HP INTEL SOLUTION CENTER BLUEPRINT

FINANCIAL SERVICES

Business Intelligence for

Financial Institutions
Industry
Financial Services
Business Challenge
Enterprise wide financial reporting
Technology Solution
Financial Architects Financial Studio using Microsoft
SQL Server 2000 Enterprise Edition (64-bit) and 64-bit
version of Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Enterprise
Edition on HP Itanium 2-based servers
Enterprise Hardware Platform
HP Servers based on Itanium 2 processors

SOLUTION ARCHITECTS

Meeting New Market Demands

Financial institutions are constantly looking for ways to take
costs out of business operations while simultaneously building
capabilities that support business growth. There is a relentless
need for comprehensive information and analysis capabilities
to support these business objectives. The capabilities sought
encompass both compliance with the regulatory environment
(e.g. IAS/IFRS & Basel II) and profitability analyses.
Technology investments are recognised as an enabler, but
financial institutions are wary of the complexities, delays and
costs associated with many IT implementations. Any proposed
solutions must therefore meet demanding selection criteria
that include functional capabilities, technology performance,
implementation ease and total life costs. HP has brought
together a powerful cost-effective solution available on HP
ProLiant and Intel Itanium 2-based servers that provides a
tested business intelligence offering for financial institutions.
Use of the Itanium 2 ensures outstanding performance and
throughput capacity combined with superb reliability,
manageability and serviceability. Itanium 2-based servers
provide higher performance, lower cost and greater choice
than other technologies for the most data-intensive, business
critical applications.

The business intelligence for banking solution provides an

enterprise wide packaged ERP (enterprise resource planning)
and analytic business intelligence solution designed for
financial institutions. The end-to-end solution is based on
Financial Architects Financial Studio and the new 64-bit
version of Microsoft SQL Server 2000 Enterprise Edition*
running on HP Itanium 2-based servers. The Financial Studio
business intelligence for financial institutions solution is a
complete suite of functional modules including financial
accounting, product and customer profitability, regulatory
reporting, management accounting, risk measurement, Basel II
compliancy and strategic budgeting and control into a single
data platform.

The Business Challenge

Financial institutions need reliably to handle massive amounts
of data from varied sources and turn this into meaningful
information for real-time decision-making.
The challenge is to achieve the following:
meet the corporate needs for powerful analytical capability
deliver best-of-breed accounting and operations
functionality
provide users timely access and ease of use
cope with increasing and ever more complex regulatory
requirements such as Basel II
offer simple and seamless integration into existing
environments
assist with the organisational challenges of data collection
and data consistency
handle multiple and disparate data sources from legacy
systems
manage large data volumes (current and historical)
minimise total cost of IT operations
Use of the Intel server platform provides financial institutions
with a broad choice of interoperable, flexible hardware and
software building blocks to customise, optimise and costeffectively scale their IT systems as needed. It ensures a high
level of quality, reliability and price-performance with rapid
return on investment and long-term growth potential.

The Solution Overview

The solutions framework and application accelerator is
centered around a large analytical database designed for
complex financial reporting requirements for financial
institutions and serves as the foundation for business
intelligence (BI) activities including risk functions. Business
intelligence is enhanced with ERP data, traditionally taken
from in-house general ledger (GL) and back office systems,
which completes the solution.
Financial institutions benefit from a single source financial
management solution, storing data into a central repository
according to a rich and flexible data model. A wide range of
smart calculators empowers the business users with access to
all of the data and decision-making tools.
Insights to make better decisions will be immediately derived
from this business intelligence solution due to the innovative
data model. Financial and non-financial data is efficiently
maintained at the lowest level of detail thereby providing a
single validated and reconciled source of financial information.
Summary reports, and high level analysis are major benefits,
but equally important is the thorough retention of data, which
allows for a full audit trail capacity to any level of detail.
The solution is available on cost-effective industry standard
hardware and software platforms. Utilising the Microsoft
Windows* operating system, Microsoft SQL Server 2000, and
HP Intel-based servers the Financial Studio can be introduced
into any existing technology architecture. The solution is
compatible with the newest HP servers using Intel Xeon
and Itanium 2 processors to meet the future capacity and
growth needs of the enterprise.

