Three Deployment Options
Deployment Option 1
'Traditional' Client/Server.
Under this option the client components of UltraPoS are installed on one or more PCs in each branch, which communicate sales & other data to Server-based elements of the system at head office.
This can be done in transaction-by-transaction with an 'always on' connection to/from the server or (less elegantly) by daily consolidation of sales etc. when the End of Period (EoP) has been run.
Either way, the majority of the business logic, reference data, user profiles, rules etc. is resident on the head office system from which everything can be centrally administered, whilst still allowing for a degree of local (IE branch) autonomy.
Deployment Option 2
Intranet deployment.
In response to customer requests and technological advances, SCL have developed a 'thin-client', browser-based deployment of UltraPoS, with which ALL of the business logic etc. is resident on the head office server(s).
This means that only a standard browser needs to be deployed to the branches, obviously with the appropriate 'always on' communications infrastructure.
Remarkably, the thin client user interface is a carbon copy of the PC version, giving users the familiar look & feel of a desktop application running in their browser.
There are several advantages to this deployment model, not least in terms of security, centralised control and, in particular, the immediacy with which system, rate or other changes are effected.
If required, a combination of 'Fat' PC & 'Thin' browser-based clients can be deployed under this option.
Deployment Option 3
Hosted ASP (Application Service Provision) deployment.
This is essentially a fully managed service, similar to the Intranet deployment, but with UltraPoS being deployed on SCL's secure, high performance server/communications environment.
Again, there are distinct advantages to be gained from this deployment option, especially in terms of the lack of hardware, software and infrastructure capital costs & maintenance overheads (customers just pay a fixed monthly fee).