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Welcome to the Microsoft Financial Services Newsletter for Developers. At Microsoft, we’re committed to serving the needs of developers and architects in the financial services industry. This newsletter will give you links to the latest resources, tools and technologies to help build fast, scaleable, secure enterprise level solutions in Financial Services.
Letter from the Editor
Greetings and Happy New Year.
Welcome to the Winter edition of the Microsoft Financial Services Newsletter for Developers. It has been a whirlwind for the past several months as Windows Vista, .NET Framework 3.0, and the 2007 Office release were made available. Some truly amazing products that allow developers to create applications that are visually stunning, connected, workflow-enabled, and secure. With this edition of the newsletter, you can get a preview of some of the great features in the upcoming next release of Visual Studio that will make development for Windows Vista even more powerful. And the new line of Microsoft Expression products will make it much easier for developers and designers to collaborate on creating great experiences for users. We also highlight what you can do today and where you can go to help you get started, including the new devStream premier technical program for developers. devStream provides a constant flow of technical information, as well as networking opportunities for enterprise, partner, and enthusiast developers.
This edition of the newsletter also features some examples of how customers such as Kiwibank and Thomson have made great use of the .NET Framework. You’ll also find an updated version of the ever-popular “Building Connected Systems in Financial Services” whitepaper and the new Banking Integration Factory that was launched over the past month. Some very exciting resources that we hope can help provide immediate value to your efforts today!
As the new year begins, I am pleased to announce that Daniel Kasun will be assuming the Lead Editor role for the Developer Newsletter. Many of you know Dan and his reputation as a leader in the architect and developer space. I am extremely excited that he will be taking over this all-important role. I have thoroughly enjoyed leading this effort for the past four years and am continually amazed at all of the great solutions that are being developed in Financial Services for Financial Services. Thanks again and I am looking forward to the Spring.
Sincerely,
Michael K. Wons, Technology Strategy Director, World-wide Financial Services Group
Mikewons@microsoft.com
What’s New
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The recent emphasis on regulatory compliance, SOA, and mergers and acquisitions has made the creation and maintenance of accurate and complete master data a business imperative. This paper covers the reasons for adopting master-data management, the process of developing a solution, and several options for the technological implementation of the solution.
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This paper outlines the Microsoft application platform--the confluence of servers, clients, and devices that can help connect people with business-critical information across the enterprise, thus driving overall business success. This paper focuses on Microsoft’s latest investments in business intelligence, integration, and developer productivity with updated releases of the Microsoft Platform including SQL Server, BizTalk Server, and Visual Studio, respectively. In addition Microsoft will soon be releasing the new version of Windows, called Windows Vista, along with the Office Business Solutions Platform featuring SharePoint Services, which will further raise the bar on collaborative business platforms and deeper, richer user interfaces to further empower your people. This paper is specifically targeted to the Financial Services industry including Banking, Capital Markets, and Securities and Insurance.
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The Banking Integration Factory combines various software factories and builds on them to provide solutions for integration. This factory also introduces the Microsoft vision for composite banking applications.
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Announcements
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Adaptive control behavior in ASP.NET 2.0 gives you the ability to customize the functionality of common ASP.NET controls. Check out this demonstration of how to generate XHTML 1.1–compliant markup using the ASP.NET 2.0 CSS Friendly Control Adapters kit.
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Visual Studio Team Edition for Database Professionals delivers a market-shifting database development product designed to manage database change, improve software quality through database testing, and bring the benefits of Visual Studio Team System and life cycle development to the database professional.
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Events
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Join us at the two-day 5th Annual Financial Services Developer Conference where you will learn about the latest advancements in Microsoft technologies relevant to the financial services industries. The Conference will provide developer and architects in financial services a clear roadmap of the Microsoft development platform, with specific attention paid to the capital markets, retail banking, and insurance sectors. Learn best practices for using the best-of-breed technology to bring you from where you are today, to where you will be tomorrow.