provide an option. State-of-the-art 64 bit processing is

provided by the Intel Itanium processor family, the industry
standard technology of the future. Itanium 2 processors
included in HPs rx2600 2-way and rx5670 4-way servers
utilise explicitly parallel instruction computing (EPIC). EPIC is
designed to paralyse the instructions within each clock cycle.
This is accomplished using software compilers that decide
which instructions can be processed in parallel. This provides
the growth in processor performance needed to meet the
application performance needs of the future
The HP zx1 chipset, a special hardware enhancement unique
to HP Itanium 2-based servers, provides better priceperformance than competitors due to its low latency, high
bandwidth and low cost design. Another key new feature is
the ability to address greater than 3 GB of virtual address
space. This advanced memory addressing capability allows for
in-memory computation, and avoids heavy disk I/O which can
hinder performance.
The application software runs on Microsoft Windows Server
2003 Enterprise Edition 64-bit utilising the new SQL Server
2000 Enterprise Edition (64-bit). A server agent and analysis
server provides for OLAP (on-line analytical processing) and
data mining. This Itanium based operating system and
database engine delivers exceptional performance and
scalability for complex analytic and business intelligence
workloads. With the ability to install up to 16 database engine
instances on a single Itanium 2-based server, multiple highend applications can be managed.
The Financial Studio solution combines new Web-based
reporting technologies with XML and XBRL standards to
deliver maximum functionality and flexibility to the end user.

Technology
Financial Studio on Windows Server 2003 was built on 32-bit
Intel Xeon systems and runs natively unmodified on HP
Itanium 2-based servers with Microsoft SQL Server 2000
Enteprise Edition (64-bit). Immediate performance gains and
greater scalability can be transparently achieved using 64-bit
technology. A customer can choose to run the same software
version of Financial Studio on industry standard Intel XeonTM
processor-based, and Itanium 2 -based servers making a
smooth migration from 32-bit Intel architecture to the
increased performance and impressive scalability offered by
64-bit computing.
The HP Proliant family of industry standard servers is based
on 32-bit Intel XeonTM processors. Intel-based servers provide
best-in-class performance across the widest range of
application environments. ProLiant is the leading platform in
use for Windows-based applications and provides a highperformance and cost effective platform for implementation.
Many organizations, based on their usage patterns, can
deploy their solutions on ProLiant.
For enterprises requiring increased levels of capacity Itanium
2-based servers running 64-bit software from Microsoft

Demographics
Sensitivity

Supply
Chain

Trending
Seasonality

GL Analysis
Profitability

Marketing
Analysis

Enterprise
Resource
Planning
(ERP)

Financial
Analysis

Financial Studio

Sales
Analysis

Customer
Relationship Contribution
Mgmnt
(CRM)

Balanced
Scorecard

Budgeting
Variance
Forecasting

Key Performance
Indicators

Source: Gartner Research

Target Market and Customer

Banking intelligence targets the financial services industry on a
global basis, addressing the needs of a wide range of
business areas, such as capital markets, private banking, retail
banking, corporate and wholesale banking, brokerage and
dealer business.

The Financial Studio solution offers a scalable architecture for

small and mid-size to large banking institutions offering
support to key businesses within a banks organisation, such
as finance and control, risk department, treasury, ALM, etc.
Proof Points
The HP Intel Solution Center conducted a proof of concept
(POC) benchmark showing performance on the HP Proliant
DL580 with two Xeon 1.6GHz processors, compared with the
performance gains and database size increases when using
the HP Itanium 2 -based server rx2600 with two Itanium 2
processors 1.0GHz.
The graphs below show the increased performance across the
board of the Itanium 2 solution, with a processor running at
just 62 percent of the Xeon processor speed. Future versions
of the Itanium 2 processor will run at 1.5 GHz which will
increase even further the performance capabilities.

Also proven is the portability of SQL Server applications from

32-bit architecture to 64-bit Intel Itanium architectures.
Financial Architects Financial Studio application was
originally developed for IA-32 Servers using Microsofts 32-bit
SQL server.
Now the same software version is proven to run on Itanium
2-based systems with SQL Server 2000 Enterprise edition (64bit) in a high availability environment, but run faster and
address larger databases.

