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Article
 Up Next
By
Rod Travers
Senior Vice President, Technology
Like many others, each year at this time I feel
compelled to make a few predictions about the technology landscape in
financial services for the coming year. Here are a few things to watch
in 2004:
 | Untethered Computing. The many technologies that enable
truly mobile computing are starting to gel. We’ve had laptops for
years but weight, battery life, and most importantly the tether of a
phone line have always been hindrances to mobile computing.
Four-pound laptops with seven-hour battery life are now commonplace,
and in 2004 we will see the phone line tether start to disappear.
Between WiFi hotspots and cellular data networks, there will be
little need to hunt down a phone jack or deal with local access
numbers. This trend will be further bolstered by tablet PCs, which
are not yet ready for prime time but are getting close. |
| Process Renaissance. It started in 2002—rumblings about the
importance of process—as if it was something new. Process is nothing
new to us, of course, but the renewed marketplace focus on process is
being driven by the realization that business processes and enabling
technologies must be aligned and tightly integrated. There were lots
of lessons learned over the past five years. No longer can you just
implement technology and expect improved business performance. That
particular productivity boost already came in the 1980s and early
1990s. Achieving measurable improvements these days means improving
operational effectiveness—doing the right things at the right cost
with the most effective mix of people, business processes and
technology. Fads are falling out of favor; fundamentals are back in
vogue! |
| BPM and BPM systems. The process renaissance is manifesting
itself in the form of process-oriented management practices known as
business process management (BPM) and related technologies known as
BPM systems (BPMS). The management practices involve analysis,
requirements, design, modeling, metrics and continuous improvement.
The supporting technology systems are designed to execute, measure and
help manage processes by tying together other systems and human
interaction. |
| Enterprise Architecture and Requirements. The operating
environment of today’s companies is very complex. There are core
administrative systems, support systems such as ecommerce and
imaging/workflow, workaround systems, security systems and, of course,
an array of customers, employees and business processes that depend on
those systems. That is, in fact, a gross oversimplification of the
environment at most financial services companies. Improvement
initiatives, by their nature, create change and thus impact these
systems and processes. Wouldn’t it be nice if there were a way to
capture all of the attributes and characteristics of systems and
business processes, so that when improvements are undertaken, the
requirements and implications of the related change would be clearly
and quantitatively understood? I’m talking about business rules, data
attributes, job roles, skills, process flows, costs and so on—just to
name a few of the salient data elements. Enterprise architecture and
requirements management tools and methodologies enable companies to do
just that. We have already incorporated these capabilities into our
service offerings, and we expect many financial services companies to
be looking at enterprise architecture and requirements management as
they engage in strategic improvement initiatives. |
| Data Management. Many companies are drowning in data but
starved for information to help drive management decisions. That
statement has almost become a cliché but, unfortunately, not much has
been done to address it. The tools and practices for managing data
have improved considerably in the past few years, and 2004 will be the
year many organizations make strategic investments in data warehouses
and data quality initiatives that will deliver meaningful management
information. |
I predict 2004 will be the year of results
because of the renewed focus on discipline and fundamentals. I welcome
your comments on these and other trends you see taking hold in 2004
and beyond.
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