Overhaul legacy forecourt systems with Invenco’s iNFX: From an unmovable object to an unstoppable force

The monolithic approach to station management software is long gone, replaced by innovative models that serve new customer needs and business opportunities through constant upgrades. iNFX provides a scalable platform for operators to stay up to date with its set of lightweight microservices, a solution that will be showcased at Invenco's booth at UNITI expo this May.

The decades-old forecourt control systems that are deployed in most service stations today are usually not suited to upgrades. With the coverage of all areas of a service station as its main goal, the system’s functionality consists of an intricate and intertwined codebase from twenty years ago. That complexity will most likely result in a fragile infrastructure when it comes to add-ons and modifications, sometimes resulting in bugs or crashes that can impact everyday sales. In the current context, constant updates and modifications have become a must for every retail business. Invenco’s answer to the unrelenting pace of change in the sector is the iNFX platform, a set of microservices developed to circumvent present and future challenges in all areas of a station through an agile and distributed approach.

The David and Goliath paradox

In the past, this kind of equipment needed to pack as much functionality into a single application as possible, which translated into a monolithic concept - covering several operations but centred around none of them. These types of all-encompassing structures have become so complex that any effort to add a new service or function can take its toll in its general functionality. Operators would have to resort to a major and costly overhaul of the system to make those changes. Today’s landscape requires constant reassessing of the forecourt’s status, with customer interaction changing every day and vehicles adopting new fuels. iNFX tackles every major aspect needed to run a modern site through a series of lightweight software applications – these can be scaled and adapted to the needs of the client at any time. Rather than incurring in major investments and overhauling a complete system, use a precise and impactful tool that can be upgraded overtime.

“We've broken everything down into very small pieces of code. The whole pump control, payments and terminal are their own services, completely standalone with their own APIs which they can interact through. You basically separated that giant monolithic beast into very specific pieces of code that are much easier to manage,” explains Dan Harrell, Chief Innovation Officer for Invenco.

This distributed architecture provides inherent redundancy while eliminating much of the costly hardware and networking needed today, such as forecourt controllers or payment servers, all with no single points of failure. The flexible and distributed approach that iNFX brings to the table not only signifies a cost-effective solution for operators but also a means to reimagine their strategies.

More than the sum of its parts

Each microservice is specifically designed to handle an area of the service station, whether it be fuel pumps, back office interactions, payment processes or terminals. These applications can communicate with each other and function as a standalone transaction system. This protects the entire system from being harmed by a single malfunction. If the back office or the store system fail, as long as the transaction point you are interacting with still has power and is programmed to handle offline capabilities, it will allow a customer to transact. Moreover, every process is protected by Invenco’s edge device, a security infrastructure for protecting data based on encryption and built to PCI standards, similar to how Hardware Security Modules in banks function.

Customization is another key aspect of iNFX’s benefits with both its specific codebase and the software development kit integrated into its architecture. Clients can reassess and redirect their strategy without having to consult Invenco if the platform can handle a process – they can scale and optimise the system in any way they want to best meet their strategy. This can help them with small changes, which are easy to deploy, easy to test and easy to drop if the results are not the desired ones. In addition, this enables the possibility to pivot into new business areas such as becoming a forward stocking location of products for delivery apps or a strategic pick-up point for transportation services. iNFX provides freedom through scalability, adapting to the client’s current and future needs while providing a reliable platform to reevaluate, redirect and improve on the changes that may arise in convenience trends, customer behaviour or alternative fuels.

To learn more about iNFX’s virtues and capabilities, visit Invenco at UNITI expo, Stuttgart in Hall 5 on booth 5E28 and find out about their latest developments and state-of-the-art solutions for fuel and convenience retailing.

For more information on Invenco’s retail solutions, visit www.invenco.com, email us or call +1 877 515-9039.