Prototype for first virtualized ATM
For nearly 20 years, onboard computing technology has been at the core of the ATM. But, Diebold is leveraging virtualization technology to introduce a prototype for the world’s first virtualized ATM.
Diebold developed the virtualized ATM prototype in collaboration with VMware. The companies’ vision for the combination of their self-service and virtualization technologies is to enable financial institutions to address their business priorities: enhancing security and mitigating fraud, improving operational efficiency, delivering optimal consumer experience and growing and retaining their customer base.
Diebold is working to identify financial institutions to serve as sites for a virtual ATM proof-of-concept study, moving the prototype toward achieving this vision.
“VMware delivers solutions that reduce complexity and enable more flexible, agile service delivery,” said Parag Patel, Vice President, Global Strategic Alliances, VMware. “But that’s not limited to the datacenter context. By collaborating with Diebold, we are bringing our innovations to the outermost reaches of banking, jointly delivering an innovation that extends choice, efficiency and control within the financial industry. We’re delighted to be working so closely with Diebold to realize its vision for creating a more flexible, less complex self-service channel.”
Virtualization of the self-service channel removes the onboard computer from the ATM, tying each terminal in a fleet to a centralized computing resource. In this scenario, the physical components of a single server provide resources to many “virtual” ATMs.
The result is not only the consolidation and sharing of resources throughout a self-service network, but also across delivery channels, opening the door for more effective channel orchestration.
Consolidation will enable the establishment of a single secure datacenter, allowing for greater control and a secure location for IP addresses. Through better server utilization and unification of ATM management, virtualization will also boost operational efficiency, enable faster failure recovery and more rapid software upgrades and services deployment. In short, virtualization will lead to a lower total cost of ownership and increased ATM uptime.
In addition to virtualization, Diebold’s demonstration terminal at VMworld 2011 will showcase two continuously evolving technologies: biometrics for enhanced security and near field communications (NFC) – or contactless – technology for enhanced consumer convenience and security.
The prototype was developed using the company’s new, soon-to-be released ATM series. The ATMs bring together all of today’s advanced self-service functionalities – from accepting cash and check deposits and dispensing cash to full recycling in one ATM model. This comprehensive approach to the self-service channel leads to improved ATM cash management and greater operational efficiencies in the channel, as well as a decreased total cost of ownership.