Example of Specification of Proposed Solution (tE1)


1 Introduction

1.1 Purpose of the document
The specification of proposed solution is intended for checking the technical implementability of the planned customer information system described below and to identify a possible solution path.

1.2 Validity of the document
The specification of proposed solution is based on the compelling requirement to essentially do the job with the existing HW resources. It has also been assumed that the new version of our Super-Banker system solution which has already been announced will not be available for operation by March 199x and that own development work will be needed.

1.3 Definitions of terms and abbreviations
BIS: Bank Branch Information System
LAN: Local Area Network
Super-Banker: System solution for handling bank payment transactions

1.4 Relationship with other documents
Information on the various functions of the new Super-Banker version has been obtained from the internal functional description.


2 Purpose, goal and application of the solution

Information on a bank branch's customers and their accounts should be managed in a single information system. Its primary goals are:

  • to provide fast, up-to-date information on customers and their accounts in order to provide customers with fast and comprehensive information
  • to support administration of payment transactions in order to ensure cost-effective and reliable processing of these transactions
  • to automatically process standing orders and account closures

Account statement printers are to be connected to the system so that the customer himself can retrieve information on an individual account. Bookings to external accounts are transferred via remote data transmission to a (by that time) existing central system for processing.

Training courses are provided for bank staff. A maximum of two employees per branch who already have a basic knowledge of IT will be trained to administrator level in an additional course.  

3 Preliminary requirements

Customers' requirements are recorded in the form of a brief memo (an extract is set out below):

"All aspects of account management, cash (deposits and withdrawals), semi-cash (cashing of checks) and cashless payment transactions (transfers) conducted by our branches have so far been handled by an account management system. However, the current systems failed to provide adequate support to our staff and in particular to customer advisers. Information on customers and their accounts had to be extracted laboriously from each individual account. Even simple queries and calculations relating to multiple accounts held by a single customer could not be dealt with by the customer adviser directly.

We are hoping that a bank branch information system capable of extending the existing functionality of the account management system and of automating the processing of queries by customer advisers will make life easier for our staff. We are also hoping to enhance customer support and improve productivity."

4 Proposed solution

Functionality, external behavior

A superordinate Bank Branch Information System (BIS) must be set up for the clients' various branches. The functionality and external behavior of this system can be subdivided initially into the following five areas - account management, payment transactions, information services, automatic operation and system management:

a) Account management
The analysis of the customer and account data which needs to be managed reveals that the following functionalities are needed:

  • Setting up new accounts
  • ...

b) Payment transactions
Payment transactions require the following functionalities:

  • Deposits to and withdrawals from customer accounts
  • ...

c) Information services
Discussions with customer advisers indicate that the following types of queries need to be supported:

  • Produce an up-to-date statement for account "007"
  • ...

d) Automatic operation
An analysis of the various system tasks that need to be automatically processed reveals a whole array of time-critical, periodic functionalities:

  • Booking of standing orders which fall due
  • ...

e) System management
System management supports administrators in their work by providing the following types of services:

  • Creating backups of the complete data
  • ...

User profile

Only staff employed by the bank branch are allowed to use the Bank Branch Information System. These users can be categorized into three groups:

  • Tellers process cash transactions
  • ...

Acceptance criteria

The primary criteria are the run times of the various functions and the correctness of payment transactions and automatic operation, etc.

Development, operational and maintenance environments, interfaces, constraints

Each branch should have a local copy which functions independently of the systems used by other branches. For this purpose, each branch will be provided with a host computer connected to several graphical terminals. The system supports multi-user operation.

The development and maintenance environment for the project is provided by a UNIX operating system, while the operational environment takes the form of a VAX / VMS operating system. Data transfer between the external central system and BIS is via a Datex-P dedicated line.

The system is equipped with an interface to a laser printer (unknown make) and a statement printer (Siemens Nixdorf).

A graphical user interface of a popular standard (e.g. OSF Motif) must be integrated.

...

5 Proposed solution path

The system is based on a client/server architecture with local network (LAN).

All customer and account data is stored in a relational database. Storage of the static basic data, i.e. the General Terms and Conditions, interest tables and charge rates has not yet been clarified. The client is attending to data procurement. This does not fall within the scope of the project.

X/open is a suitable tool for the graphical user interface.

Changes and/or extensions (updates) to the static basic data are global and are recorded in the central system. The central system transfers its updates to the branch systems which automatically adopt the changes.

Cash payment transactions (deposits and withdrawals) which only access accounts in these branches are dealt with within the BIS. Semi-cash payment transactions which involve accessing external accounts (e.g. encashing a Eurocheck) are initially treated by the BIS as payments relating to a special account. This special account processes the payment as if it were a transfer.

Cashless payment transactions are subdivided into various categories. Standing orders are handled by the BIS. The internal account is given the appropriate debit entry, while the credit entry is either transferred to the central system or credited to another account at this branch. Transfers are passed unprocessed to the external trading department where they are processed. They do not need to be examined here in any further detail.

6 Possible solution alternatives

Technical alternatives are virtually ruled out due to the need to integrate the solution into the existing system.

One fact which needs to be borne in mind, however, is that our Super-Banker system solution supports the precise function required for automated responses to customer adviser inquiries and is already being used successfully by a number of customers.

It is therefore advisable in principle to examine and assess two alternatives:

  • Porting and adapting the required function set supported by Super-Banker to the needs of the customer
  • Provision of the entire Super-Banker system with migration or integration of the existing solution (a list of the differences in the functionalities is required)

Siemens AG Österreich, Program and Systems Engineering PSE
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Last modified: 08/27/98 15:41
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