Case study

IBM enables standards interoperability
The SWIFT MyStandards Base Libraries allows
IBM to provide enhanced customer service byenabling interoperability with other products
in multi-vendor environments.
From the world’s largest
financial market firms to banks
worldwide, IBM offers creative
solutions to drive growth anddifferentiation. IBM Provides
various product and service
offerings supporting the SWIFT
Network. One of these products
is IBMWebSphere Business
Integrations for Financial
Networks which delivers anintegration platform for financial
applications.

Benefits

Many software vendors have created their own XML
representations of the SWIFTNet MT messages inorder to support the FIN standard in modern software
infrastructures. Instead of developing and maintaining its
own SWIFT MT message definitions, IBM will now beusing definitions provided by SWIFT as part of the SWIFT
MyStandards Base Libraries (MBL) - previously known as
the Standards Developer Kit (SDK). This approach allows
IBM to provide better service to its customers by enabling
interoperability with other products in multi-vendor
environments. It also lowers internal development andmaintenance costs, while freeing skilled developers to workon more strategic, value-added projects.

Quality of message definitions	Interoperability in multi-vendor	
environments
Allows skilled resources to work on	
value-added development
Enables the use of non-XML message	standards in modern infrastructures

Background
IBM is an important provider of
SWIFTenabled integration products,
ranging from market-leading Enterprise
Application Integration (EAI) to SWIFTNet
connectivity products. Providing supportfor SWIFT MT standards in these products
requires significant investment from IBM,in terms of both initial development andthe ongoing maintenance required totrack the standard as it evolves.
IBM’s SWIFT products are built on thecompany’s WebSphere integration suite.
WebSphere is a modern platform; its
capabilities are oriented towards theuse of XML, which is now the dominant

technology for data integration. Using
modern integration technology likeWebSphere for non-XML formats, such as
SWIFT MT messages, can be challenging.
The MT standard is updated annuallyin response to demands for new
functionalities from the financial industry.
The changes are published in the SWIFT
User Handbook, an online documentthat describes in detail each of the 247
userto- user messages that make up
the standard. Like other vendors in thismarket, IBM runs annual maintenanceprojects for its MT-enabled products tomaintain compatibility with the updated
message definitions. Each projectinvolves analyzing the update; specifying,documenting and implementing therequired changes to the products’
proprietary internal definitions; testing
the result; and finally distributing thenew definitions to customers. Time-tomarket is critical. After all, in order to beable to implement standards changes intheir back-office systems ahead of themandatory deadline, customers need theupdated definitions as soon as SWIFT
publishes the final update.
To address the combined challenge
posed by the MT standard’s legacy
format and the regular updates, SWIFT
has created a library of XML schemas thatprovide detailed definitions of each MT
message (see The MBL MT-XML Schema
Library ). Message definitions in the formof XML schemas can be consumed
directly by XML-oriented platforms, whichsignificantly reduces the time required
to implement standards updates. Using
schemas to define MTs also means that
MT messages can be processed internallyas XML, allowing the full range of XML
technologies to be used. Moreover,seeing that the schemas are provided by
SWIFT - the source of the standard - thehighest quality is guaranteed.
The schemas are provided as part of
the SWIFT MyStandards Base Libraries(MBL), a downloadable package ofprocessable standards information.
Subscribers to the MBL gain access tothe full set of schemas and updates thatare published to coincide with standards
releases. Sample software that illustrates
how to convert a message in native MT
format to MT-XML, and from MT-XML toMT, is also provided.
To take advantage of the benefits ofthe MBL, IBM has therefore chosen toswitch from a proprietary approach toMT support to the MBL MT-XML schema
library in current and future releases ofits primary SWIFT product, WebSphere
Business Integration for Financial
Networks (WBIFN).

