On the surface, the investment banking and technology markets have little in common but both have complex terminologies that few people outside the industry understand. In the investment community, you have things Greek, like NOSTRO, SPEs and so on. Technology has an equally complicated array of terminology and three that are worth being aware of are Wiki, SOA and XML.

Wikis are software programs that are developed openly and can be built on by anyone on the web, Linux being a good example. SOA stands for service-oriented architecture, which allows many pieces of software to be linked easily into a whole. XML is the extensible mark-up language, which is much easier to use for web developments than previous languages.

These things are important to banking for a range of reasons. Wikis allow the fast development of software programs, such as the messaging structures to integrate data feeds into new trading desk platforms. Without finishing the program, the base development can be placed on the web (in ‘open source’) and developers can add to it for free. They do so because everyone can use the final product, and the more people add to the development, the more robust and functionally rich it becomes. For developments that are non-competitive, Wikis are economic.

SOA allows a rich tapestry of software to be put together in a complex development. Anyone can take a Wiki, add bespoke software and put it all together in a simpler manner than ever before.

A SOA can be plugged into any internet service through easy integration using XML. This language allows developers to integrate software on the internet simply: it is this service that is driving standards such as TWIST for commercial payments.

Wikis allow cost-effective program development, SOA allows the software to be plugged together with bespoke features in a way that makes it easy to work, and XML allows people to interface this with all the other networks and applications around the world with which they have to work.

It’s that simple, and only becomes complicated when IT people use their strange terms to confuse. However, bankers need to be aware of the terms that their IT staff are using if they want to communicate with them. Should bankers be buying anything without knowing what it means?

Chris Skinner is an independent financial commentator (www.balatroltd.com)

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