Banks need BPM

Banks and financial services providers put more of their revenue into IT than any other industry on the InformationWeek 500, allocating on average 6.3% of annual revenue toward the IT budget, reports Information Week.

But banks aren't putting enough emphasis on transformational technologies such as business process management (BPM) software, contends Forrester Research analyst Mary Pilecki.

Forty-seven percent of banks have widely deployed BPM, compared with 43% of all InformationWeek 500 companies. For efficiency, banks need to create common processes across the company, says Pilecki, and BPM could help them monitor regulatory changes at little cost.

Microsoft has unveiled BizTalk Server 2006 Release 2, a new release of its core enterprise application integration (EAI) offering, says IT Jungle.

With this release, Microsoft introduces "native" support for business-to-business technologies such as EDI, AS2, and RFID, and also delivers a new low-cost version designed for installation in branch offices.

BizTalk Server is Microsoft's core integration platform for connecting customers' enterprise applications, including those running on IBM System i servers, with the enterprise applications of their partners.

Dassault Syst`emes has released ENOVIA MatrixOne PLM FastTrack for Apparel, a PLM solution specifically geared toward the needs of small and medium-sized companies in the apparel industry, reports News Ticker.

In addition, PLM FastTrack for Apparel is an ideal solution for large companies looking to implement initial PLM projects in key business units.

The PLM FastTrack for Apparel solution is an all-inclusive solution of software and services designed for immediate return on investment with an implementation cycle of only a few weeks. This approach reduces time to market, improves quality and promotes innovation by consolidating design, production and BPM in a single collaborative environment.