AI has become an integral part of software testing: Digital transformation requires an ever-growing number of features going live in ever shorter cycles. This calls for an ever-higher level of test automation with a special focus on faster availability and changeability. Read more about the most fascinating issues relating to the topic in the experts’ discussion, which was held together with the testing experts of the entertainment industry.

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The future of software testing is clearly moving towards automation. In this context, faster availability, changeability, and maintainability are the focus of an increasing number of agile projects. Particularly the advancing digitisation with its hunger for new features in shorter and shorter cycles presents testing with ever-growing challenges. A discussion panel with testing experts from the telecommunication and software industry from Germany and Austria. Find out more about AI in Software Testing in our SDS Whitepaper.

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The future of software testing lies in a strong increase in the degree of automation, with a special focus on fast availability, changeability, and maintainability in agile projects. The path to fast and fail-safe test automation leads via the use of artificial intelligence to achieve the best possible quality on time and at low cost. Learn more about the most exciting questions on the topic in our next SDS WEBINAR, created together with leading telco industry experts (available in German only). Watch here.

SDS (Software Daten Service) today announced it has earned Oracle Exadata Optimized status through Oracle PartnerNetwork (OPN), demonstrating that SDS GEOS 7.9.0 has been tested and tuned on Oracle Exadata Database Machine to deliver speed, scalability, and reliability to customers. SDS is a Platinum level member of OPN.

Only a few companies manage to set new digital standards with the disruptive change happening in the financial industry and at the same time guarantee security in maximum performance dimensions. As part of a proof of concept (PoC) conducted at the Oracle Solutions Center, the throughput of SDS GEOS securities order processing was measured. The test of SDS GEOS 7.9.0 was conducted on an Oracle Exadata X8M configured as a database system with a two-node RAC, with a total of 32 CPU cores and 64GB memory assigned to the workload, which resulted in a more than convincing throughput of 795.9 orders/sec compared to the currently acceptable100 to 400 orders per second. This clearly demonstrates that SDS GEOS runs very efficiently on Oracle Exadata Database Machine and that SDS is a future-proof and secure partner for the highest workloads.

Oracle Exadata Optimized is part of the Oracle Exastack Optimized program which enables partners, such as SDS, to leverage OPN enablement resources and dedicated lab environments to help develop, test, and tune their applications on Oracle Exadata engineered systems.

By achieving Oracle Exadata Optimized status, Oracle recognizes SDS for developing, testing, and tuning SDS GEOS on Oracle Exadata. This accomplishment is a testament to SDS’s ability to deliver the extreme performance and reliability customers require.

“Together with Oracle, SDS was able to test a new performance dimension in the processing of securities orders. This is a very important indicator that shows the limits of the performance of banking systems and associated transaction service providers can be surpassed, especially when needed in a volatile and strongly crisis-driven trading environment. A level of around 100 to 400 orders per second is usually sufficient for large securities traders in the most significant financial markets in Europe to guarantee their customers an immediate dispatch to the trading center even in times of extremely high order volumes. This requirement was outperformed by up to 700% in our laboratory test, providing clear evidence that SDS GEOS runs very efficiently on Oracle and that SDS is a future-proof and secure partner for the highest workloads in this technology stack,” comments SDS Managing Director Ernst Kendlbacher on the results for Oracle Exastack Optimized.

“Oracle Exastack Optimized recognizes partners who have optimized their solutions on a complete, integrated and cloud-ready infrastructure in order to help them accelerate innovation, unlock new features and functionality, and deliver superior value to users,” said David Hicks, Vice President, Worldwide ISV Ecosystem Business Development, Oracle. “By achieving Oracle Exadata Optimized status, SDS has demonstrated that SDS GEOS is tested and tuned to work with Oracle Exadata to help deliver optimum performance, scalability, and reliability to their customers.”

To find out more, visit http://www.sds.at, http://www.oracle.com/partners/goto/exastack, http://www.oracle.com/partners.

On 21-22 October 2020, the first virtual SDS Community Forum took place with the active participation of international SDS customers and business partners. The concept of bundling expert and management rounds – previously organised on a product-specific basis – in a cross-portfolio event was realised in a completely digital form. This was on the one hand due to SDS’ promise of “Setting Digital Standards” and on the other hand, of course, due to the current pandemic framework conditions. The two virtual days of the forum were characterised by professional and exciting content. According to the motto of the event “Shaping the future together”, SDS also presented (additionally to the current highlights and future-oriented projects regarding the SDS product and service portfolio) a multitude of topics from the areas of securities processing with a focus on corporate actions and settlement, regulatory reporting, cost transparency as well as securities compliance and invited to regulatory focus sessions on SHRD, CSDR and ECMS. The programme was rounded off by cross-cutting issues such as process optimisation, project reporting, cloud readiness or testing innovations.

