Editor's note: In today's banks, insurance companies and financial market institutions, business areas, competition, complex issues, rules and regulations, integration, demanding customers and changes must be fast and accurate business models abound. For smooth operation of the enterprise must have the flexibility necessary for a flexible IT infrastructure. Many companies have adopted service-oriented architecture (SOA) to integrate the system to obtain a coherent IT and business flexibility.
In this article, is responsible for IBM WebSphere strategy, channels and marketing, Sandy Carter, vice president of IBM will integrate and explain how SOA is transforming IT in today's financial services industry to play a role in the way of. She will also discuss the newly announced IBM business integration model of how to help these organizations use to achieve its goal of SOA and integration, thereby creating unprecedented business and IT flexibility.
How to define SOA?
Widely believed, SOA is to help companies convert the application components as services in a way of business processes. Enterprises can quickly operate, mix and add these services. Companies can change these processes to meet changing business needs and the level of cross-border use of these services. Business processes are no longer restricted to a particular platform or application. It can be handled as a component, reuse or change.
The key is through the creation of these services can be based on business rather than corporate IT to define the underlying structure to support business flexibility. Visible, SOA is a blueprint for driving business integration, or DNA. It is for the system and provides a framework for business integration, enabling more flexible information systems to adapt to changing business needs.
SOA is just one of the latest technical terms, or it will have a lasting impact?
According to some analysts and I have seen the material that, Yankee Group survey of 473 business decision makers, of which 75% of plans in 2005 to invest in SOA technology. There are reports, Gartner believe that by 2009, SOA will be a new application projects play a major role. But I think this is the use of high-profile areas are not IT-driven, but business driven. Another survey that Cutter Benchmark Survey found that 60% of the respondents believe that their enterprise SOA driven by business needs, they also believe that to be successful must be based on a comprehensive business model. I think the link business and IT, business processes and the underlying structure of this concept is the way to gain a competitive advantage.
One of the goals SOA IT flexibility and responsiveness. This is not particularly financial services important?
Yes, for many reasons. Financial services institutions must be flexible and act quickly to respond to the financial services industry in various situations. For example, in banking industry, since 1985, with 47 integrated into five major banks. These acquisitions are not the same across all banks using the business process, and thus adjust the process and to respond to very difficult. They also face other challenges, such as new and stringent regulations. They have to integrate customer service channels, so that customers can get all the interaction seamless and positive experience. Many companies also outsource the implementation of services in order to focus on core business and improve competitiveness. In addition, they must quickly introduce new services to attract customers, while controlling costs. All these challenges have to be a flexibility and responsiveness to urgent requirements.
Consider the role of SOA-driven applications with a complex set of business will benefit all of which have such an application. Banks have a variety of channels, such as business networks, ATM, online banking, so they have a complex set of processes and applications of these channels in support. When in the course of acquisition and application of these processes will be doubled. We also know that these companies are working to improve the efficiency of cross-flow, whether internal or external, which is SOA and business agility is a key driver.
Business integration model-how to help financial services institutions greater flexibility through SOA?
This is a multi-faceted. First, it can help companies starting from business needs, and the model is based on the number of sectors - banking, financial markets, insurance. It incorporates the areas of IT and business experts, best practices and knowledge. It is based on cooperation with IT and business teams, and driven by business needs.
Business integration model is similar to using business integration for Mapquest.
It can also help companies avoid the so-called Big Bang, that a sudden large-scale integration and SOA implementation plan. The model can help companies to focus on specific goals and steps to achieve those goals. It is similar for the business integration of Mapquest. That you are at point A and point B is to the road. Along the way need to get a lot of points. This model can be managed and in a logical way to reach that point. It also provides the framework for the management, needs to follow the standards, stop signs and speed limit. SOA is the first step is always the most important. The model helps to plan a good first step, while ensuring the right business model and the use of best practices and standards.
SOA and business integration for financial services is now how to help?
In financial services, CIO has two basic objectives: to improve business efficiency and reduce costs, as well as through business agility and responsiveness to increase opportunities for development. This is an interesting topic, as far as the information from Gartner, the majority of IT as CEO will be an obstacle to achieving goals rather than propulsion. Therefore, these companies do not support the business needs of IT integration and flexibility, I think that SOA and integration capabilities help eliminate this obstacle.
Such as Charles Schwab has become a standard service-oriented architecture based on the leader. They are to remove IT barriers, because they use the SOA and integration, making it no longer rely on certain processes underlying technology. They can change the customer-facing processes, but do not change the underlying technology. At the same time, they can improve the front-end back-end technologies to run without interruption. This provides tremendous business agility. They can accelerate new products and services to market process, to promote faster growth of income.
Another way is to use integrated best practices to achieve the attention to be developed. Because the integration and acquisition of financial services, these companies have been adjusted. Many companies can be acquired by studying their company's best practices to take full advantage of this change. Who's the highest customer loyalty? In promoting the practice of credit card customers who do best? They are focusing on the whole enterprise, and to identify best practices, and then use at the bottom of these processes to SOA and integration across the enterprise using the most good practice.
For lower cost, when we are still thinking about how SOA helped to create component-based business processes, IBM has helped in the past two years, Bank of America card services 4 million U.S. dollars to implement the simplification and savings programs. The key is to develop a component-based business model, to identify opportunities and eliminate redundancy.
SOA and business integration to enable IT departments to cost savings. Create, adjust and reuse of services has been greatly improved their efficiency. We have a client called the insurance company Standard Life, which is expected within three years, saving £ 2 million development cost, it is entirely thanks to the reuse of business services. This is the Computer Business Review Online reports.