Masterclass 1

1
Masterclass 1

• An Introduction to IT for Banking Business
  Project Managers
• RT IT Consulting

2
Masterclass 1 Introduction to IT for Banking
Business Project Managers

• Core Concepts
• IT Operations vs. Application Development
• Infrastructure vs. Application Software
• Some Key Technical Ideas
• Packages vs. Home written Software
• IT Platforms
• Dumb Screen Technology
• Fat Client Technology
• Web Technology
• Testing

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3
3
Operations Vs. Application Development
100
Resource dedicated to day-to-day Resource
dedicated to injecting change
0
IT Operations/ Production
Applications Development
4
AD vs. Operations
Applications Development
IT Operations

• Tech
• Specialists
• Operators
• Managers
• Planners

Mainframe
Programme 1
Programme 3
Often Business Unit/ Division specific

• Tech
• Specialists
• Operators
• Managers
• Planners

Mid Range
Service Management
Problem Management
Change Management
Dynamic/ Frequent Changing hierarchies

• Tech
• Specialists
• Operators
• Managers
• Planners

Project 1
Project 2
Project 3
Distributed System
PMs, Analysts, Programmers, Testers

• Tech
• Specialists
• Operators
• Managers
• Planners

Telecom/ Voice
Resource Pool / Staff move from Project to
Project
5
Infrastructure vs. Application Software
AD own and change run and control
change introduction ITS own, run, control
change introduction
e.g. Web pages Access D/B structures totals in
spreadsheets e.g. Explorer Microsoft
Word NT the PC Workstation the LAN wires
Business Logic/ Application Software
IT Infrastructure
6
On-Line vs. Batch
On-Line Retail shop model unit of work is a
TXN user controls very user
visible users determine arrival rates and
sequencing Event driven real time behaviour
Batch Factory/production line model batches of
transactions rigid central control invisible
sequence fixed time driven 24-Hour
feedback time
7
Package vs. Home Written Software
Cost of S/W development is rising exponentially
For mainframe, UK Clearing
For mainframes industry Banks wrote in
house supplied to small Banks
1990s (all)
Business Logic
1990s 1990s 1980s
Database 1980s (less)
(part) Management 1990s 198
0s 1970s Teleprocessing/
1970s (part) (part)
(most) Middleware 1990s 1980s 1970s
1960s Operating System
1960s (none) (less) (less) (big part)
8
IT Platforms
Client Server Mid Range Main Frame Size 2 -
50 users 20 - 2,000 users 1,000s of
users Sharing 1 application per 1 or few
applications Many applications box per
box per box H/W PCs Tandem, Sun IBM
S/390 AS/400, HP, RS/6000 Operating NT,
Windows Unix or OS/390 System Proprietary D
BMS SQL Server Oracle or Proprietary DB2
NB This is all IT Operations owned
componentry
9
Dumb Screen Technology
Dumb Screen Essentially a TV a
keyboard Character based No Colour, No Fonts, No
Icons, No Variable size, No parallel processing
EARLY EIGHTIES
Central Computer
Poor User Interface

• PROGRAM
• Screen
• Layout
• Business
• Rules
• Data
• Retrieval
• Update

3270, VT100,
NOW
PC emulating a dumb screen Usually in a window

• PROGRAM
• Screen
• Layout
• Business
• Rules
• Data
• Retrieval
• Update

Prime Example A Banks Back Office
10
Fat Client Technology

• Program
• Screen Handling
• Business Rules
• Local Data

Program to Program Protocol
Central Computer

• PROGRAM
• Data Retrieval

Server
Client PC

• Positive
• Great User Interface

• Negative
• Impossible maintenance load for large
  organisations
• Cost per client rocketing

11
Web Technology
Central Computer

• Program
• Screen Layouts
• Business Rules
• Data Retrieval
• and Update

User PC
Internet Server

• Combines the best attributes of Dumb Screen
• Low PC Maintenance
• And Fat Client
• -Good User Interface

VERY PROMISING TECHNOLOGY
12
Key Things to Understand About Testing
The Application Development Lifecycle
EFFORT
TIME
FEASIBILITY
DEFINE
BUILD
IMPLEMENT

• The point of testing in IT projects is to avoid
  encountering problems that are unmanageable when
  the project
• goes live. It is a Risk Management tool.
• It is not the only risk management tool
• Testing is possible at all points in the
  lifecycle
• Testing is much cheaper earlier in the lifecycle
  but gives less certainty (errors can be
  introduced later on)

13
More Key Things to Understand About Testing
Testing after software is built is very expensive

• To run tests you have to build an environment
  with some
• known stored data and software, with some known
  inputs
• and anticipated outputs. The environment has to
  be
• repeatable and involves
• Dedicated H/W
• Dedicated ITS and AD Support
• Dedicated Data
• Business staff to work out what should happen,
  key inputs, validate outputs, make business
  parameter settings

PROCESS
INPUTS
OUTPUTS
STORED DATA
STORED SOFTWARE

• You cant test everything
• Trillions of combinations of customer types,
  product types, transaction types, channel types
  etc.
• Banking systems are horribly interconnected

You have to make choices about what not to test
14
Testing Jargon

• UNIT TEST
• SYSTEMS TEST
• USER ACCEPTANCE TEST
• (UAT)
• INTEGRATION TEST
• REGRESSION TEST
• OPERATIONS ACCEPTANCE
• TESTS (OAT)

• Individual programs work as individually expected
  an IT test No business involved
• A group of programs work together to achieve a
  business end an IT test, business may
• help to inform the test
• For a system a set of tests defined by a business
  department to decide whether the
• system works, normally based on functional
  specifications good discipline is that it is
• designed and run not by IT
• Test a group of systems together to see that the
  cross system aspects work (very
• expensive indeed).
• Tests to see that a change in one area has not
  messed up something somewhere else
• Can be as big as your wallet.
• IT Operations needs to be able to operate the
  system (start it, stop it, problem diagnose it
  etc.)
• Test that the test environment is fit to start
  being used for testing.

15
The V Model of Testing
V
Business idea (launch a new product, sell x,
profit y)
Market research post Launch
Regression Test
Solution context diagrams
Outline Solution Description
Integration Test
Functional Specification
Systems Test
Program Specs
Unit Test
Increasing cost