Drivers
There are several reasons why using
standards definitions from the MBL arepreferable to developing and maintaining
proprietary equivalents. The most obvious
drivers centre on cost of development
and time-to-market. By using off-the-shelfdefinitions of MTs, IBM is spared the costand effort of building and maintaining anequivalent proprietary solution, and canget new MT definitions into the hands ofcustomers more quickly.
Another advantage of the MBL is thatit allows IBM to continue its productstrategy of moving ‘up the stack’ – thatis, investing in product functionalities
that offer real business benefits anddifferentiation, over and above basic
standards support. Using the MBL
schemas frees up skilled resources who
can be allocated to more value-added
development projects instead. Moreover,finding engineers with the required skill
set to maintain MT-format solutions is
not an easy task, whereas, XML skills
are relatively plentiful. A solution whereby
XML technology is used for both MT andMX messages, and which allows MTs
to be implemented without the needfor detailed MT knowledge, promises
sustained cost reductions and resource
flexibility.
Many WebSphere Business Integration for
Financial Networks (WBIFN) customers
use a variety of middleware productsin their IT environments, from IBM as
well as from other vendors. System
integration would be greatly simplified
if these middleware products featured
a single XML standard for MT message
definitions. As SWIFT, IBM and others
adopt the MBL MT-XML Schema Library,
it is well on its way to becoming that defacto standard.
IBM champions the SWIFT-provided
definitions, as it leads to significant
longterm benefits for its customers
and for the SWIFT community at large.
Particularly as banks continue to
implement serviceoriented architectures,a process that tends to create complex
integration problems, XML-based tools
prove they are the natural solution.
It is these long-term advantages, rather
than the immediate cost-savings, thatIBM sees are the real benefit of the MBL
approach.

“The strategic advantage ofincreasing interoperability
between the various SWIFTenabled products in a typicalcustomer’s integration
landscape is the key longterm driver for IBM to movein this direction.”
Toni Friedrich, Executive ITArchitect Payment
Systems, IBM, at IBM’s development centre in
Böblingen, Germany

The MBL MT-XML Schema Library
The MT-XML Schema Library is acomplete set of schema definitionsfor MT messages, and softwarethat demonstrates how to convert
messages from an MT format to anXML representation and back.
XML Schema is a W3C (The WorldWide Web Consortium) standard to
define the structure and content ofXML documents.
XML and schema technology iswell supported in modern businesscomputing platforms, and is used forXML-validation and transformation fromMT to XML. By treating MT messages
as XML, all the MBL XML tools can beapplied to MT implementation, thereby
making the standards development
and implementation process simpler
and more cost-effective.

Components

Conclusion

MT-XML schemas – define the business
content of each message type and aschema that defines the header and trailer
elements common to all message types.

The MT-XML schema library is one ofseveral MBL components designed toreduce the need for manual standards
update projects for partners andcustomers.

MT-XML conversion reference – uses
sample Java source code to convert
a message in MT format to an XML
instance and from an XML instance to amessage in MT format.

Solution Overview
The MyStandards Base Libraries
The machine readable standards
information used by IBM will be available
to SWIFT customers and partners during
2009, following the completion of a pilot
programme currently targeted for the thirdquarter of 2009. It is one component ofSWIFT’s MyStandards Base Libraries,
a coherent set of resources aimed at
supporting all phases of standards
implementation, from analysis, throughto design, build, document and test.
The Standards Developer Kit includes amachine-readable repository of message
meta-data, which can be consumed in avariety of forms.

“It is clearly inefficient for
the SWIFT communitythat large numbers ofpartners and customers
independently develop
and maintain incompatible
implementations of SWIFT
and ISO standards. Our aimwith the MBL is to reduce
the Total Cost of Ownershipof SWIFT for the financial
industry, by implementing
these things once, using
standard technology so thatthe maximum number ofstakeholders can benefit.”

55924 - FEB 20165

Adam Moulson, Head of Implementation, SWIFTStandards

SWIFT © 2016

About SWIFT
SWIFT is a member-owned cooperativethat provides the communications
platform, products and services toconnect more than 10,800 banking
organisations, securities institutions
and corporate customers in over 200
countries and territories. SWIFT enables
its users to exchange automated,
standardised financial information securely
and reliably, thereby lowering costs,
reducing operational risk and eliminating
operational inefficiencies. SWIFT also
brings the financial community together
to work collaboratively to shape market
practice, define standards and debate
issues of mutual interest.
For more information, please contact yourSWIFT account manager or visit
http://mystandards.swift.com/mystandardsbase-libraries
For more information about IBM’s messaging
products, please contact your IBMsales
representative or visit
www.ibm.com/software/integration/wbifn