The IFX Standard A Oriented Framework for Businesses in the Financial s Industry March 2014
Agenda and Objectives Our primary goal today is to provide a high level overview of how the IFX Standard can serve as a framework for designing SOA solutions to meet your business requirements. Business Message Specification ( The Standard ) The IFX Framework Sneak preview of SOA Implementation Guide How to leverage membership Q&A Copyright IFX Forum, Inc. 2014 Slide 2
About IFX Forum, Inc. Since 1997 the mission of the IFX Forum has been to develop and promote adoption of an open, interoperable standard for the electronic exchange of financial data. The IFX Business Message Specification (BMS) is designed to meet the business requirements of the global financial services industry in the areas it addresses. The standard is based on Oriented Architecture (SOA) and object-oriented design principles. It is technology neutral but generally implemented using XML. In 2011 IFX formed the Liaison and Interoperability Work Group (LIWG) specifically for managing interoperability with other standards and to spearhead efforts such as: Submitting content to the ISO 20022 Registration Authority o IFX was a founding member of the IST Harmonization effort in 2003 which resulted in the formation of ISO 20022 in 2004 and the first payment initiation messages o Currently managing the implementation of stand-alone remittance messages approved by evaluation groups in Feb. 2014 Proof of concept with BIAN to implement their defined services using IFX In 2013 IFX formed the SOA Work Group to foster collaboration amongst members addressing best practices for SOA implementations. SOA Implementation Guide to be published in Q1 2014 Copyright IFX Forum, Inc. 2014 Slide 3
The IFX Standard The IFX standard is: A technology-neutral Business Message Specification The product of dozens of man-years of expert analysis. A powerful, scalable development framework practical and useful for many purposes Between financial institutions as a communication specification Within a financial institution as an internal messaging standard or part of its message hub Defining outsourced services and boundaries As a development and testing specification Copyright IFX Forum, Inc. 2014 Slide 4
Business Message Specification Everything is intended to satisfy real-world business requirements Independent of specific technology Independent of national boundaries Independent of corporate practices Applying best-practice SOA architectural principles Consistently applied, durable design patterns Resilient and adaptable to evolving business practices Flexible and extensible within specific environments Copyright IFX Forum, Inc. 2014 Slide 5
IFX Framework The fundamental underlying principle of the IFX Framework is this simple: Providers offer s to Clients. Client Application Request Response Provider Provider Infrastructure The standard is specifically designed to support stateless, multitiered communications between clients and servers Provider Infrastructure Provider Infrastructure Client Application Request Response Provider Provider Copyright IFX Forum, Inc. 2014 Slide 6
A Reliable Framework Consistent Design principles and patterns The IFX Standard is a message-based specification o where messages affect the state of well-defined objects o and objects are independent of service boundaries Standard Message Protocol Request-Response-Status Common Object Definitions with well defined data semantics IFX Message Framework Copyright IFX Forum, Inc. 2014 Slide 7
Rock Solid Base Content High Leverage Re-usability Work Groups and implementers extend functionality and data content to satisfy business needs Adaptable to almost any pre-existing service definitions Easily customized and extended within the framework Basic Banking Payment B2B/B2C EBPP ATM POS External Standard Branch s Your s Standard Message Protocol Common Object Definition IFX Message Framework Copyright IFX Forum, Inc. 2014 Slide 8
SOA Implementation Guide The SOA Work Group is finalizing an implementation guide Real-world examples Key concepts Best practices for customizations and extensions Keyword search to map your data to IFX Objects Code samples Publication expected at IFX Annual Members meeting April 9 11 in Orlando Copyright IFX Forum, Inc. 2014 Slide 9
IFX Objects and Messaging An IFX Object is a set of data that is organized according to a consistent pattern. IFX Objects are constructed from basic building blocks: Data Elements - single pieces of information with defined data types Data Aggregates - groups of related elements identified by a single name for convenience MsgRq Standard Request-Response Common Object Definition MsgRs Add Mod Del Can Inq Aud Adv Sync Status Party Account Payment Bill xxxrec +xxxsvcident xxxid +xxxinfo +xxxenvr +xxxstatus xxxsvcident SvcProviderName SvcName xxxstatus xxxstatuscode StatusDesc EffDt StatusModBy ObjectSpecificStatusData xxxinfo dataattributes (All object-specific instance data) xxxenvr Extends BaseEnvr CreatedDt LastUpdateDt LastUpdateRqUID LoginName PointOfData (Other data about the environment in which the object was created) ObjectSpecificEnvrData IFX Objects support a well-defined set of operations (or methods) that cause objects to be created, modified and destroyed Copyright IFX Forum, Inc. 2014 Slide 10
