ATOM – banking processes built from elements
The Periodic Table and banking processes?
At first glance, these are the concepts from two different worlds. However, they inspired the creation of a proprietary platform – one of the most innovative and supportive of business process handling in the Polish financial sector.
The ATOM platform (formerly known as PTR – Transaction and Settlement Platform) is the result of several years of research and work by our team of specialists, who set themselves the goal of creating a custom solution that meets the most demanding standards of the banking industry: reliability, speed, security and flexibility to adapt to changing needs.
From concept to solution – our own development path
We started developing the ATOM platform in the 1990s, when the first version was developed. However, we avoided copying available solutions. Instead, we developed a proprietary platform that prioritizes efficiency in handling large-scale and complex processes. ATOM is not a single-application system, it is an extensive platform, tailored to the specifics of a particular client and its needs. The diversity of our customers’ requirements and expectations made it impossible to create a universal solution that would satisfy everyone. Such an application would not be able to cope with mass data processing or optimization. We wanted to avoid a situation in which customizing a ready-made system takes as much time as creating it from scratch – made to fit. Creating customized systems is the approach that is closest to us. We have been implementing systems in this way for 30 years, providing customers with tools tailored to their needs. This makes it possible to produce high-performance solutions that respond to specific business requirements and meet the objectives set for mass-capacity systems. What’s more, the customer pays only for what he or she actually uses, which is extremely important in an era of the growing importance of cost efficiency.
Microservices as business elements
The foundation of ATOM is an original concept, referring to the Periodic Table. Individual microservices function like elements, performing well-defined, “atomic” business functions. From these elements, through modeling and parameterization, more complex “chemical compounds” are built, i.e. complete tasks supporting operational processes, both online and offline. By design, the processes are too simple to directly implement the real requirements of today’s business through them. The ATOM platform allows the creation of links between processes – thus whole dependency graphs are created. A graph of links between specific processes is called a task. A task can be arbitrarily complex and contain multiple processes. Processes can be linked in a variety of ways (e.g. run in cascade, cyclic, etc.). In each task, only the first process to run needs to be designated – the ATOM platform itself will take care of their correct order, controlling the results of operation, possible failures, etc.
The platform is equipped with a number of supporting tools, including calendars and time zones, graphical visualization of models, and tools for monitoring and analyzing system performance in real time.
Full integration, maximum flexibility
ATOM is not only a process management tool, but also a powerful integration platform. It enables the collection and processing of data from various sources – regardless of location, database or operating system.
ATOM is designed to:
• handle data in streaming form (capital markets, IT),
• handle data in static form, e.g. files, stored procedures (banking, IT),
• support all known communication protocols,
• support all known data encryption and security protocols,
• support all known data compression mechanisms,
• support any type of data in any formats.
From a business point of view, this means full flexibility in the implementation and development of banking services. The platform allows you to respond to changes in the technological environment without having to rebuild the existing infrastructure, which is a natural support for the bank’s digital transformation.
Proven in practice – from banking to industry
The ATOM platform has been deployed in a wide range of institutions – from banks and brokerage houses, to trading, service and industrial companies, to the stock exchange. In each of these environments, it has proven its effectiveness in processing large volumes of data and managing complex business processes. In the banking sector, ATOM supports, among other things, transaction banking and trade finance products, as well as numerous internal processes. The ATOM platform is often used to supplement missing modules in core banking systems, thus acting as a multifunctional, holistic innovation platform for the banking sector.
30 years of experience, a future built on a solid foundation
Our approach – based on our own knowledge, experience and consistent development – has resulted in the creation of a solution that today is at the heart of many critical processes in the Polish financial sector.
The ATOM platform is not just technology, it is also a philosophy of creating systems that grow with the needs of our customers. We believe that this approach is the answer to the challenges facing banking today.