First Data / Fiserv

Client & Industry

First Data, now Fiserv, is a global leader in financial services technology solutions. They required a robust system to broadcast vast amounts of credit card transaction data from their core mainframe systems to numerous internal and external subscribers in real-time.

The Challenge

The primary challenge was designing and implementing a highly scalable, reliable, and performant Enterprise Application Integration (EAI) solution capable of handling tens of millions of transactions daily. Specific hurdles included:

• Integrating with legacy mainframe systems.
• Ensuring real-time data delivery to a diverse set of subscribers with varying requirements.
• Implementing complex integration patterns (Publish/Subscribe, routing, filtering, translation) efficiently.
• Managing cross-team coordination and delivery schedules for seamless integration.
• Establishing clear processes for design, estimation, implementation, and release planning.
• Simplifying the onboarding process for new B2B clients subscribing to the data feed.
• Enabling precise monitoring and debugging across the distributed system.

Solution Delivered

• Spearhead Technical Leadership & Integration: Orchestrate design, development (using Java and Maven), and interface negotiation across multi-disciplinary teams, leveraging tools like Jira and Confluence for project management, to guarantee seamless, on-schedule Enterprise Application Integration (EAI) solution deployment.
• Architect High-Throughput EAI Platform: Implement a robust, scalable solution leveraging core Enterprise Integration Patterns (as defined by Fowler/Hohpe/Woolf), including Publish/Subscribe, Content-Based Routers, Filters, and Translators, to manage complex, real-time data streams effectively via REST APIs secured by DataPower gateways.
• Engineer Production-Grade Software-as-a-Service: Iteratively refine Proof-of-Concept and Minimum Viable Product implementations, utilizing Swagger for API documentation and Postman for testing, culminating in a stable, scalable, production-ready EAI Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) platform deployed using Ansible automation.
• Institute Rigorous Development Processes: Establish and enforce disciplined development lifecycle procedures, including code reviews and mentorship, enhancing coherence and predictability from initial design and estimation through final implementation and release planning for both backend services and frontend components (built with Angular 6 and JavaScript).
• Optimize Business-to-Business Client Onboarding: Devise and implement strategic message normalization protocols within the EAI framework, drastically reducing development time and costs associated with integrating new Business-to-Business (B2B) clients subscribing to the data feed.
• Integrate Granular Monitoring & Debugging: Implement system-wide correlation IDs, enabling precise transaction tracing through comprehensive logging aggregated in Splunk for enhanced monitoring, rapid debugging, and operational visibility across all distributed components.

Quantifiable Results & Business Impact

• Deliver High-Performance Processing: Enabled reliable, real-time processing of tens of millions of daily financial transactions through a robust Java-based EAI platform.
• Establish Future-Proof Scalability: Implemented a pattern-based architecture ensuring adaptability and seamless future integration expansion for new subscribers and data sources.
• Drive Cost Reduction: Achieved significant savings in B2B subscriber onboarding time and expense through optimized integration processes and standardized message formats.
• Increase Development Velocity: Improved predictability and efficiency in development cycles via refined lifecycle procedures, clear API definitions (Swagger), and enhanced team coordination (Jira/Confluence).
• Provide Unprecedented Visibility: Enhanced system monitoring and accelerated issue resolution through integrated, end-to-end transaction traceability using correlation IDs and Splunk aggregation.