Johannesburg, 07 Oct 2002
Electronic commerce solutions developer TradeRoot Technologies has developed an electronic transaction processing solution for Computerkit Systems (CKS), a provider of point-of-sale and dispensing systems to SA's retail pharmacy industry, using Sybase's relational database management system Adaptive Server Enterprise (ASE) 12.5.
TradeRoot enables secure, authenticated transactions for virtual communities where businesses can transact with their customers, suppliers and partners. It allows electronic trading communities to conduct secure financial and commercial (virtual inventory voucher) transactions in an always available, fast, secure and reliable online environment.
Says Eugene von Engelhardt, TradeRoot Technologies COO: "To meet the operational efficiencies required by CKS we needed a database that would support the data processing needs of online transaction processing and the complex data manipulation needs of decision support systems. Sybase's ASE provides a powerful data management platform for transaction-intensive applications."
CKS enables customers to implement premier IT technologies and solutions through predictable monthly charges. The cost-effectiveness of this model is further enhanced by the company's policy of building its systems on licence-free, industry-standard technologies that keep the customer's total cost of ownership to an absolute minimum.
Von Engelhardt says TradeRoot approached CKS because the company has a large established network of pharmaceutical customers. To enable CKS to pull all these customers to a centralised switch, TradeRoot required a robust database to handle a large volume of real-time transactions, capable of performing on a Linux platform and supporting replication and supplier redundancy. Because the switch is real-time the availability of all stored information depends on database reliability.
Says Julie Tomlinson, Sybase SA sales and marketing manager: "Companies in highly competitive and rapidly changing industries are choosing Sybase ASE for its flexibility, commitment to open standards, and efficient use of computing resources."
The CKS payment gateway, or switch, integrates all aspects of the transaction process including the point-of-sale (POS) infrastructure, the communication lines and the acquiring fraternity, and controls every aspect of electronic funds transfer (EFT) for CKS' Smart Health Network.
The network connects CKS customers to every major medical aid in the country and guarantees retail pharmacy customers access to real-time authorisations for script and other transactions in the dispensary.
More than 600 pharmacies are connected to the Smart Health network and more are set to move online as they begin to take advantage of the various services available to them. On average over 500 000 medical aid transactions a month are processed through Smart Health.
"One of the most effective connection types for e-marketplaces is for EFT transactions to be processed through existing software and POS systems, thereby eliminating the requirement for typical speed point-type devices," says Von Engelhardt. "This increases the EFT transaction processing at the POS, which increases customer throughput as well as reducing the communication cost per credit card or debit card transaction. It ensures faster and guaranteed connection during peak trading times as the terminal is connected via a dedicated link directly into the bank."
TradeRoot focuses on transaction control from the consumer's point of entry into the transactive cycle - the user and his or her payment instrument is authenticated and either perfect delivery of the entire transaction or an automatic rollback in the event of malfunction is ensured.
Governed by a fully integrated intelligent fulfilment stack, all aspects of a transaction are integrated in a single system. Control over the transaction channel is secured by proprietary technology at each end of the transaction communication.
The EFT switch developed by TradeRoot facilitates debit and credit card transactions via all major banks through the network's infrastructure. It handles a wide range of financial transactions throughout CKS' installed customer base. Retail pharmacies operate through the Smart Health's Unisolv dispensing system without the use of a typical EFT terminal at the point of sale.
Unisolv has become the standard for large multi-location pharmacy groups including Netcare and Medicross clinic pharmacies, Hyperpharm and Dischem. An additional benefit to pharmacists is the provision of links to all banks, medical aids, and wholesalers.
Von Engelhardt says ASE enables access to real-time, customised reports over the Web, via WAP and e-mail. "This means that management can see how stores are performing at any time. Managers can drill down to individual store level, and even to individual till points. This is of great benefit for cash management and means that managers can arrange to have cash removed from tills at high-risk stores once they reach a pre-determined limit."
Smart Health provides a single transaction pipeline for its merchants. With no major reliance on third-party telecommunication networks, real-time switching speed means that transactions take two to three seconds to authorise. Merchants have also benefited from substantially reduced acquiring fees for their credit card transactions. By closing the gap from the time a transaction is originated to the time it is approved, real-time authorisation eliminates the possibility of fraud.
Says Tomlinson: "With the increasingly unpredictable workloads that e-commerce forces upon business applications, databases must be able to respond to changing demands. ASE's performance can be adjusted online without requiring the system to be restarted.
"It manages total available memory, number of user connections, number of locks, number of open objects, procedure and disk input/output structures and adjusts configuration parameters to deal with server load changes without restarting, to create greater server uptime."
End-to-end transaction process control also improves security and the management of the transaction information. Von Engelhardt notes that ASE addresses the privacy and security concerns of e-businesses. "Its security features include row-level access control and encrypted communications to protect valuable data while ensuring extended access to employees, customers, and partners."
He says TradeRoot has partnered with Sybase on a number of projects to deliver settlement and fulfilment technologies for business applications. "We are dedicated to building key relationships, strategic alliances and technology partnerships with companies like Sybase who are interested in working with TradeRoot to provide world-class e-commerce solutions."
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