KAL launches solution to eliminate ATM hardware upgrades

KAL ATM Software, an ATM software company based in Edinburgh, Scotland, is launching a product to eliminate enforced ATM hardware upgrades caused by Windows upgrades, according to a company press release.

The solution, dubbed Kalignite Hypervisor, uses Red Hat Virtualization to decouple the ATM PC core from the ATM operating system. Software drivers that are unsupported under new Windows operating system versions can now be supported by hypervisor's software drivers instead, according to the release.

«Banks can stay completely up to date and run the latest versions of all software on their ATM network – bringing them freedom at last from the enforced hardware upgrade cycle, and allowing them to focus on enhancements that matter to their customers,» KAL CEO Aravinda Korala said in the release.

The release comes at a time when ATM operators are reading their machines for Windows 10, as Windows 7 support will officially end on Jan. 14, 2020.

OS upgrades will happen more frequently in the future in the form of Windows LTSC and SAC packages, which Microsoft plans to release regularly, resulting in hardware obsolescence occurring at a quicker pace. Not only is Kalignite Hypervisor important when migrating to Windows 10, it will also become essential when managing these new software upgrades, the company said.

«Using open, software-defined virtualization platforms like Red Hat Virtualization, banks are able to manage the upgrade cycles for their hardware and software separately. This gives them greater flexibility and control over the process and enables them to be more strategic in how they upgrade their ATM PC cores,» Joe Fernandes, vice president of products for cloud platforms at Red Hat, said in the release.

Banks can purchase Kalignite Hypervisor directly from KAL or via their own ATM solutions vendor. The platform is specially designed with open APIs for ATM hardware and software vendors who wish to integrate KAL's hypervisor technology with their own software stacks.

Source: ATM Marketplace