Customer Value Proposition

This business intelligence solution has been put together by a
group of companies that are all market leaders (Financial
Architects, Intel, Microsoft and Hewlett Packard) in their
respective fields specifically to meet the needs of financial
institutions
A comprehensive analytical capability
Platform excellence with built-in reliability
Maximum return on IT investment (RoIT) through
- industry standard technologies
- industry leading performance and scalability
- intelligent manageability
- support and services

Itanium 2 1.0 Ghz 2W

XeonTM MP 1.6 Ghz 2w

This Banking Intelligence solution has been tested in the HP

Intel Solution Center using the market-leading HP ProLiant
and Itanium processor family servers. Use of Itanium
technology ensures industry-leading enterprise performance,
improved scalability and reliability for data-intensive, business
critical computing, and headroom for growth. The solution
delivers the following:
an integrated and tested software stack to reduce
deployment time and complexity
ability to focus on customisation and integration
data to determine configurations of systems that meet
requirements
The proof of concept was put together by a multi-disciplinary
team from all the vendors involved, and a comparable team
can be assembled to accomplish similar proof of concepts for
customers. The same team is then available to follow through
with deployment. During implementation, the team would
make sure that the solution is seamlessly integrated into all
the relevant existing systems and data sources, and also to
ensure the deployment occurs transparently without any
disruption to current process and work flow.

Itanium 2 1.0 Ghz 2W

XeonTM MP 1.6 Ghz 2w

In this benchmark IA-32 Xeon performed only slightly under

HP rx2600 Itanium 2 based servers, but Xeon would not
scale to the larger database size.

Functional Business Concept

The complete solution is modular in design and provides a set
of functions built around a rich banking data model. The broad
coverage of banking practices (retail, corporate, investment,
treasury, etc.), and the wide range of banking products and
financial instruments covered makes Financial Studio the ideal
accelerator to address complex enterprise wide reporting
requirements.

Common Financial Layer

Contract
Data

Customer
Data

Market
Data

Financial
Accounting

Portfolio
Intelligence
Calculators &
Reporting Book
Builders

Reporting &
Analysis
Layered Approach
Financial Studio is designed to take feeds from multiple
sources. This is achieved using the SQL Server Data
Transformation Service* (DTS) or Microsoft Biztalk* Server.
This has been successfully implemented across multiple
platforms and with all data transformations. The openness of
Financial Studio also allows integration with other middleware
tools. User-friendly screens give the end user the ability to
provide manual input.
Thanks to DTS, different source data can be used (flat files,
HTML files, Excel*, Access*, Paradox*, dBase, ODBC for
Oracle*). Any other ETL (extraction/transformation/loading) tool
can also be used. The tool will extract, transfer and load the
data into the data model, using standard stored procedures.

User Experience
Transactional data, postings or movements are taken from the
different source systems. Detailed balances are created on
customer level, deal level, and account level integrating
information such as financial data, product and customer data.
User-definable multi-dimensional account keys (e.g. entity, cost
centre, account, and more) makes it easy for end-users to
access data in simplified reports by using smart calculators
within the functional modules.

Chart of
Accounts

Period
Averages

Actuals

Budgets

Customer
Details

GAAP

Currency
Entity

Detailed Transactions

Deal Balances

Customer
Balances

Account
Balances
FinancialAccounting

Contract
Details

Reference Data
Product
Distribution
Channel

Deal

FX
MM
Loans
Deposits
Fra& IRS
...

Account
Manager

Customer

Project

Desk
Entity

Drill though
Into
Exposure balances

Full detail
of
exposure

Full detail
of loan

Software Architecture
The solution stack is developed primarily on Microsoft SQL Server
2000 technology using stored procedures. This allows the software
to run 100 percent on Intel architecture 32-bit servers, or 100
percent on 64-bit Itanium 2-based servers.
Other optional Microsoft enterprise server products can be
collocated on the same server, or not, depending on the features
and analysis to be used: Microsoft Data Transformation Services,
Microsoft Biztalk, Microsoft SharePoint* Portal Server (Sharepoint),
Microsoft Internet Explorer* and Microsoft Analysis Services*.

BackOffice
Systems

BiztalkServer2002
DTS

FinStudioDBs &
OLAP Server
FinStudio
Explorer

Windows 2003 Server

Active Directory SQL
Server 2000
FinStudio Web Portal
.Net

Financial Studio can be implemented as an N-tiered application.

