West Coast Community tackles our new reality
Community Engagement on the West Coast
On October 6, 2010, SWIFT Americas held its annual West Coast Business Forum in San Francisco, California. Close to 150 members of the community attended this year’s event; Eileen Dignen, Managing Director, Banking Accounts and Initiatives, SWIFT Americas welcomed the attendees and acted as the master of ceremonies for the day. She outlined the company’s business priorities based on the 2015 strategy. “We focused on what we’ve learned, paying close attention to the market trends but most importantly we listened to you and because of this we have become more agile”. 
To an enthusiastic audience Eileen introduced SWIFT reduced pricing, holding true to SWIFT’s promise of reducing total cost of ownership (TCO) to the community. “We heard you!” Eileen said “SWIFT has fulfilled our commitment to save our clients money and in September we announced we will be reducing FIN messaging pricing by 20% as of January 2011.”
Opening Plenary: Navigating the New Normal – Balancing risk, globalization and key business priorities
The opening plenary sought to answer some pressing questions and concerns as the financial industry dusts itself off and emerges from the financial crisis. Panel moderator Erin McCune, Partner, Glenbrook Partners, posed challenging questions to the panel on their thoughts of the current state of the financial industry. Andrea Klein, Vice President, Global Financial Services – Banking at Oracle, indicated one of the key differences in the 'new' normal is, “Collaboration now exists amongst what typically used to be silos across the organization. Now the finance team is talking to the risk group – this is a new dynamic we’re seeing.” When discussing how client requirements have been impacted by the 'new' normal, Judd Holroyde, SVP, Head of Global Product Management & Delivery, Wells Fargo noted “We are being asked by our clients to build consistency out of global inconsistency, and yet still have total flexibility with their data. These demands have driven us to review our legacy systems and carry out a major investment into new technologies.”
The panel also included John Christensen, Senior Director and Assistant Treasurer of eBay/PayPal Global Cash Management and Steve Goswell, Vice President, BlackRock, who agreed with the group, that although we are in a period of recovery there is still some distance to go before we reach the 'New' Normal.
Technology Trends - How is SWIFT reacting to them?
Mike Fish, CIO, SWIFT, began his session reflecting on how he initiated his discovery of Cloud Computing while visiting innovation leaders in Silicon Valley. It was there that he discovered that SWIFT is considered by industry experts to be the preeminent example of a secure private cloud for financial services. Following this, Mike proceeded to lay out 5 key technology trends noting “Although there are several more technology trends in the market today, we have specifically decided to capture and study those that are most relevant to SWIFT’s strategy. These include cloud computing, vertical integration, open source model, cyber security and networking.”
What’s new in the Standards world – Standards for Dummies
In the final plenary, Jim Wills, Senior Business Manager, Banking Initiatives, SWIFT, Americas, highlighted the latest developments in Standards. He introduced the 'ISO20022 for Dummies' booklet which will be featured at Sibos in Amsterdam, and spoke of new developments on the MT-MX coexistence front. Jeffrey Eck, Product Manager, Standards, SWIFT complemented the update on standards by sharing the benefits of the Standards Developer Kit (SDK), which eases the mapping and update process.
Complementing the plenary sessions were six work sessions covering an assortment of topics including Payment Trends, Integration, SWIFT Connectivity options, how Corporates and Banks are partnering, and Securities. During the SWIFT Case Study discussion the SWIFT Consulting Services on-boarding engagement, eBay’s Principal Treasury Consultant, Jeanette Longstreet noted, “The importance of aligning everyone is a key component for a successful implementation. Not only is this alliance critical amongst the individuals within your organization but also with vendors, service bureaus and your banks.”
The day was topped off with a networking cocktail bringing together the attendees, exhibitors, vendors and SWIFT team. This time allowed everyone an opportunity for mingling and a bit of fun.
Plans are already underway for next year’s Business Forum – West Coast scheduled for March 14, 2011 in Los Angeles. We look forward to seeing you there.
| SWIFT Demo Zone |
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| The Exhibitors | |
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