then take appropriate recovery actions when the abnormal conditions occur. This ensures continuous management of your POS net-work.

6. Ability to Create Thresholds - A threshold can be created to define acceptable operation-al rules for specific transactions based on Key Performance Indicators.

7. Detailed Transaction Monitoring – Data that is captured can be utilized and reported on to help you learn what opportunities you may have to help improve your business.

8. Ready-to-Go Views - POSTA is equipped with a pre-defined ready-to-go view. You will be able to view the transaction information of all the entities right after you log in to POSTA Web Interface.

9. User-Defined Views - POSTA provides you with the ability to create User-Defined Views depending on your business specific require-ments. POSTA gives you the preference of creating new views or renaming, modifying and deleting existing views.



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POSTA processes transaction logs in real-time to provide statistics such as approved and denied transactions.

What can POSTA do for Processors?POSTA can greatly benefit processors by providing the statistical data for:• Monitoring other interchanges and

their transaction rates• Ensure traffic is meeting the Service

Level Agreement

10. Import Custom Entities & Owner Finan-cial Institution ID’s (FIIDs) - POSTA provides the ability to import your business specific entities and owner FIIDs to its environment. This feature can be used in scenarios where the names of certain entities/owner FIIDs have been modified or new ones have been added.

11. Mechanism to Send Alert on Failed Conditions - POSTA is equipped with the ability to configure thresholds for the POS environment. You can specify the attributes like Severity, Polling Interval and Monitoring Status. Automated alert capabilities provide instant notifications to be sent to the internal database, to the NT Event Log, or EMS events on the NonStop Host/Switch in case of a violation.

12. Pin Point Impact of Outage - POSTA provides the opportunity of tracking the effect of outages on your business in real-time as and when they occur. You can immediately see when and where a problem occurs on your POS network, identify the root cause and take steps to rectify the problem before it af-fects your customers. This helps you to deliver across-the-board extreme customer service.

Written by author Shannon Chister, former Business Analyst, Home Depot Corporation.



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You can immediately see when and where a problem occurs on your POS network, identify the root cause and take steps to rectify the problem.

ESQ Business Services and its affiliated organizations have been providing premier IT management solutions to fortune 500 cus-tomers since 1984. We provide end-to-end solutions for your retail businesses such as: Operational Business Intelligence, ATM Net-work Management, Transaction Management, System Integration, Performance & System Management and Real-Time Business Activ-ity Management (BAM). Our products and services guarantee higher returns in a highly cost effective manner by synergizing IT and business strategies. With its unique approach to Transactional Business Intelligence, ESQ is one of the leading solutions providers world-wide. If you would like to know more about our customers and solutions, please visit us online at www.esq.com.

Other ESQ SolutionsSST OPERATIONSBRIDGE™ (SSTOB): A comprehensive solution to manage your ATM/KIOSK/POS Register peripherals and net-work. One of the most advanced concepts in management combined with Real-Time Busi-

ness Activity Management (BAM) makes this very unique solution a must have for retailers and financial institutions. Fully integrated with world leading CRM systems, it provides in-depth knowledge into your transactional network. ATM Transaction Analyzer (ATMTA): If you are serious about retaining a satisfied custom-er then this is a must have solution that helps you track performance of your ATM transac-tions. ATMTA provides up to the minute status of your complete ATM transactional world with in-depth statistical analysis of your trans-actions. Keep track of your authorizers and their performance. Up to the minute means you will know when an authorizer is falling behind in processing your transactions or in some cases is not authorizing transactions at all. Keep track of your host connections to meet your SLA’s.

© 2009, ESQ Business Services, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Who is ESQ?


20660 Stevens Creek Blvd., Suite 336, Cupertino, CA 95014-2120

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Our products and services guarantee higher returns in a highly cost effective manner.