ATM network technology is the driving force behind Hannaford's new networks, Huma says. He isn't referring to the ubiquitous cash-dispensing machines, of course, but to an increasingly popular technology called Asynchronous Transfer Mode. The name doesn't matter as much as what ATM actually does, which is to increase the amount of information retailers such as Hannaford can move through their digital pipelines by between 80 and 100 times. Before it started using ATM, Hannaford had relied on VSAT links to move data between stores and to the outside world. VSAT works by bouncing signals off orbiting satellites.
Satellite links have limitations, however.
Critics note that their reliability can prove questionable since their signals are easily interrupted. In a data-saturated era, moreover, their information capacity of 9.6 thousand and 14.4 thousand characters per second makes them more a bottleneck than a bridge. VSAT has one big advantage. But cost isn't everything, and VSAT's drawbacks are becoming increasingly challenging as the information age gathers momentum. There are no ways to improve VSAT's capabilities as a pipeline, he says.