Interest Grows in "Open" Computer Systems
Martin Friis · ABA banking journal · 1990
A trend to watch, could reduce banks' data processing costs by permitting applications from different to interact more efficiently There's a new concept sweeping through the computer and data communications worlds. It's called systems and slowly, but surely, it's making its presence felt in the world of bank data processing. As usual with emerging technologies, the system concept has spawned a considerable amount of new jargon, as well as extensive controversy within the data processing industry about the details and speed of its implementation. This has resulted in uncertainty and confusion among banks and other businesses over what the benefits of the new technology will be. But there is less uncertainty about the need for such systems, as banks look for ways to contain the rising costs of their data processing installations and make those operate more efficiently. The reason this is becoming important in the banking world is that we are all beginning to implement a wide variety of mini-and micro-based throughout our organizations, says David Sheppard, executive vice-president of Fleet/Norstar Financial Group, Providence, R.I. We are finding it difficult to link those applications using current technology. Hard to define. Much like the data processing terms integrated systems and distributed processing, coined several years ago, systems is an accordion buzzword that expands and contracts in meaning to fit the needs of the person or company using it. Put another way, what it means depends on who you ask. There is no doubt, however, that it is a real concept and a significant development. An open system is the opposite of a proprietary or closed system. In the traditional approach to computing, users were more or less restricted to using one brand of computer system. This evolved from the time when it was the hardware that was the dominant factor in data processing decisions, and before networking of multiple--and different types of--computers was commonplace. You were either an IBM shop, an NCR shop, a Burroughs (now Unisys) shop, etc. In recent years, great strides have been made in facilitating data communications between different computers and different software programs, such that almost any computer system can be made to exchange data with another. Nevertheless, such arrangements often are not as efficient as if there were some common technical standards for protocols, service commands and the like. And such arrangements prohibit true or cooperative processing, two more loosely-defined terms associated with systems. The goal of is to permit from different vendors to connect, exchange data, and intelligently communicate with each other. The means to achieve this goal is standards. Some of the standards to bring this about already exist. Recent announcements. The godfather of standards is Open Systems Interconnection (OSI), a set of international standards that define a multi-layer reference model. OSI standards were developed several years ago by the Europe-based International Organization for Standardization (ISO). According to Harvey Hinden, vice-president of Emerging Technologies, Inc., a Dix Hills, N. Y -based consulting company, Every major vendor has embraced the OSI [standards]. However, he adds, The question is the speed with which they will deliver real products. This will be directly proportional to the speed with which they feel users will truly order such products. One thing inhibiting the speedy implementation of is the complexity of integrating them with existing hardware and software. IBM, for instance, announced in 1988 its commitment to providing its customers with OSI interoperability between mixed-vendor networks. Since then, the company has followed up with 13 separate announcements of OSI-related products and strategies. …