Improved IT governance imperative to achieve trade objectives
ISLAMABAD (October 11 2006): Industrialisation challenges are driving banking sector to re-think their long-term corporate IT-strategies, especially in fast growing economies like China, India and other South East Asian countries, said Ash Khalek, vice president, Service Industries, Oracle Asia Pacific. He said, it is imperative that improved IT governance for running business processes is necessary to achieve these objectives. Oracle IT application technology helps banks comply with regulatory standards and streamline business process, he added. Khalek said Oracle Asia Pacific sees rise in Banking Solutions Uptake as banks gear up for greater profitability in highly regulated global environment. Oracle has reported a marked increase in customer adoption of its banking industry solutions in Asia Pacific.
This, he said is a result of rising demand for innovative customer service, complex global operations and increased compliance pressures which are driving more banks to standards-based, off the shelf, end-to-end integrated banking solutions. Khalek said Oracle delivers a powerful combination of technology and comprehensive pre-integrated business applications specifically designed for banking enterprises including analytic, core banking and payments, corporate administration, customer channel management, as well as technology infrastructure software. He said with the single repository for enterprise-wide information, banks are enabled to improve performance management and corporate governance, customer knowledge and operational efficiency. More importantly, they are now able to respond quickly to new opportunities, he said.
Khalek said the growth is fuelled by the demands from mature financial service markets like Australia, Hong Kong, Korea and Singapore as well as the high-growth economies like China, India and South East Asian countries.” Banking is a strategic industry for Oracle with 17 of the top 20 banks globally already running Oracle Applications, he added. As Asia becomes a major powerhouse in the global economy, he said, Asian banks are facing increasing organisational and IT challenges caused by greater customer demands, regulatory requirements and ever-stiffer competition. The strong GDP and increased cross-border trade activities across Asia Pacific countries provide banks with new customer opportunities, but at the same time, also result in increased demand for innovative customer service. Security threats, identity fraud and compliance regulations bring new pressures to banks. International competition has shaken once sleepy domestic markets, he added.
Financial Insights an IDC company, pointed out that most banks in Asia continue to focus on the fundamentals such as core banking, data infrastructure, channels, financial systems, payments, and initiatives to understand the customer. These issues will continue to absorb the majority of new spend. “Banks in Asia Pacific continue to invest in financial technology,” said Douglas A. Jaffe, Associate Director for Financial Insights Asia/Pacific Banking Advisory Service. “More work needs to be done to improve IT governance,” he added.
Source: B.Recorder
Date:10/11/2006
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