BS&T Blogosphere

Told You So

April 28, 2006

***I enjoy looking at my opinions about the bank tech arena a year or so after I went public with them. Here's a list (in caps) that I delivered in 2005 at a seminar for bank tech companies, followed by a 2006 update (in lowercase).

1. MAJOR CHANGES SHOULD OCCUR IN THE VENDOR COMMUNITY. EVERY ONE OF THESE COMPANIES IS SWEATING THE FUTURE.

That was true in 2005, but some vendors reacted nicely and are now well-positioned to handle change. Here's the single most important ingredient for a bank tech vendor -- the ability to implement new ideas.

2. BANKS WILL INCREASE THEIR SPENDING IN 2006, AFTER A COUPLE OF YEARS OF WEAK SPENDING.

It happened. Spending is up by about 9 percent in 2006 from the previous year.

Everything I Need to Know, I Learned in Kindergarten

April 25, 2006

***My attendance twice a month at the Institute of Management Consultants meetings is what I consider required duty. With 32 years as an independent consultant and three years at Booz, Allen & Hamilton, wouldn't that mean I should know everything by now? What would my clients think if they knew I was still in training? And last night I got a C+.

Oops, the Dog Ate My Files

May 9, 2006

***The next time a large bank loses customer data, it ought to come up with an excuse that the public can relate to. So far, the news reports have focused on four large banks. Those banks spend $11.6 billion a year on technology. A good padlock at Home Depot costs less than $4.

The Salary Survey

Want to get a rough idea of how your paycheck fares against those of your counterparts in IT? Check out InformationWeek's (a CMP Media publication) annual IT Salary Survey.

Insurance & Technology's Tech-Savvy CEOs Pod-ified

Visit Insurance & Technology's (a CMP Media publication) Web site to hear what some of the insurance industry's top CEOs have to say about the ups and downs of staying on top of IT. www.insurancetech.com/podcasts

Payments Portal

DMP, an Omaha, Neb.-based payments solutions provider, recently launched The Payments Channel, an online resource for the remittance processing industry. Included on the site are white papers, case studies, event coverage and more. www.thepaymentschannel.com

The Web Services Question

InformationWeek's Johanna Ambrosio gives readers a bit of perspective into the sometimes over-hyped world of Web services and exactly where things are going in the space.

informationweek.com/blog/main/archives/2006/05/reality_promise.html