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Thursday
- September 28, 2000
B-to-B is Driving Financial Institutions
to XML
Meridien Research, a leading financial technology
analyst firm, announced today the availability of a new report
entitled, "XML:
Show and Tell." This provocative 29-page report provides
an in-depth look at the XML protocol -- the marketplace,
solution elements, standards and standards organizations,
as well as a focused look into the potential of this promising
technological development. In this report, Meridien predicts
that most financial institutions will be hesitant to embark
on any major initiatives in the near future due to the lack
of agreement on standards surrounding XML.
"In order to work more effectively with B-to-B
enterprises, financial institutions need to incorporate XML
into their transactional workflows." said David Potterton,
Research Director at Meridien Research. "The benefits of
XML to these institutions can be significant both from an
operational and customer service perspective. Despite these
benefits, we believe that most will wait for standards to
develop before getting deeply involved in projects involving
XML. In the meantime, many will continue to examine and evaluate
how this protocol can be integrated into both their business
and IT infrastructures."
Online Customer Service Part of B2B Relationships
Online customer service (OCS), originally the concern of retail establishments
trying to maintain ties with their customers, is carving out a new role in
the world of business-to-business financial services. In "Online Customer
Service for B-to-B Relationships," Meridien Research looks at the ways financial
institutions can better meet the needs and expectations of their business
customers using the Internet. The amount of money businesses are spending
externally on these solutions is expanding by 33% a year.
"As financial institutions have increased the
delivery of their products and services over the Internet,
they inevitably confront the question of customer support
and service. There is new evidence that online customer service
can meet the operational requirements of businesses," said
Bill Bradway, research director at Meridien.
The report analyzes eight vendor solutions
across four types of online customer service: e-mail management,
live chat, Web collaboration, and voice-over-IP. Movement
is now towards suites of product solutions that contain and
integrate all four. The challenge for vendors is to provide
CSRs, and other staff in some cases, with a unified view
of the business customer's information and interaction history
in an easy-to-use solution.
Meridien looks at the marketplace by geographic
and financial industry segment, observing that OCS solutions
are making inroads. Selected B-to-B lines of business will
dominate as innovators and early adopters, while other lines
of business follow as mainstream or laggard adopters.
The report contains case studies from two medium-sized
firms competing in the securities and investment market segment.
"Through 2004, we expect OCS solutions to
be deployed in the B-to-B market in waves. The first wave
will focus on e-mail management; the second, on Web chat
and collaboration; followed by the third focused on voice-over-IP," said
Bill Bradway. "As financial institutions realize the business
benefits these new capabilities will have on improved and
expanded customer service, the next wave will build.
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2000 News Archive
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