A key success factor for Precise Biometrics is customer adaptation, and systems architect Deniz Misirli is in the thick of it. Deniz’ job is to make sure that software solutions for mobile devices and smart cards are simple to integrate, without compromising with the clients’ demands for functionality and flexibility.
“As we get more and more sensor customers the need to adapt our software to each customer’s unique properties and understand their requirements and conditions has increased a lot. All to make the integration as smooth as possible”, says Deniz Misirli.
“We used to have too complex APIs (Application Programming Interface), which made the integration process overly complicated for our sensor customers. But we have put a lot of effort in revamping and simplifying the APIs for mobile solutions, which has made the integration process less complicated and less error prone”, says Deniz.
Deniz is also responsible for ensuring that Precise Biometrics’ software solutions comply with industry standards and specifications. Until recently there was a lack of common standards for biometrics in the mobile industry. This was accepted as long as biometrics was used to unlock a device. But the ongoing growth in mobile payments has fuelled a demand for common regulations and standards to safeguard security.
Deniz is Precise Biometrics representative at the organisations which are setting up these common standards.
“This gives me an insight about what’s happening in the security domain, and it provides us with an opportunity to prepare our software offering for future standards and regulations”.
One such organisation is Global Platform, which have set the standards for security platforms in mobile devices and embedded products. These standards are crucial for the public’s trust in fingerprint technology and to access sensitive applications on mobile devices and smart cards”, says Deniz.
Deniz also represents Precise Biometrics at the FIDO Alliance, which mission is to replace the use of passwords online with other more secure and convenient methods.
“Our software technology is very much in line with the FIDO Alliance mission, since it can run on a top tier smartphone as well as on a low-cost USB dongle”, says Deniz.
Fido will become much more important over time as they are focusing on solving issues that make life easier for millions of people. One such thing is the work to develop industry standards or metrics for evaluating the efficacy of a spoof detection capability of a fingerprint sensor.
39-year old Deniz is a veteran at Precise Biometrics, having worked at the company with testing, developing and designing fingerprint software since 2001.
How has the work changed since you started back in 2001?
“It’s a totally different company today, even if our products still share many similarities with what we did back then. But the market has undergone a dramatic change, as fingerprint technology has become mainstream. Our R & D department has grown and we have many more customers than before. It’s more crucial than ever to provide quality support and being agile. Our customers project cycles are significantly shorter nowadays as time to market is a key focus in the mobile industry”.
Have you had a situation or challenge that has surprised you?
Several years ago, I worked with an integration project for smart cards. I went to the local office in England of an Australian company, to help them with integration. The office appeared to be a barn with a clay floor at a farm far away from London. I and the developer who lived at the farm, sat and coded, surrounded by chickens and rabbits. It was an odd situation, but an interesting change of environment.