Additional Banking Applications

Additional Banking Applications

[ From chapter-22 of the book "Information Technology in Banking" written by Abul Kashem Md. Shirin and Nusrat Tamanna Prianka and published by Institute of Bankers, Bangladesh (IBB) ]

1.         ERP Software

1.1.      What is ERP System?

ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) is an integrated computer-based system used to manage internal and external resources, including tangible assets, financial resources, materials, and human resources. Its purpose is to facilitate the flow of information between all business functions inside the boundaries of the organization and manage the connections to outside stakeholders. Built on a centralized database and normally utilizing a common computing platform, ERP systems consolidate all business operations into a uniform and enterprise-wide system environment.

An ERP system can either reside on a centralized server or be distributed across modular hardware and software units that provide "services" and communicate on a local area network. The distributed design allows a business to assemble modules from different vendors without the need for the placement of multiple copies of complex and expensive computer systems in areas which will not use their full capacity.

To be considered an ERP system, a software package should have the following traits:

·         Should be integrated and operate in real time with no periodic batch updates.

·         All applications should access one database to prevent redundant data and multiple data definitions.

·         All modules should have the same look and feel.

·         Users should be able to access any information in the system without needing integration work on the part of the IS department.

1.2.      Components / Modules of an ERP Software:

·         Transactional Backbone

o    Financials

o    Distribution

o    Human Resources

o    Product lifecycle management

·         Advanced Applications

o    Customer Relationship Management (CRM)

o    Supply chain management software

§  Purchasing

§  Manufacturing

§  Distribution

o    Warehouse Management System

·         Management Portal/Dashboard

o    Decision Support System

In a Bank, the following modules may be useful:

·         Human Resources Management (HRM)

·         Customer Relationship Management (CRM)

·         Supply chain management

o    Purchasing

o    Distribution

·         Warehouse Management (Asset Management)

1.3.      Components of an ERP System

1.         Manufacturing:

Engineering, bills of material, work orders, scheduling, capacity, workflow management, quality control, cost management, manufacturing process, manufacturing projects, manufacturing flow.

2.         Supply chain management:

Order to cash, inventory, order entry, purchasing, product configurator, supply chain planning, supplier scheduling, inspection of goods, claim processing, commission calculation

3.         Financials:

General ledger, cash management, accounts payable, accounts receivable, fixed assets

4.         Project management:

Costing, billing, time and expense, performance units, activity management

5.         Human resources:

Human resources, payroll, training, time and attendance, rostering, benefits

6.         Customer relationship management:

Sales and marketing, commissions, service, customer contact, call-center support

7.         Data services:

Various "self-service" interfaces for customers, suppliers and/or employees

8.         Access control:

Management of user privileges for various processes

1.4.      ERP advantages and disadvantages

Advantages

·         Allows easier global integration (barriers of currency exchange rates, language, and culture can be bridged automatically)

·         Updates only need to be done once to implemented company-wide

·         Provides real-time information, reducing the possibility of redundancy errors

·         May create a more efficient work environment for employees

·         Vendors have past knowledge and expertise on how to best build and implement a system

Disadvantages

·         Locked into relationship by contract and manageability with vendor - a contract can hold a company to the vendor until it expires and it can be unprofitable to switch vendors if switching costs are too high

·         Inflexibility - vendor packages may not fit a company's business model exactly and customization can be expensive

·         Return on Investment may take too long to be profitable

·         Implementations have a risk of project failure

1.5.      Renowned ERP Software:

1.5.1.   SAP ERP from SAP

SAP (Systems Analysis and Program development) is a German software corporation that provides enterprise software applications and support to businesses of all sizes globally. Headquartered in Walldorf, Germany, with regional offices around the world, SAP is the largest enterprise software company in the world (as of 2009). It is also the largest software company in Europe and the fourth largest globally. The company's best known products are its SAP Enterprise Resource Planning (SAP ERP) and SAP Business Objects software.

