Microsoft Launches Banking Integration Factory
Microsoft has introduced a program to bring standards and best practices to banking applications so banks can turn disparate applications into an integrated composite so customers won't even notice when they are moving from an Internet application to an ATM or talking to a teller. Well, they'll probably notice, since an ATM and a teller don't look the least bit alike, but they will be able to see the same up-to-date information from either source, and more importantly, the bank staff will be able to access information that customers have submitted on-line and help them understand their choices on a mortgage application, for instance. (see http://www.microsoft.com/industry/financialservices/banking/businessvalue/siarticle.mspx ) From the customer's standpoint, this all seems pretty obvious, but within a bank, the various channel systems can operate on different hardware, software, networks, and within departments that don't necessarily talk to each other. As Warren Lewis, Microsoft banking industry managing director, says, "As customers began to use the new delivery channels, their expectation was that they would get the same service everywhere. But banks built these new channels on a technology house of cards. As customers' expectations grew, banks' capability to meet those expectations diminished." Greg Haislip, director of banking industry solutions for Microsoft, says the Factory "establishes a set of guidance and tools to provide consistency in service implementations at retail banks – covering interfaces, compliance with WS-I profiles for increased interoperability and cross-cutting aspects like security, confidentiality, configuration, exceptions and logging." ( http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/features/2006/nov06/11-15Banking.mspx) Partners who have signed up include ARGO Data Resource Corp., Corillian, Getronics, Harland Financial, and Jack Henry, Portrait Software, Fair Isaac Corporation and AdviceAmerica.
