Retail banks have developed complex IT infrastructures which aren't always suitable to meet new demands in the changing competitive environment. Datamonitor believes that banks require new application architectures that will meet operational requirements for at least 10 years, allowing them to amortize their investments and to first embrace and then leverage upcoming technologies and trends.

Report Highlights
Banks are revisiting application architecture strategies in light of changing operational requirements. Many of the world's retail banks have unintentionally created complex application 'landscapes', often with a minimal degree of integration and an over-reliance on 'silos' for specific functions.

Legacy integration infrastructure struggles to deliver efficiencies in modern retail banking. The transition to a customer-centric, multi-channel approach represents a development where institutions must move to a more flexible and streamlined integration architecture if they are to remain competitive.

Developing a seamless multi-channel experience for customers requires a fully integrated infrastructure. SOA provides the most flexible and cost-effective solution to achieve this aim. The combination of SOA-enabling future internal IT infrastructure and the selective use of SaaS is an optimum application architecture strategy for retail banks.
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Table 1: Return on investment (ROI) calculation for measuring SOA benefits 21
Figure 1: Enterprise architecture hierarchy 6
Figure 2: Industrialization as a key driver in application architecture strategy 8
Figure 3: Point-to-point architecture 10
Figure 4: Messaging bus architecture allows scalability but can suffer from high costs 12
Figure 5: ESB uses open standards to integrate applications on different platforms 14
Figure 6: High-level application architecture strategy of a Tier 1 retail bank 17
Figure 7: Area of investment for single biggest IT project in current budget year 19
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