The SAP ERP application is an integrated enterprise resource planning (ERP) software manufactured by SAP AG that targets business software requirements of midsize and large organizations in all industries and sectors. It allows for open communication within and between all company functions.

SAP's ERP solution includes several modules that support key functional areas, including:

·         SAP ERP Financials

·         SAP ERP Operations

·         SAP ERP Human Capital Management

1.5.2.   PeopleSoft ERP from Oracle

Oracle Corporation is an American multinational computer technology corporation that specializes in developing and marketing enterprise software products — particularly database management systems. Headquartered in Redwood Shores, California, United States, Oracle employs 105,000 people worldwide as of 1 July 2010 (2010 -07-01)^[update]. It has enlarged its share of the software market through organic growth and through a number of high-profile acquisitions. By 2007 Oracle had the third-largest software revenue, after Microsoft and IBM.

The corporation has arguably become best-known for its flagship product, the Oracle Database. The company also builds tools for database development and systems of middle-tier software, enterprise resource planning software (ERP), customer relationship management software (CRM) and supply chain management (SCM) software.

As of 2010^[update], Larry Ellison, a co-founder of Oracle Corporation, has served as Oracle's CEO throughout its history. Ellison also served as the Chairman of the Board until his replacement by Jeffrey O. Henley in 2004. Ellison retains his role as CEO. On August 22, 2008 the Associated Press ranked founder Larry Ellison as the top-paid chief executive in the world.

PeopleSoft, Inc. was a company that provided human resource management systems (HRMS) and customer relationship management (CRM) software, as well as software solutions for manufacturing, financials, enterprise performance management, and student administration to large corporations, governments, and organizations. It existed as an independent corporation until its acquisition by Oracle Corporation in 2005. The PeopleSoft name and product line are now marketed by Oracle.

History of PeopleSoft:

·         1987: PeopleSoft, Inc. founded by David Duffield and Ken Morris in Walnut Creek, CA, USA.

·         1988: PeopleSoft HRMS released.

·         1994: Public distribution of Distribution and Financials modules.

·         1995: Launch of Student Administration System.

·         1996: Releases Manufacturing

·         1996: Releases PeopleSoft 6, their first ERP package.

·         2005: Acquired by Oracle Corporation.

·         2009: PeopleSoft HCM 9.1 is released.(October 2009)

·         2009: PeopleSoft FMS 9.1 is released.(November 2009)

2.         CRM Software

2.1.      What is CRM?

CRM (Customer relationship management) is a widely-implemented strategy for managing a company’s interactions with customers, clients and sales prospects. It involves using technology to organize, automate, and synchronize business processes—principally sales activities, but also those for marketing, customer service, and technical support.

The overall goals are to find, attract, and win new clients, nurture and retain those the company already has, entice former clients back into the fold, and reduce the costs of marketing and client service. Customer relationship management describes a company-wide business strategy including customer-interface departments as well as other departments

The three phases in which CRM support the relationship between a business and its customers are to:

·         Acquire: CRM can help a business acquire new customers through contact management, selling, and fulfillment.

·         Enhance: web-enabled CRM combined with customer service tools offers customers service from a team of sales and service specialists, which offers customers the convenience of one-stop shopping.

·         Retain: CRM software and databases enable a business to identify and reward its loyal customers and further develop its targeted marketing and relationship marketing initiatives

2.2.      Fields of application:

2.2.1.   Sales force automation

Sales force automation (SFA) involves using software to streamline all phases of the sales process, minimizing the time that sales representatives need to spend on each phase. This allows sales representatives to pursue more clients in a shorter amount of time than would otherwise be possible. At the heart of SFA is a contact management system for tracking and recording every stage in the sales process for each prospective client, from initial contact to final disposition. Many SFA applications also include insights into opportunities, territories, sales forecasts and workflow automation, quote generation, and product knowledge. Modules for Web 2.0 e-commerce and pricing are new, emerging interests in SFA.^[1]

2.2.2.   Marketing

CRM systems for marketing help the enterprise identify and target potential clients and generate leads for the sales team. A key marketing capability is tracking and measuring multichannel campaigns, including email, search, social media, telephone and direct mail. Metrics monitored include clicks, responses, leads, deals, and revenue. This has been superseded by marketing automation and Prospect Relationship Management (PRM) solutions which track customer behaviour and nurture them from first contact to sale, often cutting out the active sales process altogether.

