In today’s data-centric world, organizations face a growing challenge to sift and sort data in a way that drives innovation and performance gains. Those able to assemble the pieces of the puzzle most effectively create order from chaos and address sophisticated business challenges. In almost every instance, they can achieve a clear competitive advantage.
At Dayton, Ohio-based NCR, a $5.3 billion manufacturer of ATMs, kiosks, data warehousing software and information processing systems, the desire to put data to work in new and innovative ways has led the company down a path of predictive analytics. The ability to monitor ATMs and other electronic systems and determine mean failure rates and other potential issues has helped the company boost uptime while also reducing operating costs. “It has provided a framework for high availability and improved customer service,” says Chris Wallace, senior vice president of NCR Services.
That’s no small matter. Today, banks, airlines, hotels, retailers and many other entities use ATMs, kiosks, point-of-sale devices, computerized registers and self-service checkouts to serve their customers. NCR supplies 19 of the 20 largest banks in the United States, 17 of the top 20 retailers, five of the six largest airlines and eight of the 10 top telecommunications firms. In fact, the company’s reach extends to 110 countries and more than half a million electronic systems. If these systems go down, business comes to a screeching halt.
“Our mission is to lead the self-service revolution,” Wallace says. “ATMs and other systems have evolved from simply another way to conduct business to the primary channel for customer interaction. They’ve also moved from dedicated devices that handle a single primary task—such as dispensing cash—into far more complex systems that sell multiple products and services. Today, there is a mission-critical element to managing these systems.”
AT A GLANCE
Company: NCR Corp.
Headquarters: Dayton, Ohio
Sales: $5.3 billion (2008)
Employees: 22,400 worldwide
Business: Manufacturer of ATMs, kiosks, data warehousing software and information processing systems
Business Challenge: Manage, maintain and repair more than 30,000 ATMs, 200,000 retail devices, 100,000 network devices and 235,000 electronic point-of-sale devices in 110 countries
Infrastructure: Oracle EBS (r11 & r12) applications running on Sun Solaris and IBM AIX; business intelligence software from Microsoft and Business Objects, as well as proprietary software; APTRA financial management system; Teradata data warehouse; Cisco Systems content switches; Oracle RAC; Symantec Veritas cluster manager; EMC DMX storage; BlackBerry devices for field technicians and others.
Core Software: NCR Interactive Insight
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