The number of participants surpassed the expectations and goals of SDS. The feedback of the customer community on the individual sessions – in terms of content as well as format – was thoroughly positive. The interactive exchange of lessons learned, expectations and new ideas via the digital event and interaction tool worked excellently and was well accepted by the participants.

Niv Graf, Head of SDS Service Delivery Management and organiser of the event, adds: “With the SDS Community Forum, we have successfully established a new interactive format for our customer community. We are very satisfied with the results regarding acceptance, dialogue and feedback quality. We will continue to use and enhance the SDS Community Forum as a platform for cooperation and exchange, but also for criticism, ideas and challenges. SHAPING THE FUTURE TOGETHER: Nomen est omen.”

The Raiffeisen Banking Group and SDS announce the signing of a cooperation agreement for further years. The Austrian Raiffeisen Banking Group is the country’s largest banking group with the densest network of banks and around 2.8 million retail customers in Austria. Via Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI), the group is represented in 13 markets in Central and Eastern Europe. The Austrian company SDS (Software Daten Service) is one of the leading providers of modern banking technologies in securities processing, tax, and compliance automation as well as associated services in Europe. Via its owner T-Systems International, it is part of Deutsche Telekom AG.

The two companies can look back at a long and successful history together. Before SDS was taken over by T-Systems International in 2004, SDS with its flagship product SDS GEOS had been owned by RZB (Raiffeisen Zentralbank) for 11 years, which itself took over the banking software provider from Schoellerbank in 1993. During this partnership of almost 30 years, not only one of the most competitive solutions for automated securities and derivative processing in Europe was developed in the form of SDS GEOS, but also a comprehensive portfolio of internationally successful additional products for tax regulation or securities compliance and a software testing division that is strongly sought after in German-speaking countries, including companies outside the banking sector, was created.

Through the specialised subsidiaries and associated companies of the Raiffeisen Banking Group, it is possible to meet the individual needs of each customer group and to provide an all-round financial service “under one roof”. For example, RBI in Austria is specialised on commercial banking and investment banking business and advises the country’s top 1,000 companies as a corporate finance bank and a bank for export financing. The all-round financial service of the Raiffeisen banking group also includes financial services of Raiffeisen specialist companies such as the investment company Raiffeisen Capital Management, Raiffeisen Versicherung, Raiffeisen-Leasing or Raiffeisen Bausparkasse.

The Raiffeisen Banking Group must count on a strong, reliable, and innovative technology partner not only because of its great international market success but also, and in particular, to ensure future competitiveness in the light of the dynamic changes in international banking. These changes are driven by growing market and consumer digitalisation, the demand for and use of artificial intelligence, disruptive market participants, and the highest efficiency and response requirements, to mention only the most important of the current challenges.

SDS Managing Director Ernst Kendlbacher comments: “We are in the middle of a digital revolution in the banking sector. Innovations in terms of creating new processes and adapting to new technologies are essential for a healthy future. Raiffeisen will continue to purchase SDS products on a large scale in the future, thus further demonstrating its confidence in our portfolio. The new contract also includes all relevant security and regulatory requirements for the Raiffeisen group. A great success for both contract partners.” Edzard Janssen, Head of Group Procurement, Outsourcing, and Cost Management of Raiffeisen Bank International AG adds:  “In order to be sustainably successful in competition, it is important to work with professional and innovative partners.”

The article also discusses the shortcomings of traditional software design concepts of transaction-processing systems when it comes to SLA monitoring and user guidance. The paper identifies the absence of a formalized description of the SLA as one of the major obstacles for the implementation of appropriate controls. As an alternative, the paper proposes a design that allows for such a formal description, which can be directly linked to specific processing rules, checks and parameter settings of the custody software. The current authors expect such a design to help business teams to proactively monitor potential upcoming SLA violations, therefore increasing SLA compliance and reducing operational risk.

To get the full version of the article, please use the download option on the right.

COMPETITIVE SITUATION, ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF CLOUD APPLICATIONS.

The financial industry is facing dynamic changes in terms of IT infrastructure and operations that are hard to predict. Whereas in the past decade strategy and business models, in particular, have been questioned and revised, not least due to massive regulatory changes and the entry of new competitors such as FinTechs, “innovative technologies” and “digitalisation” are now the top issues that decisively determine the competitiveness of a financial intermediary.

