In today's marketplace, speed and efficiency in transaction processing are critical, especially within the growing digital economy. Over the last decade, the model has transformed how consumers access services, shifting from one-time purchases to recurring payments and usage-based payments. While businesses gain predictable revenue, customers benefit from convenience. The success of this model, however, hinges on the ability to process transactions seamlessly, ensuring customer satisfaction.
Narayanan Venkiteswaran's Role in Usage Billing
Narayanan Venkiteswaran, a leading expert in subscription and cloud commerce, understands the importance of flawless transaction systems. "Fast and smooth transaction processing is key to customer satisfaction and business growth," he explains. With over 15 years of experience, Narayanan Venkiteswaran has emerged as a thought leader in the fields of usage-based billing and distributed ledger technologies. As an Engineering Manager at LinkedIn, Narayanan has spearheaded numerous innovative projects that have significantly transformed these domains.
Before joining LinkedIn, Narayanan made notable contributions to the financial sector. At Deutsche Bank, he helped develop the Autobahn AppMarket, an integrated platform that offered multiple financial services through a single system. This project underscored his ability to handle complex financial challenges. Narayanan further honed his expertise at AppDirect, where he played a crucial role in advancing usage-based billing methodologies. At AppDirect, Narayanan was instrumental in developing a highly flexible and scalable billing infrastructure that catered to the diverse needs of software-as-a-service (SaaS) providers. His innovative approach allowed for seamless integration with various service platforms, ensuring a smooth transition to usage-based billing for hundreds of marketplaces.
Trailblazing the Path in Usage-Based Billing
Under Narayanan's leadership, LinkedIn introduced a groundbreaking system for usage-based billing that has revolutionized how services are monetized. This model, which charges customers based on their actual consumption rather than fixed intervals, offers a transparent and fair pricing mechanism. Narayanan's vision brought to life a solution that supports variable costs, making it possible for users to access detailed breakdowns of their usage and associated costs.
Earlier at AppDirect, he led the design and implementation of a sophisticated billing engine capable of handling complex pricing models and dynamic billing cycles. This engine provided real-time analytics and reporting, enabling businesses to monitor and optimise their revenue streams effectively. Additionally, he introduced advanced features such as usage forecasting and predictive analytics, which empowered providers to anticipate customer needs and adjust their offerings accordingly.
One of the standout features of this system is its ability to manage threshold billing, where charges are triggered when usage reaches a predetermined limit. This method, devised to manage cash flow efficiently, has proven beneficial for both providers and customers.
Technical Innovations and System Overhaul
Narayanan's technical acumen is evident in his overhaul of LinkedIn's legacy billing systems. The previous system was plagued by inefficiencies, including the reliance on batch processing and the use of legacy technologies like Stored Procedures and Oracle AQ. Narayanan's innovative approach replaced this with a robust infrastructure centered around Apache Beam and Samza pipelines. Another one of Narayanan's most significant contributions is the implementation of stateful processing and timers within the billing system. This advancement allows the system to maintain and update aggregated usage data, track customer usage, and detect when billing thresholds are met. By scheduling future actions, the system ensures timely and accurate billing, improving the overall user experience. The system has an uptime of 99.9% and has reduced errors significantly.
The new system includes three primary Samza pipelines: Usage-Ingestion, Usage-Repartition, and Usage-Postprocessing. These pipelines enhance data accuracy and processing efficiency by performing idempotency checks, de-duplication, aggregation, and repartitioning of usage data. The solution was presented at the Annual Global Beam Summit, which, in the past, has been visited by thousands of attendees from over 80+ countries.
Advances in Distributed Ledger Technologies
Narayanan's expertise extends beyond usage-based billing to the realm of distributed ledger technologies. His work on the Balance Ledger project on LinkedIn introduced several critical innovations. This ledger system, shared by offers and billing, supports both promotional and non-promotional balances. It provides a comprehensive suite of features, including support for credit and debit transactions, balance lifecycle events, and detailed balance information.
The balance ledger system leverages modern database solutions and Kafka messaging for real-time updates and synchronisation. This ensures that balances are accurately maintained across various systems and platforms, offering a seamless and reliable experience for LinkedIn's users.
Leading Conversations in Cloud Commerce
Beyond his work at LinkedIn, Narayanan is a recognized thought leader in cloud commerce and subscription trends. At the Cloud Transformation TechEx Summit, which attracted over 7,000 attendees, he shared insights on the future of subscription services. "I want tech professionals to explore how subscription services can solve real-world challenges and inspire creative solutions," he said.
Narayanan Venkiteswaran's contributions to usage-based billing and distributed ledger technologies have not only elevated LinkedIn's infrastructure but have also set new industry standards. His blend of technical prowess and visionary leadership continues to inspire and pave the way for future advancements in these fields.
