• 18 Apr, 2014 01:00 am

In the previous edition of Financial IT, we observed that change in the global financial system is being driven by innovation which, in turn is being driven by technology. We also explained how the technology revolves around the adoption of the standards which underpin the world’s financial services infrastructure.

In short, our discussion of change focused mainly on a question which can be summarised in one word: Why? In this edition, we look at change by focusing on a different question, but one that may also be summarised in one word: Who?

This edition’s lead story highlights how there is an opportunity for vendors to take the initiative in – and bear the costs and risks of developing new products and solutions that meet the needs of the market. In essence, by focusing on the needs of the banks’ corporate (and, indeed, retail) clients, the vendors can develop state-of-art offerings that the banks will actually want to buy. In any case, the banks’ need for integrated, multi-faceted solutions means that the banks should be more willing to consider vendors’ offerings than they have been in the past.

Put another way, vendors that are overly dependent on legacy products will face extremely challenging conditions in the coming years if the delivery of Software as a Service (SaaS) via the Cloud becomes the norm.

The title of this Editor’s Letter is Cui Bono? – a Latin phrase which means ‘to whom the benefit?’ As optimists, we are confident that the vendors will rise to the challenges of developing the new solutions that are needed.