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industryStream Financial Services Webcast Series
Launched last fall, industryStream webcasts for Financial Services, brought to you by the Microsoft Developer & Platform Developer Evangelism, is the premier technical program for developers. This webcast series runs every other Tuesday from 1 PM to 2.30 PM, Eastern Standard Time. Watch these webcasts to learn about the latest technology trends and solutions in financial services. Our regular presenters include product managers and industry gurus from Redmond discussing best-of-class Microsoft solutions for the health and life sciences industry. Please see below for more details on topics and registration information. Register soon, because these sessions fill up fast.
Upcoming Webcasts:
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January 23, 1:00 PM EST
Visual Studio 2005 Team Edition for Database Professionals, DBAs and database developers can now enjoy the benefits of what Visual Studio Team System and Team Foundation Server bring to Application Lifecycle Management. Learn how the new Visual Studio Database Project allows you to import your database schema and place it under source control. Rename Refactoring allows you to easily rename any object in your database and be assured that all references to that object will be renamed to correspond to the change. A New T-SQL editor allows you to be more productive when writing T-SQL code from within Visual Studio including support for parallel execution of queries and viewing of execution plans.
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February 6, 1:00 PM PST
Visual Studio 2005 Team System is an extensible lifecycle tools platform that helps software teams collaborate to reduce the complexity of delivering modern service-oriented solutions. Microsoft’s offerings now include a comprehensive set of proven process frameworks, best practices, prescriptive architecture guidance, and integrated lifecycle tools that enable IT organizations to successfully deliver custom solutions on the Windows Server System.
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March 6, 1:00 PM PST
Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) is Microsoft’s unified programming model for building service-oriented applications. It enables developers to build secure, reliable, transacted solutions that integrate across platforms and interoperate with existing investments. Learn how you can use WCF to work with your heterogeneous environments in this demo-intensive session.
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The launch of Windows Vista, the 2007 Microsoft Office system, and Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 is here. Come get in-depth insights into all three new releases and how they can help you simplify the challenges of today’s workplace. More information is available at the Web site.
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January 15: New York, NY
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January 18: Tampa, FL
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January 24: Boston, MA
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January 30: Washington, DC
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February 8: Atlanta, GA
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February 15: Philadelphia, PA
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Resources
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Skyscrapr is your window on the architectural perspective. At skyscrapr.net you will discover the different disciplines of system architecture, as well as perspectives on building successful systems.
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Windows Vista offers substantial new capabilities in security, performance, reliability, and manageability. It was built from the ground up with a focus on secure development, an enhanced user experience, and optimization around hardware advancements. Visit the Windows Vista Development Center for more information on building applications for Windows Vista.
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Developing Rich Experiences with Microsoft .NET Framework 3.0 and Visual Studio 2005 is a collection of three two-hour premium clinics that cover the new capabilities provided by the .NET Framework 3.0. These clinics are for experienced Developers and Software Architects who are looking to adopt Microsoft's next-generation technology within their solutions.
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Case Studies
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Kiwibank has quickly grown to become a leading New Zealand retail bank with half a million customers, largely due to a strong brand proposition, rapid product deployment, and a “can-do” attitude. When the bank wanted to deliver a better, more consistent customer experience, it turned to the Microsoft .NET Framework 3.0 programming model. In-house programmers relied on Windows Communication Foundation and Windows Workflow Foundation to simplify, automate, connect, and future-proof disparate services and systems. Now, programmers, business analysts, and IT staff alike can be more productive and efficient. More importantly, with a seamless, secure, and reliable connection across product channels and platforms, Kiwibank can provide a superior customer experience.
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Over the past 20 years, asset managers at hundreds of firms have relied on Thomson Financial PORTIA to securely and reliably account for and manage portfolios. Although PORTIA’s functionality is second to none, Thomson felt that customers and prospects needed a more modern approach to workflow. In two days, Thomson, working closely with architects at the Microsoft Technology Center in Waltham, Massachusetts, designed the future of PORTIA workflow, called PORTIA Workspace. In just six months, designers and programmers created the Workspace by using the Microsoft .NET Framework 3.0 application programming interface and cutting-edge Microsoft design and development software. The highly customizable PORTIA Workspace is poised to take advantage of advances in the Windows Vista operating system, extend the value of a trusted Thomson brand, and help asset managers achieve unprecedented efficiency.
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