The high pressure to innovate due to the increased expectations of bank customers has resulted in new financial products, services and service channels. Keeping pace with increased expectations through ongoing innovations while guaranteeing stable operational processes and securing high investment costs makes digitalisation projects a complex management task.

A key to success in accomplishing these tasks could be the advancing cloudification of back-end solutions. Whether for internal processes, organisation or the development of new business models and customer benefit – the opportunities offered by the topic of ‘Cloud’ have a positive effect on the progress of market participants in the international financial industry. Despite initial obstacles, whether in connection with security, legal, business, or technology issues, the signs point to growth. Decision-makers in banks put established processes to the test, assessments determine the best way into the cloud and experts rack their brains over the latest product and its placement on the market. Surveys have shown that market participants are pushing their cloud strategy within the next five years by implementing clear growth plans and a corresponding capital market business. For these ambitious plans to be successfully implemented, important issues such as the competitive situation, the advantages, and disadvantages of cloud applications, or the possibilities in terms of type of operation and the like must be clarified in advance.

How can cloudification increase competitiveness in the financial industry?

Especially on the important target dates, the end of the month, the end of the quarter, or upon preparing the annual financial statements, the demands on the resources of the IT operation increase massively due to the extensive reporting requirements for different stakeholders of a financial intermediary. But also the volatility on the markets, for example on the day of the BREXIT decision, leads to unexpected operational peaks in daily banking operations. The operating environment is to be adjusted to this maximum load, which leads to high permanent costs in traditional IT systems.

Through fast, flexible, and automated scaling of IT resources, cloudification enables financial institutions to react dynamically to continuously changing volumes and they no longer depend on rigid IT structures. Cloudification enables fast, flexible, and automated scaling of computing power, the ability to react dynamically to the ever-changing daily business.

Furthermore, the introduction of new financial services and banking applications is much more efficient, as providers can adjust their applications to standardised cloud platforms and these no longer have to be adapted to the individual IT infrastructures of financial institutions at high expense.

Why does the financial industry lag behind other industries in the use of this sourcing opportunity?

The migration to cloud platforms in the financial industry is progressing very slowly in some areas – due to uncertainties in the interpretation of requirements of the bank supervision regarding operational safety and outsourcing, but also due to commercial and technical aspects. Cloud computing has been a key topic of numerous conferences and informal circles in the industry for over a decade, yet it is still far from being fully accepted.

Especially in the area of automated tax reporting, there are a number of challenges that can hinder the timely introduction of cloud solutions by banks and other financial institutions. Security concerns, legal issues as well as commercial and technical aspects are on the agenda of decision-makers and experts. However, if the institutions are able to successfully overcome these obstacles in the near future, cloud solutions can be an excellent way to optimise the infrastructure and thus improve – to stay with the above example – tax reporting.

With a specific combination of different cloud operating models, these obstacles can already be overcome today.

What options for cloud operation are being checked by the financial industry and what are the advantages and disadvantages of the individual models?

The migration to the cloud typically begins with defining the objectives and choosing the cloud model. It is important to note that the cloud model to be chosen is highly dependent on these objectives. The objectives and reasons are varied and range from cost optimisation (CAPEX/OPEX control) to a lack of in-house competence in operating distributed application environments. The cloud models offered include “Public cloud”, “Private cloud” and “Hybrid cloud”.

Public cloud

In the public cloud, customers rent the entire IT infrastructure of cloud providers on a flexible basis and share it with other customers. This means that no capital is invested in physical data centre infrastructures and all required capacities can be dynamically adapted to the daily business.

Private cloud

By contrast, a private cloud is exclusively available to a single customer. Hosting and administration is carried out internally via own resources (e.g. IT centre) or via appropriately qualified service providers. Compared to the public cloud, this offers the customers more creative leeway and perceived security at higher costs.

Hybrid cloud

A hybrid cloud is a mixed form that bundles IT infrastructures from the public cloud and private cloud to combine the advantages of both approaches – depending on the requirements of the individual applications.

What are the core components for the deployment and operation of applications in the cloud?

The core component for standardised deployment into the cloud is the container technology, such as Docker or Kubernetes. Thus, a customised infrastructure can be set up easily, efficiently, and ad hoc. The concept “infrastructure as code” is not only used for software design and deployment, but also for testing and operation. Technical support in the provision of test environments is contributed by orchestration tools such as Kubernetes or complete container application platforms, which in addition to container management also include a solution for building automated build pipelines.

