Technology and architecture


C&W claimed that the original version of its system had a layered architecture which meant that the application code was separate from the platform dependent code. As a result, C&W was able to come up with a second version of the system running on Unix servers, with Windows or Windows NT clients. This version was installed on the Unix platforms of IBM and Bull (effectively both IBM’s RS/6000), Hewlett-Packard’s HP-UX, Siemens and Sequent. The port to the latter supposedly took a day and a half. Version 2 of the system used a transaction processing


monitor, in the form of BEA’s Tuxedo, and was ODBC compliant, allowing it to support Oracle, Informix, DB2 and others, as well as C-Isam files. In parallel, the system was turned into a more packaged offering, with C&W enhancing the management of releases, maintenance and support, documentation and training. Given the layered architecture, C&W claimed it would be relatively easy to add server support for Windows NT or for a TP monitor other than Tuxedo if there was the demand. A notable technical development came in 2007, in the form


of a mainframe version of Thaler, linked to an ongoing sales opportunity at BNP Paribas (see below). This was to support CICS and DB2, so running natively rather than via Linux. Benchmarks were carried out on a database of 40 million accounts.


The system still has a Cobol core, reflecting its 1990s roots. As befits a system with private and retail banking origins, Thaler was built around the customer. It is not object oriented as such, but does include a fair amount of reusability. Programs are relatively small and are linked by tools within an overall framework. User or country specific programs can be slotted in and called without impacting the core. Parameters are used to define conditions and tariffs,


reports, document layout and screens, as well as client specific routines. In total, there are 400–500 tables within the system. There are four parts to the architecture – basic data, bank products, management of the bank, and infrastructure. Basic data includes information on all third parties, conditions and tariffs, and credit lines. The bank product element is the core processing engine,


with the resultant data passed to the management domain. The infrastructure element includes the platform dependent features. There is a separate messaging component for incoming and outgoing communications. General functions are held centrally and reused when needed. They include routines for tasks such as interest calculations, schedule management and so on.


The system comes with toolsets comprising program


generators, a pre-compiler, screen generator (the system ran in a pseudo GUI environment before a full GUI front- end was added in 2000), database management tools, a data dictionary, document generator, menu definition tool, and configuration management tool. Most of the updating is intended to be in real-time, with relatively little batch processing.


The underlying platform was described as the FS Banking


Data Integration Layer and was positioned as the basis on which banks could build their own solutions. At the same time, C&W provided its own ‘solution packages’ on top of this. Current server platforms are all versions of Unix including


IBM and HP, plus Linux and IBM z/OS Series mainframe. There are GUI and browser options for the front-end. Oracle and DB2 are supported for the database. As well as Cobol at the back- end, there is Java at the back-end and front-end.


Universal Banking Systems Market Report | www.ibsintelligence.com 443


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