Banks must partner with like-minded technology vendors if they are to meet the growing demands of corporate customers for improved supply chain integration capabilities, says market analyst firm TowerGroup.
New research from TowerGroup finds high expectations from large corporations regarding banking services that allow them to select communications protocols, data formats, and security methods to best meet their own requirements and integration capabilities.
To meet these demands in a cost-effective manner, TowerGroup believes, banks must partner with technology providers offering deep expertise in business-to-bank (B2Bank) integration - defined by the analyst firm as the technology used to manage the connections between the applications running at a bank, and the financial and accounting systems of its corporate or other wholesale clients.
Susan Feinberg, Research Director of the Wholesale Banking practice at TowerGroup and author of the research, comments: "With clients expecting higher levels of resiliency and service quality, real-time integration to accounting and treasury systems, and faster implementation of new products and services, banks need to choose the B2Bank solution provider that best aligns with their strategy to meet clients' objectives."
TowerGroup identifies Axway, GXS, Sterling Commerce, Tumbleweed Communications; and WebMethods as the firms responsible for over 90% of the third-party, B2Bank integration solutions market.