SYSTEMS
INTEGRATION 
The
Summit Group has assisted a wide variety firms with
their systems integration projects. We are adept at
moving data across networks and between applications
on disparate platforms. Our technical staff have had
experience with many of the most widely used applications
in the industry and have an in-depth knowledge of
the technologies and middleware.
But,
effective systems integration requires more than technical
skills. In addition to moving the data, firms need
to understand what data should be moved and why. TSG's
experts have had experience with a variety of securities
operations areas and understand what data is needed,
when it is needed, how it should be presented, and
how to handle exceptions.
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SERVICES:
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REPRESENTATIVE ASSIGNMENTS:
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SERVICES:
Systems
Integration
Systems integration has become so complex that in
order to succeed, firms often need outside support
in specific areas. We have assisted our clients in
designing, building, implementing and integrating
system solutions through mainframes, distributed computing,
LANs and the Internet.
We are able to match the appropriate technology to
a business's needs by using a range of tools, from
COBOL to advanced technologies (C, C++, Imaging, Expert
Systems, Prototyping, CASE, JAVA, HTML and Neural
Networks).
We support our clients with project management, requirements
definition, system design, development, testing, conversions,
and documentation and training.
Middleware
Most firms have a technology architecture that evolved
as users defined their needs and as specific applications
were acquired. Efficient and high quality processing
has increasingly requires the movement of data in
the form of messages between internal applications
and to/from other firms and industry utilities. This
growth in the use of messaging has increased the need
for flexible applications that can reformat and reroute
these messages so that they can be read by the appropriate
systems.
To make messaging work efficiently, the industry has
accepted the challenge to develop message standards.
SWIFT, ISITC and FIX have supplied, and are continuing
to supply, a variety of useful message formats. When
both sides to a transaction use the same format, the
chances of misunderstandings and errors are reduced,
and information exchange is made more efficient. As
the potential use of messaging has increased, so has
the need for a new category of application, often
called "Middleware".
This layer of code sits between the processing applications
and the network and performs three basic functions:
reformatting, routing and protocol connectivity. In
the past, each programmer wrote specific code that
generated its output format and told the network where
to send the data. This worked fine when there were
only a few applications and a few end points. However,
as the number of both has increased, it has become
more and more difficult to maintain the hard coded
instructions, and the need for a flexible solution
has increased, Middleware solves this problem by providing
flexible formatting and routing of messages, and it
reduces the need to develop hard coded connectivity.
To provide middleware functionality, an application
must also support the transfer of a message from one
protocol to another while routing and formatting.
Firms such as IBM, Mercator, Sybase (NEON), Netik,
Stratus, Logica and MINT have developed applications
which provide generic protocol conversion, routing
and formatting. The use of middleware will continue
to expand as real time processing and messaging become
more prevalent, as developers realize that it is not
economical to hard code every interface between applications
and firms, and as the number of different points of
connectivity continues to increase. TSG is available
to assist firms implement their middleware projects,
and in other projects requiring the integration of
applications on disparate platforms.
A
White Paper on Middleware can be found at www.soforum.com/library/,
and our annual Middleware Customer Satisfaction Survey
can be found at www.soforum.com/research/.
Documentation
and Training
User training can be a by-product of a well-structured
user procedures document. When organized as a single
project, user documentation can become the base for
on-the-job training, classroom training, or computer
based training and can be available as a HELP function
through on-line reference tools. TSG has developed
and delivered numerous client-specific processes,
as well as staff developmental programs that include
managing change, leadership, and technology. Through
our Securities Operations Forum subsidiary, we train
over 2,000 professionals annually in various facets
of the securities business. A catalog of our courses
is available at www.soforum.com.
REPRESENTATIVE
ASSIGNMENTS
Middleware
Assisted a complex organization consisting of custody,
trust, private banking and investment management services
in selecting the appropriate Middleware product for
their business. Developed the project plan and managed
the implementation project, co-coordinating employees,
consultants and vendor resources.
Departmental
Reengineering
TSG assisted a major firm in the securities processing
industry establish a complete Global Custody function
that integrated several independent units into an
efficient entity. This involved workflow analysis,
capacity planning, creativity, and systems enhancements.
Our client was able to increase their productivity
and quality, and they became volume insensitive in
several areas that were previously bottlenecks to
growth.
SWIFT
Assisted several firms identify their SWIFT message
requirements, define extracts, map data and install
a SWIFT interface device. The message types were used
to exchange data between investment managers and custodians,
and between investment managers and brokers. Implementation
of SWIFT connectivity plus changes in the firm's process
flow can result in significant cost savings and reduced
errors.
Global
Plus
Connected Global Plus to a firm's existing record
keeping system to support the merger of two major
Global Custodians.
Also connected Global Plus to Portia to integrate
the internal portfolio reporting process for a major
international bank.
OLYMPIC
Defined user requirements, conducted a vendor survey
and selected a system to support a new, centralized
asset account service that is now being offered by
an insurance company to their ten million Asian clients.
Connected the Olympic system to a local bank, using
their proprietary standard, to a broker using SWIFT
message standards, to various internal systems and
to a new consolidated statement data base.
Application
Architecture
Assisted a major investment management firm establish
a business-wide application architecture that reduced
handling of data, redundant processing and maintenance
of multiple legacy systems.
Network
Architecture
A major west coast medical center had numerous hardware
platforms and operating systems. TSG assisted the
CIO in re-architecting their network and the applications,
and participated in the migration of several of the
applications to a client/server environment. The new
environment consists of IBM, VAX, and PC's (UNIX/
C/Windows) applications.
PC
Emulation
Assisted our client in responding to an immediate
customer requirement to provide electronic connectivity
between disparate systems. This was accomplished by
using different portions of an existing proprietary
tool and using emulation to input data.
Sybase(NEON)
Defined requirements, wrote code, populated NEONet
rules tables and tested the message flow to/from the
SWIFT. network using this middleware package.
Portia
to Merrin
Integrated Portia with the Merrin trading system
for a major New York bank.
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