Abstract: Methods, systems, and techniques for facilitating client authentication are disclosed, comprising: receiving an identifier of a client; retrieving client information based on the identifier of the client; assessing a plurality of risk indicators for the client from the client information; determining a risk level for the client based on the plurality of risk indicators; and outputting the risk level for display on a user device.

Abstract: A method and system for specifying, deploying and updating work flows. A request is received from a user of a system with components comprising a computing system and human representatives. The components facilitate routing and servicing the request. A work flow comprising manual and automatic steps is specified to perform the routing and servicing of the request. The automatic steps are automatically performed by the computing system and the manual steps are manually performed by the representatives. Both the automatic steps and the manual steps are uniformly defined in a single general-purpose markup language (e.g., XML). Further, a manual step is dynamically transformed into a new automatic step that is represented as a new XML action element. The new XML action element includes an identifier of a software routine to be executed to perform the new automatic step.

Abstract: A method and system for efficient snapshot querying include: providing a first version value for each data in a history table, where the first version value indicates a beginning of a period in which the data is valid; providing at least a second version value for each data in the history table, where the second version value indicates an end of the period in which the data is valid; receiving a request for a version of a database; and retrieving the data with the first version value less than or equal to the requested version and the second version value greater than or equal to the requested version. By maintaining a history table with redundant version information, the method and system are able to provide efficient snapshot querying while also avoiding the overhead burden of conventional approaches. No aggregates, joins, or sub-queries are required to retrieve a snapshot.

Abstract: An improved method and system for synchronization-replication concurrency maintain a history table for a data table in a mirror, where the history table can include redundant version values that indicate a period in which data values corresponding to the version values are valid. Replication can thus be performed between a source and a mirror for a current version of the data table, while synchronization is simultaneously performed between the mirror and a client for an earlier version of the data table using the history table. Simultaneous reads, writes, and read-writes are possible while maintaining data reliability. The replication and synchronization processes can be performed at the read-uncommitted isolation level to increase efficiency. The method and system thus increase overall data throughput, reduce client response time, and dramatically enhance end-user satisfaction.

Abstract: A method and system for synchronizing data on a first device with data at a second device, includes: determining a pre-image of the data on the first device according to a filter after a previous synchronization with the data at the second device; determining a current image of the data at the second device according to the filter; determining a delta of the current image, where the delta comprises data that exists in the current image and has changed since the previous synchronization; instructing the first device to delete data that exists in the pre-image but not in the current image; and instructing the first device to UPSERT a union of the data that exists in the delta and the data that exists in the current image but not the pre-image. This is efficient in time and bandwidth resources while also providing consistent data integrity.