1. Financial Charting Services
1.1 Description
Visualize Inc is an ISV that produces financial charting software as well as other financial analysis tools. This scenario describes a current real world business relationship and depicts desirable alternatives from Visualize Inc’s perspective that are not yet feasible with current technology.
The subject scenario pertains to the proliferation of charting software for a variety of distribution channels, namely shrink-wrapped, direct and OEM’d. This document will focus specifically on the consumption of the StockPlot service by a Portal Provider from a Financial Information Service intermediary that OEM’s the StockPlot product.
2. Participants
2.1 Visualize Inc
2.1.1 Role
Visualize offers a variety of tools ranging from the core graphical toolkit, financial visualization and analytical software. As an early adopter of Web services technology, Visualize Inc has created a WSDL document for connecting to their StockPlot financial charting software. This effort is not yet in production due to limitations on the provisioning and hosting aspects of a fee-based Web service. See http://www.ibm.com/software/jstart for more details.
In our scenario Visualize is the originator or Producer P0.
2.1.2 Relationships
Currently, StockPlot is offered to customers as a shrink-wrapped offering complete with UI. An optional connection for a real-time data feed is also available. Customers of the StockPlot software and purchase the code or lease it. In the subject situation, a Financial Information Service Provider known as FAME leases and hosts the Java based StockPlot application within their domain. Visualize has no business relations with any of FAME’s clients.
2.1.3 Business Objectives
Visualize would like to have more control over maintaining brand presence. However, the Visualize Inc vision is to expand its business model to include a transaction centric approach that leverages the concepts that they have already begun to explore via Web services. In general they wish to leverage existing software assets for the delivery of StockPlot function to direct and OEM customers using a variety of transaction based fee-models while maintaining some control over brand presence.
2.1.4 Solution Requirements
§ Brand Control. Allow StockPlot clients to have flexibility over the look, feel and functions of a StockPlot UI while maintaining some level of Visualize Brand identity. This requirements could be satisfied by allowing Visualize to place constraints on the UI aspects that can an can not be overridden.
§ Payee Identity/Authorization: Since Visualize does not won the relationship with downstream participants in the transaction, they require the ability to capture at time of request the identity and some authorization token (if necessary based on business model) pertaining to the actual payee of the request being made.
2.1.4.1 Technology Requirements
§ Loose Coupling. Separation of StockPlot UI from underlying business function to support multiple delivery channels.
§ Low cost maintenance. Visualize Inc does not want to be responsible for any UI modifications or extensions made by downstream participants. The only UI they want to maintain is the one they publish for a direct access channel which they will manage.
2.1.4.2 Functionality
Here are the main functionality use cases that are required in this scenario:
§ Development
o Create Direct Access UI: Need ability to describe the originators’ UI of StockPlot.
o Adapt UI: Visualize client’s need the ability to modify, and enhance/extend the Direct Access UI for their general usage. This use case must take into consideration the Visualize requirement of constraints on brand centric UI components.
§ Run-Time
o <??TBD??>
2.1.4.3 Usability
Ownership of Usability issue resides with the StockPlot client.
2.1.4.4 Constraints
Non-modifiable fields TBD.
2.2 FAME
2.2.1 Role
FAME combines
reliable historical market and reference data, key time-series data management
technology, and financial and energy market expertise to deliver
mission-critical, decision-support solutions to the global financial, energy,
and public sector markets. Top investment banks worldwide; top US fund
managers; large European central banks; the US Federal Reserve System; major
oil companies; leading refiners, utilities, wholesale energy traders, and
marketers; and major financial and energy Internet sites depend on FAME for
enterprise information integration, managed data services, Internet-enabled
analytical components and products, and custom solutions for the management and
analysis of historical and reference data.
In this scenario FAME plays the role of an intermediary that hosts the StockPlot software. From a WSIA perspective they are both a Consumer and a Producer (C1P1..).
2.2.2 Relationships
FAME licenses the StockPlot software from Visualize Inc and resells access to it to Divine.com.
