DULUTH, Ga. -- Known in the past as a provider for automated teller machines (ATMs), NCR Corp. continues its evolution to a transaction-focused based provider, with the announcement of cloud-based networking and monitoring services for options like mobile payment and digital couponing, company officials said.
Last week, NCR announced two different offerings, the first being a cloud-based solution for digital services called "Cloud Connect," and second, a software-as-a-service(SaaS) solution called "Command Center," which provides monitoring and remote diagnostic services for NCR technologies.
With regards to NCR Cloud Connect, the offer allows retailers to introduce services such as mobile payments, digital coupons and "big-data" analytics.
"NCR Cloud Connect provides the retail industry with an ecosystem where new digital applications--whether from NCR or a growing number of innovative tech companies--are easily exposed to a broad set of retailers," said Oren Betzaleli, vice president of solution management and marketing for NCR Retail. "The environment that we have created will greatly reduce the time it takes for a good idea to be transformed into a digital tactic for retailers to interact more effectively with their customers."
NCR's existing range of cloud-based offerings, including "Connected Payments" and "Connected Cashier Analyzer," works with a range of technology providers with companies such as:
- PayPal, San Jose, Calif., for online and mobile payments.
- Winston-Salem, N.C.-based Inmar's digital promotion and analytics platform.
- New York City-based Cimagine's augmented reality retail solutions.
- Emcien, Atlanta, for big data analytics.
- ACTV8, Beverly Hills, Calif., for multi-screen consumer engagement.
"Today, retailers around the world using NCR technology conduct 125,000 transactions a minute and many are an opportunity to further engage shoppers," said Eli Rosner, chief technology officer of NCR Retail. "These digital services, which can take many forms, will be created by NCR or any of the numerous technology providers participating in the NCR Cloud Connect ecosystem. All of them can be easily delivered to retailers because they will be readily available and already integrated into our existing POS solutions."
The company also introduced "Command Center," an SaaS solution that NCR describes as "secure, multi-factor user authentication" for managing NCR retail technology platforms. The solution gives retailers real-time monitoring, alerts and remote diagnostic capabilities. The tool is available on supported NCR systems and enables more up-time and fewer site visits by technicians which increases lane availability and enhances the shopping experience.
"Remote support of site systems traditionally involved a tradeoff between ease-of-use and security. NCR Command Center provides powerful support tools to simplify life at the site and enforce strict security measures for who has access and what tasks they can perform," said Jimmy Frangis, vice president of services operations of NCR Retail. "The implications for lowering costs and inconvenience from retail systems outages are tremendous since many can be avoided or greatly diminished through proactive monitoring."
Other key features of NCR Command Center include outbound-only connections, audit reporting, version-managed application and a centralized user environment.
NCR is a supplier of consumer transaction technologies. With its software, hardware, and portfolio of services, NCR enables more than 450 million transactions daily across the retail, financial, travel, hospitality, telecom and technology industries.
Based in Duluth, Ga., NCR does business in 180 countries.
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