Which advantages can be realised on the basis of this standard and how flexibly can you switch between the different types of operation?

If applications are standardised for cloud services, any type of operation can be chosen; mixing and switching between types of operation is also possible to take full advantage of each.

For example, software testing (including load testing) could be carried out in a low-cost public cloud with anonymised data, while productive operation takes place in a private cloud or continues to be “on-premises” – without any difference regarding software, deployment and operation. The long waiting times for the deployment of a new environment, familiar from numerous projects, are dramatically shortened, thus reducing project costs and risks.

SDS relies on standard market cloud concepts and provides software solutions based on these standards. Our products can be operated on-premises as well as in the private or the public cloud. The possibility of switching at any time increases the independence of a financial institution that can comply with the requirements of the regulator, react immediately to relaxations/restrictions, and thus always produce at optimum cost. Our licensees can thus continue to meet the growing needs in a dynamic market environment and secure their competitiveness in the long run. In foreign tax reporting with the QI, FATCA, and CRS regimes, deployment in a cloud environment is particularly useful: The creation of reports is performed based on the target date, in short, labour-intensive periods. With SDS IREG, we are now able to offer a sophisticated and comprehensive solution in a highly efficient deployment model.

Find out more about the competitive situation, advantages and disadvantages of cloud applications in our SDS REPORT on the subject.

The financial industry is facing dynamic changes in terms of IT infrastructure and operations that are hard to predict. Whereas in the past decade strategy and business models, in particular, have been questioned and revised, not least due to massive regulatory changes and the entry of new competitors such as FinTechs, “innovative technologies” and “digitalization” are now the top issues that decisively determine the competitiveness of a financial intermediary.

A key to success in accomplishing these tasks could be the advancing cloudification of back-end solutions. Whether for internal processes, organization, or the development of new business models and customer benefit – the opportunities offered by the topic of ‘Cloud’ have a positive effect on the progress of market participants in the international financial industry. Despite initial obstacles, whether in connection with security, legal, business, or technology issues, the signs point to growth. Decision-makers in banks put established processes to the test, assessments determine the best way into the cloud and experts rack their brains over the latest product and its placement on the market.

SDS relies on standard market cloud concepts and provides software solutions based on these standards. Our products can be operated on-premises as well as in the private or the public cloud. The possibility of switching at any time increases the independence of a financial institution that can comply with the requirements of the regulator, react immediately to relaxations/restrictions, and thus always produce at optimum cost. SDS licensees can thus continue to meet the growing needs in a dynamic market environment and secure their competitiveness in the long run. In foreign tax reporting with the QI, FATCA, and CRS regimes, deployment in a cloud environment is particularly useful: The creation of reports is performed based on the target date, in short, labor-intensive periods. With SDS IREG, SDS is now able to offer a sophisticated and comprehensive solution in a highly efficient deployment model.

Find out more about the competitive situation, advantages, and disadvantages of cloud applications in our SDS REPORT on the subject.

On 17 May 2017, the Directive (EU) 2017/828 of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Directive 2007/36/EC as regards the encouragement of long-term shareholder engagement of exchange-listed companies in the European Union was issued (“Shareholder Rights Directive II”). The minimum requirements for its implementation were laid down in the Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2018/1212. In Austria, the provisions regarding European law were mainly incorporated in the Stock Exchange Act 2018 and in the Austrian Stock Corporation Act, in Germany they were incorporated in the German Stock Corporation Law as part of the implementation act ARUG II. Therefore, different abbreviations can often be found in the industry’s language use, such as SHRD, SRD II, ARRL or ARUG II, but basically they all refer to the same thing or its national implementation.

The declared objective of the Shareholder Rights Directive II is to create an attractive environment for shareholders of exchange-listed companies in the European Union and to further improve the corporate governance of these companies. As opposed to the previous directive, the Shareholder Rights Directive II also contains provisions for certain financial market actors such as intermediaries and institutional investors, who assume an important role in the identification of shareholders as well as in securing and dispatching information. The national law at the issuer’s place of business defines which specific obligations the intermediaries must fulfil in order to facilitate exercising the shareholder rights. The identification of shareholders and the transmission of information between the shareholders and the company shall be facilitated, the monitoring of the remuneration of individual directors shall be improved, business transactions with affiliated companies or persons shall be regulated more effectively and thus, transparency shall be enhanced. In the context of securities processing and thus our product SDS GEOS, this particularly concerns the area of shareholder identification and the transfer of information about company events between exchange-listed companies and their shareholders.

Find out more about the effects on European securities processing in our SDS REPORT.