2.2.3 Business Objectives
FAME iChartz delivers financial and energy information from around the world making it the most comprehensive data charting service available today. FAME has been providing key financial information to large institutions for over 10 years. With the introduction of FAME iChartz, small and medium-sized firms can now benefit from FAME's breadth and depth of data. FAME is not in the charting business nor do they have financial charting expertise. Their objective with respect to StockPlot is to have the ability to simply enhance or modify the StockPlot UI for its’ clients and be able to charge for access and customization.
2.2.4 Solution Requirements
· Ease of adaptability.
· StockPlot solution must be able to either locally or remotely plug-in to the existing FAME information framework.
·
Must be able to add, modify, or suppress UI elements
initially provided by Visualize. For
example, FAME must be able to insert UI components to collect additional
information about the data to chart, such as symbols, date range, scale,
etc.. FAME must be able to catch the UI
events on these additional components and pass them back to Visualize if
necessary, at FAME’s discretion.
In the diagram below, the Visualize UI element for collecting the symbol is
suppressed by FAME. FAME adds a group
of UI elements to collect the symbol as well as other information. This additional component is integrated at
the consumer level by introducing a control component between the WSIA Service
Component (new UI group), and the WSIA Proxy (the remote interface to the
Visualize Component. The control
component is represented by the double headed arrow.
2.3 Divine.com
2.3.1 Role
Divine.com provides
enterprise portal solutions, such as their Financial Markets Insight offering.
In this scenario Divine.com plays the role of a portal provider that accesses
the StockPlot software thru the FAME information service. From a WSIA
perspective they are both a Consumer and a Producer (C2P2.).
Note: As of January 2002 Divine.com no longer markets the Financial Insights Portal
2.3.2 Relationships
Divine.com has a consumer relationship with FAME as well as a Provider relationship with the “end-user”.
2.3.3 Business Objectives
As all portal suppliers Divine.com seeks the ability to offer flexibility and personalization. An alternative to the “side-by-side” nature of a portal is preferable but not a specific objective with respect to StockPlot.
2.3.4 Solution Requirements
· Ease of adaptability.
· The FAME iChart UI offering must be compatible with the Divine.com portal framework.
2.3.4.1 Current Functionality
Note: the following are the
constraints currently experienced by divine as a Consumer and Producer of the
FAME iChartz service
· Divine consumption and adaptation of the iChartz service is limited. As the service is consumed and produced within the divine Financial Markets Insight portal, adaptability is limited to the wrapper or surrounding frame of the iComponent, allowing users to only customize the surrounding skin using divine’s user customization tools.
· The FAME iChartz URL is accompanied by two forms that construct the corresponding input parameters for the service and view customization of stock charts generated is limited to the iChartz admin tool. The admin tool limits customization to selected styles that are fixed on a client basis (ie one view per client).
o
An example URL
used is: http://www.ichartz.com/ichartz/servlet/iChartzImage?profile=<PROFILE_ID>&id=TKR:US;DVIN&timeframe=1year&frequency=daily&ct=line&height=300&width=540&refresh=true (where <PROFILE_ID> represents a
particular client ID request).
· To summarize, the problem that this creates is the inability for users of divine Financial Markets Insight to customize the presentation of iChartz viewed.
2.4 End-User
2.4.1 Role
As the final
endpoint and actual Consumer of the StockPlot service, the end-user represents
the actual human user of the financial graphicing tool. In this case they are
the customers of Divine.com’s Financial Markets Insight web site..
From a WSIA
perspective the end-user is neither a Consumer nor a Producer. They are simple
any one of n-possible users. (U1-n..).
Note: There is an important clarification to be made with respect to the end-user and any perceived notion of a WSIA component. The end-user does not “consume” WSIA components. Instead, they interact with a web application that may be comprised of one or more WSIA components. It can be assumed that a web browser, which could act as the run-time environment for such WSIA components, may provide support for WSIA application components. Nevertheless, this perception does not change the fact that an end-user does not “consume” WSIA components, instead he/she interacts with the resulting application.
2.4.2 Relationships
The end-user performs the actual interaction with the various instances of the StockPlot UI and is the ultimate trigger of all Run-Time use-cases associated with this business scenario.
3. References
To see a visual of the multi-node redistribution of StockPlot, refer to http://www.sagemaker.com/products/insight/062901_Financial_Port.pdf.
For more details on the Divine.com portal, refer to: http://portal.divine.com.