SunGard warns today that the transition to SWIFTNet, the new network created by the Brussels-based payments network SWIFT, is more complex than some banks realise. And it has to be accomplished no later than the end of 2004.
The firm says banks see it as little more than a migration from the old store-and-forward X.25 FIN network to an IP network, but SunGard says it is better seen as a means of accessing a range of new services. “In order to connect to a service over IP, SWIFT are expecting IT departments to build or buy in specialist applications that implement the SWIFT protocol requirements for each particular service, in addition to all the related internal operations needed to support the business,” says Martin Weinthrop, marketing director at SunGard. “However, the capacity of organizations – both financially and technically – to implement such multiple services and all the necessary support operations is an issue that should be scrutinized carefully, particularly in the current business climate, where business and IT departments alike need to justify healthy ROI on all project expenditure.” He says this implies internal reorganisation and fresh technology investments.