2.2.3.   Customer service and support

Recognizing that service is an important factor in attracting and retaining customers, organizations are increasingly turning to technology to help them improve their clients’ experience while aiming to increase efficiency and minimize costs. Even so, a 2009 study revealed that only 39% of corporate executives believe their employees have the right tools and authority to solve client problems. The core for these applications has been and still is comprehensive call center solutions, including such features as intelligent call routing, computer telephone integration (CTI), and escalation capabilities.

2.2.4.   Analytics

Relevant analytics capabilities are often interwoven into applications for sales, marketing, and service. These features can be complemented and augmented with links to separate, purpose-built applications for analytics and business intelligence. Sales analytics let companies monitor and understand client actions and preferences, through sales forecasting and data quality.

Marketing applications generally come with predictive analytics to improve segmentation and targeting, and features for measuring the effectiveness of online, offline, and search marketing campaign. Web analytics have evolved significantly from their starting point of merely tracking mouse clicks on Web sites. By evaluating “buy signals,” marketers can see which prospects are most likely to transact and also identify those who are bogged down in a sales process and need assistance. Marketing and finance personnel also use analytics to assess the value of multi-faceted programs as a whole.

These types of analytics are increasing in popularity as companies demand greater visibility into the performance of call centers and other service and support channels,^[6] in order to correct problems before they affect satisfaction levels. Support-focused applications typically include dashboards similar to those for sales, plus capabilities to measure and analyze response times, service quality, agent performance, and the frequency of various issues.

2.2.5.   Integrated/Collaborative

Departments within enterprises — especially large enterprises — tend to function with little collaboration. More recently, the development and adoption of these tools and services have fostered greater fluidity and cooperation among sales, service, and marketing. This finds expression in the concept of collaborative systems which uses technology to build bridges between departments. For example, feedback from a technical support center can enlighten marketers about specific services and product features clients are asking for. Reps, in their turn, want to be able to pursue these opportunities without the burden of re-entering records and contact data into a separate SFA system. Owing to these factors, many of the top-rated and most popular products come as integrated suites.

2.3.      Software for CRM

SAP, Oracle, Salesforce.com, Microsoft and Amdocs are the best selling software for 2006-2008 period published in Gartner (www.gartner.com) studies. The following table shows that the market grew by 12.5 percent in 2008, from revenue of $8.13 billion in 2007 to $9.15 billion in 2008:

Vendor	2008 Revenue	2008 Share (%)	2007 Revenue	2007 Share (%)	2006 Revenue	2006 Share (%)
SAP	2,055	22.5 (-2.8)	2,050.8	25.3	1,681.7	26.6
Oracle	1,475	16.1	1,319.8	16.3	1,016.8	15.5
Salesforce.com	965	10.6	676.5	8.3	451.7	6.9
Microsoft	581	6.4	332.1	4.1	176.1	2.7
Amdocs	451	4.9	421.0	5.2	365.9	5.6
Others	3,620	39.6	3,289.1	40.6	2,881.6	43.7
Total	9,147	100	8,089.3	100	6,573.8	100

Note: Gartner, Inc. is an information technology research and advisory firm headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut, USA. Founded in 1979, Gartner has over 4,400 employees, including 1,200 in R&D.

3.         E-mail software

3.1.      What is e-mail?

Electronic mail, commonly called email or e-mail, is a method of exchanging digital messages across the Internet or other computer networks.

In the manual systems of sending mail within an office, the mails are passed through persons from one department to another. It takes mush time and it is risky also .This leads the inconsistency of information. So we need a system which is both quick and accurate. This can be achieved by mailing system.

