Microsoft Releases New Technology Reference Architecture

Microsoft Corp. today announced the release of a new technology reference architecture based on it's platform and services and designed to help financial institutions reduce costs and drive strategic growth.

The Microsoft Industry Reference Architecture for Banking (MIRA-B) is a development and delivery framework to aid financial institutions modularize and align business and technology assets, provide clarity on technical capabilities and implementation approaches to support enterprise IT architecture planning, said Micrsoft. MIRA-B also outlines a road map for the future that provides the architectural flexibility to deliver industry solutions on site or in the cloud.

According to global banking software provider Temenos Group, IT costs in the banking industry average about 14 percent of total costs1 — nearly twice that of other industries — because of redundant, outdated or siloed applications that exist across multiple business units. Microsoft said MIRA-B helps alleviate this issue by helping banks create repeatable architectures and reuse commodity resources, where efficiencies can be gained. This framework enables new levels of data, application and business process transparency while helping banks maintain market differentiation.

"Today's banks are under pressure to effectively serve customers, meet new regulatory requirements and create innovative new business models and solutions while sustaining profitability," said Joseph Pagano, managing director, Worldwide Banking and Capital Markets for Microsoft Corp in a statement. "We're providing a reference architecture that can help financial institutions rationalize banking services, which can then be consumed by other areas of the financial institution as needed."

[See Also: Temenos and Microsoft Make Cloud-Based Core Systems a Reality]

Bryan Yurcan is associate editor for Bank Systems and Technology. He has worked in various editorial capacities for newspapers and magazines for the past 8 years. After beginning his career as a municipal and courts reporter for daily newspapers in upstate New York, Bryan has ... View Full Bio