NEW YORK — April 24, 2006 — Bringing together more than 600 business and technical leaders from more than 65 financial services firms worldwide, Microsoft Corp. today hosts its annual Financial Services Developer Conference.
The event, which runs through April 25 at the Millennium Broadway Hotel in New York, will preview future technologies and trends as well as update financial services companies on how to utilize the Microsoft platform and partner solutions to drive business results. Beginning four years ago as a small user group, the conference has grown to attract hundreds of registrants from 18 countries, paralleling Microsoft’s rapid expansion in serving the financial services sector.
The conference features three industry tracks — banking, capital markets and insurance — and encompasses 35 sessions, including more than 70 live demos of Microsoft® and partner products. Highlights will include the latest industry vision on collaboration and digital rights management, updates on high-performance computing and data mining, presentations on enterprise identity management, updates on the latest trends in SOAs, and live previews of upcoming 2007 Microsoft Office system and partner products in action.
“This event is an interactive forum to help customers learn the latest on how to use the power of the Microsoft platform and partner ecosystem to develop and deploy new applications that can transform their businesses,” said Mike Wons, technology strategy director for the Financial Services Group at Microsoft. “It also serves as a reminder that true innovation comes from within a company’s walls and that a financial services firm’s business leaders, developers and architects ultimately drive business success.”
Keynotes and Other Session Highlights
Gartner Inc. Vice President and Distinguished Analyst Frank Schlier will deliver the opening keynote address for the conference, giving attendees a glimpse of a financial services technology platform of the future. Presentations on banking, capital markets and insurance will follow, as well as other technology- and industry-related sessions:
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“Building the Unified Front-Office Trading System,” a session focusing on how trading firms are providing traders with cross-product trading capabilities and new functionalities in risk and customer portfolio management not feasible previously
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“Customer Care Framework (CCF) Unveiled,” an in-depth look, including case studies and demonstrations, at Microsoft’s proposed CCF architecture used at banking and financial services’ contact centers
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“Empowering the Insurance Industry Through Mapping Solutions,” a showcase on how mapping solutions benefit the insurance industry by delivering geo-location services overlaid with demographic data, traffic statistics or flood/fire maps and more
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“From ‘Username and Password’ to Infocard,” a preview of Microsoft’s proposed security authentication technology, which is expected to transform traditional forms-based authentication for online businesses
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“SOAs in the Real World,” a partner session from HP sharing real-world successes of service-oriented strategies from financial services organizations
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“The High-Performance User Experience,” a preview of the Windows® Presentation Foundation and the ways it provides a platform for building visually stunning applications that seamlessly integrate user-interface controls, documents and text and media content
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“Interactive Business Intelligence (BI),” a showcase featuring Microsoft SQL Server™ 2005 Integration Services and the Microsoft SQL Service Broker working hand-in-hand with analysis services proactive caching to deliver real-time BI.
Developers Conference Sponsors
The conference’s sponsors include Microsoft partners Compuware Corp., DataDirect Technologies, Fortify Software Inc., HP, Identify Software, Inc., Infusion Development, Lab49 Inc., LogicLibrary, Micro Focus, Palm Inc., Proposion Inc., Ravenflow, Sapient Corp., SoftArtisans Inc., Syncfusion Inc., twentysix New York and Visual Numerics Inc. For more information on the fourth annual Microsoft Financial Services Developer Conference, visit http://www.financialdevelopers.com.
“We’re excited about this year’s conference because of the opportunity to inform attendees about new functionality in Microsoft’s recently launched SQL Server 2005 platform,” said Andrew J. Brust, chief of new technology for twentysix New York, who will present a session on the first day of the conference on business intelligence with Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Analysis Services. “Cost- and performance-effective, real-time analytics are now within reach for a vast array of customers. This release changes the dynamics of the whole BI market, and we hope this event will help kick off many successful future Microsoft SQL Server 2005 BI implementations.”
“The Microsoft Financial Services Developer Conference is an excellent stage for us to present the needs and benefits of inserting a security assessment process into the application life cycle,” said Mike Burba, marketing director for Application Development Solutions at Compuware Corp., who will present a session with Remington Associates and VWCredit on the first day of the conference. “In particular, we’re highlighting the phases of threat detection, security analysis approaches and tools that automate them, and development best practices.”
“This conference is a practical example of how HP and Microsoft are helping the financial services industry take advantage of new adaptive technologies to create connected systems that are both more agile and easier to manage,” said Richard Holling, director of insurance at HP.
“Microsoft is indeed building an application platform that will dramatically change the way applications are built,” said Ben Gaucherin, chief technology officer for Sapient. “By putting business process performance and business agility at the center of the platform, it is clear that they will have a huge impact across many industries, and certainly for capital markets and banking.”
About Microsoft in Financial Services
Microsoft’s Financial Services Group provides software that helps financial services organizations transform the customer, employee and operations experience so they can maximize opportunities for increased market share and profitability. Microsoft software helps empower people and IT staff within financial services firms — and across key focus areas such as channel renewal, advisor platform, and enterprise risk management and compliance. Through a combination of Microsoft- and partner-provided solutions, customers enable their employees to turn data into insight, transform ideas into action and turn change into opportunity.
More information about Microsoft’s Financial Services Group can be found at http://www.microsoft.com/financialservices.
About Microsoft
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.
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