Electronic mailing system sends the mails spontaneously without requiring the parties be available at the same instant. Furthermore mails can be send to more people at the same time. It also leaves a written copy of the sending mails that can be filed away. It is much cheaper than the manual system.

3.2.      Operation Overview:

The diagram below shows a typical sequence of events that takes place when Alice composes a message using her mail user agent (MUA). She enters the email address of her correspondent, and hits the "send" button.

1.      Alice’s MUA formats the message in email format and uses the Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) to send the message to the local mail transfer agent (MTA), in this case smtp.a.org, run by Alice's internet service provider (ISP).

2.      The MTA looks at the destination address provided in the SMTP protocol (not from the message header), in this case bob@b.org. An Internet email address is a string of the form localpart@exampledomain. The part before the @ sign is the local part of the address, often the username of the recipient, and the part after the @ sign is a domain name or a fully qualified domain name. The MTA resolves a domain name to determine the fully qualified domain name of the mail exchange server in the Domain Name System (DNS).

3.      The DNS server for the b.org domain, ns.b.org, responds with any MX records listing the mail exchange servers for that domain, in this case mx.b.org, a server run by Bob's ISP.

4.      smtp.a.org sends the message to mx.b.org using SMTP, which delivers it to the mailbox of the user bob.

5.      Bob presses the "get mail" button in his MUA, which picks up the message using the Post Office Protocol (POP3).

3.3.      Components in a messaging system:

E-mail Architecture addresses those technologies used to enable the electronic delivery of messages and documents to one or more recipients. The following provides a list of open source and commercially available software for use as different components like Mail Transfer Agents, Mail User Agents and Gateways:

1.      Mail Transfer Agents:

A.      Open Source:  Sendmail E-mail Application Server

Qmail E-mail Application Server

B.   Commercial:   MS Exchange E-mail Application Server

                                                Lotus Domino E-mail Application Server

2.      Mail User Agents:

A.      Commercial:   Lotus Notes E-mail Client

Outlook E-mail Client

Outlook Express E-mail Client

Eudora E-mail Client

3.      Gateways:

A.      Commercial:   Lotus Message Switch E-mail Gateway

Outlook Web Access E-mail Gateway

3.4.      Popular E-mail System:

3.4.1.   Sendmail:

Sendmail is a general purpose internetwork email routing facility that supports many kinds of mail-transfer and -delivery methods, including the Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) used for email transport over the Internet.

3.4.2.   Qmail:.

qmail is a mail transfer agent (MTA) that runs on Unix. It was written, starting December 1995, by Daniel J. Bernstein as a more secure replacement for the popular Sendmail program. qmail's source code is in the public domain, making qmail free software.

3.4.3.   Microsoft Exchange Server:

Microsoft Exchange Server is the server side of a client–server, collaborative application product developed by Microsoft. It is part of the Microsoft Servers line of server products and is used by enterprises using Microsoft infrastructure products. Exchange's major features consist of electronic mail, calendaring, contacts and tasks; support for mobile and web-based access to information; and support for data storage.

3.4.4.   Lotus Domino:

IBM Lotus Domino software is a world class platform for critical business, collaboration, and messaging applications.

3.5.      Licensing of commercial product:

3.5.1.   Exchange Server:

Exchange Server is licensed in the Server / Client Access License (CAL) model. A license must be assigned for each instance of the server software that is being run. Exchange also requires a CAL for each user or device that accesses the server software. There are two types of CALs for Exchange:

·         Standard CAL: designed to help users be more productive from virtually any platform, browser, or mobile device, with new features in Exchange Server 2010 that help manage communications overload and lower helpdesk costs.

·         Enterprise CAL: designed to allow organizations to reduce the costs and complexity of meeting compliance requirements with new integrated archiving functionality and information protection capabilities, while also helping users cut costs by replacing legacy voice mail systems with Unified Messaging.

