Omnichannel – that won’t get a lot of hits on my blog. But Microservices will. The reality is Omnichannel is overused but it is important. And microservices have enabled it. Last year I shifted from enterprise solutions to our digital first solutions – selling the combined solutions between our Channel Services Platform and D3 Digital Banking – this year I continued the work. We are building applications that are truly microservices based, operating in the cloud and driving contract first applications that are accessible via APIs or our delivered end user experience. That end user experience can be on any device, anywhere. But is that Omnichannel or really something much more than that. It is less about having the same experience in each channel and more about creating fit for purpose applications for each user on the device they choose to use.
And what I mean by we – yes NCR and the clients I’m working with. But I also mean the industry. It truly amazes me what is possible today with cloud based technology and a smart, full stack developer. When you think about how many times we have tried to do this and we are finally doing it. Reading some of my other posts it was truly mind bending to me how we have started and failed but now it works. Looking back on the first post I made when I joined NCR: Microservices and other shifts in techspeak my thoughts on how architecture has changes is manifested finally today. It took us a while to get there but we really are creating applications that leverage microservices to create unique customer and banker experiences where banking becomes conversational between users, applications and in the future A.I.
When you build in today’s full stack tech you can truly deliver an application that can be as simple as an API others use to a full blown teller system that we will soon be delivering to Wintrust Bank and eventually Citibank in 2023. This platform ties right into digital, physical and hybrid devices like kiosks, ATMs and lockers. Physical branches with people interacting with tablets, workstations and mobile phones. Systems interacting with other systems, IP based devices and even back office AI business services to make smart decisions in session.
So this idea of a shared session fascinates me. We all are in shared sessions every day – sure think realtime but think beyond that. Today we are delivering unique capabilities that are based on shared sessions between users accessing the same microservice. In the future we will be delivering rally powerful multi-device, multi-user applications across all of our digital first applications. When you have devices and people accessing the same common business services (microservices and APIs) you can create really cool interactive services. A customer walks into a branch with their mobile banking enabled phone. They engage with a banker who also has microservices enabled applications on their device. They connect and the customer is authenticated via their phone with multi-factor step up that is so much more secure than a person looking at a drivers license. The customer/member initiates and approves transactions with the same shared business services – in shared session. A supervisor approves a transaction also in the same transaction. Now expand that in your mind to an A.I. in the background acting as that banker. It really is special. I can’t wait to see how we continue to bring this into digital banking and to change the way bankers use and benefit from technology.