NEW YORK, Oct. 20, 1998 — Microsoft Corp. today announced that several large financial institutions, including Travelers Property Casualty Corp. and Crestar Bank, are using the Microsoft® Windows® Distributed interNet Applications architecture for Financial Services (Windows DNAfs) to integrate their computer infrastructures.
Windows DNAfs is an industry framework – a way of constructing computer networks that will allow different financial services industry software applications to
“talk”
to each other and exchange data with legacy mainframe systems.
“We’re seeing tremendous adoption of Windows DNAfs by top-tier financial institutions,”
said Bill Hartnett, worldwide financial services manager at Microsoft.
“Given the changing needs of customers of brokerage firms, banks and insurance companies, and the growing complexity of the financial services world, industry specifications such as Windows DNAfs will become increasingly prevalent and important to businesses seeking to integrate their computer systems.”
Travelers CIO Diana Beecher today announced that her company would use Windows DNAfs to integrate its property and casualty systems for its independent agents who sell commercial insurance for small businesses, enabling those agents to exchange data with Travelers. Also today, Crestar Bank Senior Vice President Tripp Johnson demonstrated how Windows DNAfs has allowed Crestar to update its entire computer infrastructure. Overall, more than 40 software companies and financial industry corporations are currently supporting Windows DNAfs.
“Windows DNAfs means our independent agents don’t have to struggle with technical issues and incompatibilities,”
Beecher said.
“Instead, they can spend their time and energy focusing on their business.”
“Basically, we have these components, or chunks of software code, traveling around our network translating each request into a format that’s understandable by our different systems,”
Johnson said.
“The work Microsoft and the DNAfs working groups have done in the past 11 months has enabled Crestar to become better, faster and more efficient – and that’s really the bottom line on why we’re such big fans of Windows DNAfs.”
Microsoft today also announced a Windows DNAfs advisory council composed of financial services industry software companies and institutions to help further define the architecture. Initial advisory council members were drawn from the three working groups that have been defining the specific technical details of the Windows DNAfs framework for banking, securities and insurance. The advisory council will help drive a Windows DNAfs software developers’ resource kit, which is scheduled to be distributed during the Bank Administration Institute’s Retail Delivery Conference, to be held Nov. 30 to Dec. 4 in Las Vegas. A Windows DNAfs developers conference is also scheduled for early 1999.
“The Windows DNAfs working groups have defined how applications will talk to each other and host systems – simplifying what was once a very tedious and time-consuming process of rewriting code for each and every system update or application acquisition,”
said Peter Hazlehurst, vice president of research and emerging technologies at Phoenix International Ltd.
“The advisory council will continue that work moving forward. Phoenix will continue to maintain a very active presence on the council to ensure that the requirements for retail banking are being addressed in the best way possible.”
“Windows DNAfs really offers a new model for what an open banking system means,”
said Dan Chavitage, system architect for CUBE (Credit Union Business Environment) at Electronic Data Systems Corp.
“From now on, only those top-tier vendors that adhere to the DNAfs specification can expect to sell to customers who demand flexible solutions.”
Windows DNAfs utilizes the Microsoft BackOffice® family of products, including Microsoft Transaction Server, built into the Microsoft Windows NT® Server operating system, which provides financial institutions with the services they need to more easily deliver, manage and service thousands of simultaneous users.
“The technology involved in Windows DNAfs gets pretty complex, but our objective is really pretty simple,”
said Mike Dusche, Microsoft’s worldwide banking industry manager.
“We want to help integrate systems, simplify business processes and make life a little easier for our enterprise customers.”
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq
“MSFT”
) is the worldwide leader in software for personal computers. The company offers a wide range of products and services for business and personal use, each designed with the mission of making it easier and more enjoyable for people to take advantage of the full power of personal computing every day.
Microsoft, Windows, BackOffice and Windows NT are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corp. in the United States and/or other countries.
Other product and company names herein may be trademarks of their respective owners.