Users also require license for Server Software, Microsoft Outlook and Forefront Online Security. 

3.5.2.   Lotus Domino:

IBM offers users three ways to license IBM Lotus Notes and Domino software to match their buying preferences and let them pay according to the function and flexibility they need.

If users prefer client and server licensing, they can acquire IBM Lotus Domino server licenses determined by the total processor value units associated with their server machine(s) plus individual Client Access Licenses for each user.

If users prefer per user licensing, they pay a per user charge based on the size of their environment, and have the flexibility to deploy any combination of specified types of IBM Lotus Domino server and client access options.

If users wish to host collaborative applications for access both outside and inside their company, but do not need mail and calendar, processor value unit licensing may be the most cost effective for them.

In both cases, if users are willing to deploy additional component like email security appliance, then this will add additional licensing cost to the overall system.

4.            Anti-Virus software

4.1.         What is antivirus software?

Antivirus software is a computer program that detects, prevents, and takes action to disarm or remove malicious software programs, such as viruses and worms. You can help protect your computer against viruses by using antivirus software.

Computer viruses are software programs that are deliberately designed to interfere with computer operation, record, corrupt, or delete data, or spread themselves to other computers and throughout the Internet.

In the past, PCs were mainly under threat from viruses and worms. The main purpose of these programs was to spread; however, some programs were also designed to cause damage to files and PCs. Such malicious software, or “malware”, could be described as ‘cyber vandalism’. In the majority of cases, the goal of viruses and worms was to spread as much as possible, with a high infection rate leading to fame for that program.

But in recent years, the situation has changed drastically. Today, the biggest threat faced by computers is crime ware. This malicious software is written by cybercriminals with the purpose of making money illegally. Crime ware may take the form of viruses, worms, Trojans or other malicious programs.

To help prevent the most current viruses, we must update our antivirus software regularly. Now a day, we can set up most types of antivirus software to update automatically.

4.2.         How Antivirus works?

Antivirus uses number of techniques to identify viruses.

4.2.1.     Signature based detection:

This is also known as dictionary approach. Each virus has its own way of attack. Signatures of the attacks are stored in antivirus database.  To identify viruses, antivirus software compares the contents of a file to a dictionary of virus signatures. If a piece of code in the file matches any virus identified in the dictionary, the anti-virus software can then either delete the file, quarantine it so that the file is inaccessible to other programs and its virus is unable to spread, or attempt to repair the file by removing the virus itself from the file. For signature based detection antivirus software need to be updated with current virus signature database. Antivirus can take update from internet or by installing latest patches provided by the antivirus company.

4.2.2.     Behavior Based Detection:

 Antivirus identifies abnormal or unusual behavior (anomalies) on a host or PC. The basic idea comes from the assumption that attacks are different from “normal” (legitimate) activity of a file and therefore detect intrusions by identifying these differences. If one program tries to write data to an executable program, for example, this is flagged as suspicious behavior and the user is alerted to this, and asked what to do.

Antivirus can be installed and maintained only on client PC and take updates from internet. Moreover in LAN environment antivirus clients are installed on client PCs and managed from server-end. For this case server takes update from internet and distribute updates to client PCs.

4.3.         Licensing:

Most of the commercial antivirus software end-user license agreements include one year subscription. User is asked for renewal 30 to 60 days before the license expiration. Purchasers provide bill for new license and get new activation code or serial number from the antivirus company. Antivirus fails to update the virus signature database if license is not renewed and computer security becomes compromised against new attack. Some antivirus programs are free to download but not effective as other commercial antivirus.

4.4.         Popular Antivirus programs:

There are number of popular antiviruses available in the market such as Mcafee, Kaspersky, NOD32, Avsat, AVG etc. Some antivirus companies provide web security, email security, desktop management, PC solution, IDS (Intrusion Detection System), firewall as part of antivirus software package. For example, Kaspersky antivirus comes up with firewall and email security. Sometimes extra subscription fee is charged for each new module added to the antivirus software.