Microsoft targets financial services

In the financial services industry, people are accustomed to the latest and greatest--which often means fastest--technology. Many still assume that means some sort of proprietary, customized solution. Microsoft (Microsoft news) is often seen as a bit too common in this regard. But the software giant has invested heavily in financial services solutions and will release a slew of tools over the coming months aimed at boosting its street cred.

One such tool, a good indicator of what the firm is thinking about, is PowerPivot, a new Excel function. The program is designed to "enable analysis of massive data sets from virtually any data format down to the desktop, allowing financial firms to make better decisions far faster and at lower cost." It's a nod toward the need for low-latency in a high-volume, multi-core world.

Joe Pagano, the managing director of Banking and Capital Markets in its Worldwide Financial Services Industry Group, tells Information Management that compliance and risk management loom as huge opportunities. In December, the firm released packages in beta--Compliance and Risk Process Management Pack for Systems Center Service Manager 2010 and IT Compliance Management Library. The firm is also touting Windows 7, though you would think most firms would upgrade at some point. It features what Microsoft hopes will become a widely used encryption tool called BitLocker. 

For more:
- here's the Information Management article

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