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*** Make a note: Meridien's Annual Summit Conference will be in Cambridge, MA, on May 20-21, 2002!***

New at Meridien Research for January 17, 2002

1. From Policy to Practice: Privacy Management Solutions
2. XML: Are We Speaking the Same Language?
3. Buy-Side OMS: Several Steps Closer to STP
4. Top Ten Strategic IT Initiatives in Wholesale Financial Services for 2002
5. Top Ten Wholesale for 2002 Web cast


Registered clients can access research directly. If you are a client but are not registered, or if you are a guest, please visit our Web site to register for a user name and a password.
http://www.meridien-research.com/


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Latest Findings from Meridien:

1. From Policy to Practice: Privacy Management Solutions
(Customer Relationship Management/Customer Interaction Client Access)
http://www.meridien-research.com/doc.asp?docid=819
This is the third Meridien report in a series that deals with privacy issues worldwide. Advanced technology has made customer data more mobile than ever. Financial institutions analyze, transmit, and store sensitive customer data every day to deliver products and services to their customers in an efficient and effective manner. But technological advancements have also created an environment in which financial institutions can sell customer data to third parties or inadequately protect customer information. Regulators may stipulate which data can be collected and how it can be used, but customers may have their own set of stipulations. It is up to the institution to balance these demands. This report defines privacy management and examines three vendors offering privacy management middleware solutions.

2. XML: Are We Speaking the Same Language?
(Wholesale e-Financial Client Access)
(Emerging Trading Technologies Client Access)
(Retail e-Financial Client Access)
http://www.meridien-research.com/doc.asp?docid=820

Technologists may not be uttering "XML" with quite the battle-cry zeal they did last year, but XML standardization efforts trudge on. XML remains a crucial consideration for organizations as they make their technology decisions. This report updates a previous Meridien report on XML, which focused largely on the business-to-business marketplace arena. Much of the immense market push in that direction has slowed along with the rest of the economy. In the meantime, belt-tightening and budget scrutiny are leading many institutions to pursue internal initiatives that can for now bring them more immediate and assured return on investment than might more outwardly focused, multi-institution efforts. This report updates some of the standardization efforts and provides some new coverage in an effort to shed light on the areas where the financial industry will more than likely focus in the next several years.

3. Buy-Side OMS: Several Steps Closer to STP
(Emerging Trading Technologies Client Access)
http://www.meridien-research.com/doc.asp?docid=823

Order management systems, or OMSs, facilitate the intrafirm processing of securities trading. The growth and acceptance of processing power and networking technologies have allowed OMSs to expand beyond simple order management. This growth has encouraged the centralization of several front-, middle-, and back-office and compliance functionalities into one solution. As straight-through processing becomes more important for firms, an OMS offers a relatively easy and proven way of starting down this road. This report examines the components of an OMS, various vendors providing OMS solutions, the OMS marketplace, and how a buy-side firm uses OMS technology.

4. Top Ten Strategic IT Initiatives in Wholesale Financial Services for 2002
(Guest access)
http://www.meridien-research.com/misc/top10_2002.asp

Meridien Research's third annual IT analysis identifies the top ten initiatives that will have key strategic importance for the wholesale financial services industry in 2002. This special report summarizes and forecasts spending on these initiatives, considering industry segment and geographic region.

5. Top Ten Wholesale for 2002 Web cast
Wednesday, January 30, 2002; 11AM
Presenter: Bill Bradway
(Open to the public)
http://www.meridien-research.com/events/webcast/
This Web cast, based on our recently released report, will identify what Meridien believes will be the top ten initiatives having key strategic importance for the wholesale financial services industry in 2002.

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