Client: the client is separated from the rest of the application
by the network (LAN or WAN). The client can be either thin
(Internet browser) or rich (native application or Microsoft
Office*).
Web & Business Server: the application logic resides on the
Web and business server. This server interprets the client
requests to run procedures on the database. The Web server
is the front-end (exposed to the client) while the business
server is the back-end (exposed to the database). The frontend can be either an ASP application (thin browsers) or a
Web service (rich browsers). Front-end and back-end
communicate with each other through means of message
queues.
Relational Database Server: the Microsoft SQL Server
2000 Enterprise Edition (64-bit) database server houses one
or several databases.

 OLAP Analysis Server: the analysis server takes data from

the database server and makes it available to the business
server for OLAP reporting requests. Analysis Server is a
component of SQL Server 2000 Enterprise Edition and can
be co-located on the same server as Financial Studio, or
another server.

Banking industry
Data model

Calculators/
Engines

Results/
Data marts

FinStudio Journals

In-House
System

...

Accounting
generator
Contract
Data

Customer
Data

Collateral
Info

Market
Data

Business
Calculators

Head
Office

Regulatory

(reconciliation,
consolidation,
profitability, ...)

Basel II
__________
Risk
engine

FinStudio
OLAP (Analysis
Services)

FinReporter
(Office)
Web Reports
(.Net/SPPS)

OLAP
Cubes

Webportal

Excel files

DTS/Biztalk/Middleware

Back Office
Package

IAS
__________

DesktopExplorer

Account
Balance

FinStudio
Reports
(Office)

Business
Objects

Feed other
systems

Financial Studio is designed to take feeds from multiple sources.

This is achieved using the SQL Server Data Transformation
Service (DTS) or Microsoft Biztalk Server. This
A massive detailed database is needed that can manage many
real time inquiries from multiple sources. Inquiries are processed
almost instantaneously with Microsoft SQL Server 2000.
The security model of the overall solution manages roles and
responsibilities. The standard security features of the solution
include processing functions, security on the different types of
journals in data entry, and data online management as well as
access to the business unit the user belongs to. Existing security
profiles from other systems can also be imported, reducing
duplication.

Systems Architecture
The configuration of the business intelligence solution tested
was based on a relational database server hosted on two
HP rx2600 server with Itanium 2 processors in a high
availability (HA) cluster. A powerful configuration of 1 Ghz
Itanium 2 processors and 4 GB of RAM easily accommodated
the software combination of 64-bit Microsoft Windows Server
2003 Enterprise Edition, and SQL Server 2000 Enterprise Edition
(64-bit), even when using the largest database size where the IA32 server could not complete.

The HA capability of the solution is provided by connecting the

servers using Microsoft Cluster Server* (MSCS). The database is
located on shared storage on an HP virtual array VA7105
accessed through a S.A.N. (storage Area Network) over fibre
optic connections. All systems are networked together using
integrated Gigabit LAN.

Management Server Database Servers

Ethernet LAN 10/100

rx2600 Itanium 2 servers dual

12 GB RAM 1.0 Ghz

Domain controller
DNS Proliant DL380

Finarch1

Ethernet LAN 1Gb

Finarch 2

Ethernet
Management
Infrastructure
Switched network

Storage Area Network

Infrastructure

hp StorageWorks
FC switch 2GB

Storage
Volume
Volume
Volume
Volume

10

F: 40 GB
G: 40 GB
H: 30 GB
I: 30 GB

HP Virtual Array
VA74xx

How To Engage
The HP Intel Solution Center is chartered to help customers
complete proof of concept (POC) testing and sizing to prove this
is the best solution available for you. If you want to verify this
solution will work for you please fill in our qualification:
www.hpintelco.net/engage

Learn more about this innovative solution

www.hpintelco.net
www.hp.com
www.intel.com
www.microsoft.com/sql
www.finarch.com

11

Copyright 2003 HP Invent. All Rights Reserved.

Intel, the Intel and Intel Inside logos, Pentium and Xeon are trademarks or registered trademarks of the Intel Corporation or its subsidiaries in the United States and other countries.
Copyright 2003 Intel Corporation. All Rights Reserved.
*Other names and brands may be claimed as the property of others. Information regarding third party products is provided solely for educational purposes. Intel is not
responsible for the performance or support of third party products and does not make any representations or warranties whatsoever regarding quality, reliability,
functionality, or compatibility of these devices or products.
Part Number: BP04-2003/E