BIAN Provides Standards to Promote SOA Adoption

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The Banking Industry Architecture Network, or BIAN, (www.bian.org) is committed to providing and defining interoperable banking IT services based on standards created by a broad membership of the banking industry, including financial institutions, technology providers, analysts and associations. According to Claus Hagen, head of integration architecture at Zurich-based Credit Suisse (US$1.1 trillion in assets), which is a member of the group, the initiative is a fundamental foundation for the adoption of SOA. Since BIAN is based on industry standards, he suggests, banks can use the best practices to adopt an SOA model and more easily integrate internal applications.

Deutsche Bank (US$3 trillion in assets) is a supporter of BIAN's efforts, according to Abhijit Gupta, an enterprise architect with the Frankfurt-based bank. "As a bank we stand to benefit from BIAN's standard service landscape definition and service certification model," he says. "In the next generation of standardization and industrialization of the core banking products, it is in our interest that we shape the standards for the banking platforms effectively together with all BIAN members."

As more banks learn the value of BIAN, "We expect to see better interoperability between banks' internal systems; streamlined go-to-market strategies such as acquisitions and new product introductions; and more flexibility for banks to address consumers' needs and attract and retain their customer base," says Bindia Hallauer, CTO of worldwide financial services for Microsoft (Redmond, Wash.), a BIAN member.