Computerworld Philippines Staff
February 19, 2010

Aiming to improve the flexibility of its compliance system to improve user efficiency and reduce mounting system queries, investment company Millennium Global Investments (MGI) recently deployed JBoss Enterprise BRMS (Business Rules Management System), an open-source business rules solution developed by Red Hat, Inc.

JBoss Enterprise BRMS enables business policy rules and development, access, and management by streamlining processes to reduce the time it takes to develop and update applications and processes with new business rules and policies.

“Red Hat’s flexible subscription terms for JBoss Enterprise Middleware allowed us to deploy only the components needed for the new platform and to avoid vendor lock-in. Unlike other vendors, Red Hat offers the ability to support other applications of the rules engine, be it market signal monitoring or algorithmic trading,” said Richard Macaskill, managing director, IT & Systems Development, MGI. “We were very pleased with the level of support Red Hat provided during the new business rules repository’s development. We are extremely satisfied to have deployed an integrated business rules platform that has improved our efficiency and ability to manage risk.”

The distinguishing feature of the JBoss Enterprise BRMS lies in its transparency, allowing users to access detailed information about why certain rules may prevent trading, eliminating constant queries to the firm’s management and aids the company’s risk management strategies.

“We are delighted with the positive feedback from MGI on its deployment of JBoss Enterprise BRMS. We are seeing further momentum of JBoss Enterprise BRMS as the enterprise continues to drive innovation through open source middleware,” said Pierre Fricke, Director, SOA Products, Red Hat. “Automating business decisions with JBoss Enterprise BRMS can help a business run faster and enable business process stakeholders to rapidly implement change. This is the kind of agility that enterprise deployments demand in today’s marketplace.” – John Mark V. Tuazon

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By Computerworld Hong Kong staff
Computerworld Hong Kong
July 30, 2009

HONG KONG - The current economic crisis has pushed banks in Asia Pacific to strengthen their vendor risk management practices, said IDC Wednesday.

Other factors such as expanding regulation, a consolidating vendor landscape, and more stringent vendor selection guidelines are also driving banks to focus on vendor management, according to the research house.

Leading banks have generally followed a cohesive framework of vendor risk management which involves vendor inventory and segmentation; risk identification; due diligence; risk mitigation; monitoring and supervision; and reporting, IDC noted.

Banks are going beyond the cursory evaluation of annual reports, but are also looking more closely at other financial and performance metrics, said IDC, adding that evaluation of the vendor’s corporate governance structure is also being taken more seriously.

“The efforts of banks to look at operational risk practices, either on their own or as part of the broader Basel II program, have put IT risk high on the agenda,” said Michael Araneta, senior consulting and research manager at IDC Financial Insights Asia/Pacific. “Banks have recognized that technology failures, including the failure of technology vendors to deliver, can have dire implications for business continuity and their institution’s reputation. As such, they have raised the yardstick when assessing vendor risk.”

Araneta added that vendors have become more mindful of fee structures and engagement margins. Banks justifiably have to be on their guard for vendors drastically cutting staff levels as well as those showing declines in service-level agreement (SLA) compliance and performance, he noted.

As the IT department is pressed to justify technology spending, the vendor management office is compelled to spend more effort on vendor due diligence, monitoring, and scrutiny of SLAs, according to him.

“We applaud moves by several vendors to significantly improve corporate governance and transparency. Disclosures made by vendors to current and potential clients have become more detailed to include other client references, new wins, and other metrics for performance and delivery,” said Araneta. “Overall, the practice and standards of corporate governance have improved. It remains to be seen, however, whether changes are for the long-term or just coterminous with the weak economic climate.”

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Companies shifting focus out of effective risk management stand to lose in the long run, global advisory firm Ovum warned in its press statement Tuesday.

In a report entitled “Managing risk during an economic downturn,” the consulting firm said that the economic downturn has in fact increased the level of risks companies are exposed to, even if they are forced to do more with less. It added that the recent crisis actually exposed such cracks in the old paradigm.

“The financial crisis has provided a very high profile example of how poor risk management practices can severely impact not only a business but also a whole industry sector”, said Helena Schwenk, senior analyst, Ovum and author of the report. “While the banking system recovers and readjusts from the crisis and moves to a more tightly controlled and regulated risk management environment, other industry sectors are advised to take heed of the risk management lessons learnt from this painful episode.”

Companies can effectively handle risks in an enterprise environment, away from the isolated silo approach which tend to become detrimental to the company’s security, it said.

Ovum said much of the past failures were not due to failed risk management, but to lack of understanding and discipline as to how it should be done correctly. The firm pointed out that the inability to have a more holistic view of risk management and the lack of understanding of interdependencies among business risks can ultimately lead to failure in the future.

“The current economic crisis has also underscored the need to treat risk management not just as a strategic ideal, but also as an operational imperative,” Schwenk said. “Businesses need to make sure that risk management trickles down from high-level business strategy, objectives and goals to the operational coalfaces of the organization.” — John Mark V. Tuazon

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