Your Definitions granularity is defined by implementers s may be exposed at macro level to external clients s may be distributed across internal infrastructure components s may be outsourced to partners Adaptable to almost any pre-existing service definitions Basic Banking New Accounts Balance Inquiry Party Mgmt BIAN Defined Etc. Standard Message Protocol Common Object Definition IFX Message Framework Copyright IFX Forum, Inc. 2014 Slide 11
Typical Implementation Steps At a high level, implementing a Web using the IFX Message standard can be broken down into the following steps: 1. Document the Business Process Flow 2. Define the scope and intent of service(s); identify required IFX Messages 3. Define IFX (s) consistent with process and scope 4. Map IFX Message/Object content to elements of System of Record (SOR) 5. Generate the supporting schema 6. Define the Interface / WSDL 7. Generate XML Bindings 8. Implementation and Deployment Copyright IFX Forum, Inc. 2014 Slide 12
Example Deployment Branch Sales Office External Credit Bureau Offer Management Mainframe or Server Farm Customer Management Card Management Accounting Document Management In an SOA view, capabilities are packaged and distributed for the convenience of business operations and for effective use of technology resources. Credit Check Data Base Infrastructure Customer Accounting Cards Document Image Storage WORM Properly granular definition of services allows for assembly of discreet functions to support a variety of business applications A flexible framework for reliable message and data Request exchange is necessary Client Application Response to properly implement capabilities in an SOA environment. The IFX Standard provides such a framework. Provider Provider Infrastructure Provider Provider Infrastructure Copyright IFX Forum, Inc. 2014 Slide 13
Additional Details about SOA I/G How to leverage the IFX Standard as a Framework Mapping existing Systems of Record to IFX How to extend the standard SOA best practices for implementation using IFX Code samples WSDLs Automated schema generation Data representation Java implementation Copyright IFX Forum, Inc. 2014 Slide 14
Ways to Leverage Membership There is no limit to the number of analysts, designers, programmers, architects, product managers, VPs, etc. that can participate in IFX meetings or have access to IFX members-only material. Members who get the most, give the most. Your business practices and requirements are best addressed by making sure IFX Forum knows what they are. Members who get the most from the standard have both business and technology participants involved. Easy to access and explore the BMS on-line. Anyone can do it! If IFX doesn t meet your needs it is easy to contribute new content to the standard. Even when Work Groups aren t meeting, they have active members paying attention to Architecture and bulletin board postings IFX Forum is about collaboration! Recently implemented a bulletin board for members and non-members to share best practices, current challenges, etc. Every WG has a shared work space proposals, emails, meeting minutes, etc. Consult with other members about how they solve business and/or technology problems Copyright IFX Forum, Inc. 2014 Slide 15
Common misconceptions Myths 1. The IFX Standard must be implemented exactly as specified in the BMS. 2. IFX is just for a) ATMs b) Home Banking c) EBPP 3. IFX is an XML standard IFX is a technical standard 4. IFX is a U.S. standard 5. IFX is a competitive standard to.. 1. ISO 20022 2. X9 and X12 3. BIAN Facts 1. There is no compliance-testing for IFX. It is intended as a framework; intentionally extendable. 2. The IFX standard has extensive content for those business areas (and others), but is not limited to those. 3. IFX is a technology neutral business message specification often expressed in XML terms 4. IFX is a global organization and intentionally adopts global requirements in the standard 5. IFX is a contributor to ISO 20022, has MoUs with X9, X12F and BIAN among others. 1. IFX has a work group devoted to interoperability with other standards 2. Members have access to pertinent work of other SDOs through IFX Copyright IFX Forum, Inc. 2014 Slide 16
Final Thoughts The IFX Standard can/should be viewed as a Framework The IFX Standard is about meeting Business Requirements in a way that can be practically implemented with SOA technology Participating in IFX Forum is all about collaboration with industry experts add value, take value! IFX Forum is also gateway to working with other SDOs such as ISO 20022, BIAN, and others Copyright IFX Forum, Inc. 2014 Slide 17
Additional Resources In addition to answering some questions here today, there is much more to be learned via the resources indicated below. Direct Inquiries To Organization Name IFX Forum Judith Vanderkay, Director, Public Relations info@ifxforum.org IFX Community Forum http://www.ifxforum.org/standards/discussion/ Reference Documents Topic Type of Document Reference to Document IFX Standards IFX Standard Online http://www.ifxforum.org/standards/standard/ IFX SOA Implementation Guide Previewed here today Expected to be published April 2014 Copyright IFX Forum, Inc. 2014 Slide 18
Questions Thank you for joining us here today. We hope to see you in Orlando immediately following the NACHA Payments 2014 Conference, April 9-11. Copyright IFX Forum, Inc. 2014 Slide 19