The advantage of Transactional Systems

Because everything on life is a transaction.

In our normal life, we are used to execute multiple transactions: when we pay at the end of our shopping experience, when we withdraw money from an ATM, or when we start a phone call. Even we daily execute multiple transactions, not everybody is able to describe what a transactional system is. Let's define a transaction as an interaction between two entities. Thru this general definition we are including lots of daily activities like turn on our computer or check our email in our cellular phone. Under IT perspective, in order an interaction between two entities can be considered a transaction, it has to have the ACID properties:

• Atomicity
• Consistency
• Isolation
• Durability

Atomicity means that transactions are successful or unsuccessful without any midterm (TV is turned on or off, there is no middle state); Consistency means that transactions are performed under the predefined set of operating rules (a purchase can not have negative amounts, consequently, all transactions with negative sign are rejected); Isolation means that transactions must appear as one even it can consist of a series of steps (funds transfer looks like one transaction only even is comprised of a debit and a credit); Durability means that once a transaction is done, it can not be undone (in case of errors, additional transaction to compensate the first one error has to be issued).

Companies as people transact all time: with customers, providers, other companies, authorities, and internally between departments. All these transactions are normally the result of the operational model that each company has created. Company operation is in the foundation of every business and has to be handled and operated with the highest performance standards possible. Organizations can improve its profits optimizing its current processes. Imagine the savings implementing an automated credit card payment system. Instead customers have to go and pay with cash in one of a retailer store, they can pay online thru a transactional system independently of where customers are located; providers can check online orders and supply what is required on committed time; tax payments can be executed automatically thru a bank transfer transaction, and many other applications a transactional system can provide.

From previous examples we can infer the following benefits for any organization:

1.- Redesign its current processing model

2.- Operational cost reduction

3.- Online and real time organizational information

4.- Expand customer base

As listed, the first immediate benefit introducing transactional systems is the opportunity to redesign how business operates today. This exercise can be as difficult as it was to start up the business at the beginning. Organizations that want to take real advantage of transactional systems have to be advised by organizations or consultants that have experienced what is to implement a transactional system without dying in the process. Is important that organizations commit with a project of this nature acquiring the correct resources: technological, and human. There is not such a thing of one-size fits all in transactional systems. This is why a lot of analysis work has to be done beforehand in order to successfully deliver the benefits of these solutions.