Collaborative Software Initiative Joins BITS Shared Assessments Program and Releases New XML Schema and Web Application for Compliance Questionnaire

November 5, 2007; 08:09 AM
PORTLAND, Ore. and WASHINGTON, Nov. 5 /PRNewswire/ -- The Collaborative
Software Initiative (CSI), the company that brings like-minded companies
and organizations together to collaborate on software development,
announced today that they have licensed the content of the Shared
Assessments Program.
    The Shared Assessments Program (http://www.bitsinfo.org/fisap) was
created by BITS, a non-profit industry consortium made up of 100 of the
largest financial institutions in the United States. CSI will use its new
license to create an open source application that facilitates efficient use
of the Shared Assessments vendor questionnaire.
    CSI's project, which applies best practices from the open source
development model, enables CSI to add value to both commercial and custom
risk management systems. The project allows financial institutions to make
vendor data more readily available through a web services front-end
application for collection and editing shared assessment submissions and an
XML schema for validating and accepting those submissions as XML documents.
    The CSI web-based compliance questionnaire framework can run on its own
or be directly integrated with existing operational risk systems. CSI will
offer an XML-based interchange mechanism that can be used by service
providers and their financial institution customers to streamline and
accelerate their participation in the Shared Assessments Program.
    CSI project benefits will include:

    --  An XML schema for exchanging the Standardized Information Gathering
        Questionnaire that removes the manual importation effort and lack of
        consistency inherent in spreadsheet implementations.
    --  Multiple low-cost application distribution options so supplier firms
        can more efficiently create and submit vendor documents.
    --  Protection for internal developers and vendors of operational risk
        systems so they don't need to constantly update custom applications as
        vendor data requirements mature and change.
    --  Fully supported downloadable software plus a software-as-a-service
        option for companies who don't want to maintain their own application
        instances.
    "This is a perfect opportunity for all banks to work collaboratively in
the face of government regulatory pressures to create a standard reference
implementation that will result in dramatic efficiency improvements and
lowered costs," said Stuart Cohen, CEO of the Collaborative Software
Initiative. "We expect to see this business approach proliferate so the
entire banking industry can benefit from improved data security and fewer
man hour expenditures on perfunctory tasks."
    "The BITS SIG vendor questionnaire helps to limit the exposure that
banks have to risk by providing industry-wide consistency in capturing data
privacy and information technology security information. The CSI regulatory
questionnaire framework along with the XML SIG definitions makes it easy
for vendors to create, maintain, and securely release a human and
machine-readable document to their financial institution customers," said
Evan Bauer, CTO of the Collaborative Software Initiative. "Moving to a
workflow-based application to create an XML document described by a full
schema means less labor, less cost and instantaneous submission and
acceptance -- streamlining the process for everyone involved. This project
is an important first step for the financial services industry to move
toward open source standards and collaborative development for compliance
applications."
    "Financial institutions can outsource their services, but they can
never outsource the risk associated with those services. The Shared
Assessments Program offers efficiencies and cost savings to both financial
institutions and their service providers," said Michele Edson, SVP of the
Santa Fe Group and Program Lead for the BITS Shared Assessments Program.
"CSI's open source questionnaire platform introduces additional operational
efficiency to all who participate in the Shared Assessments Program."
    About Collaborative Software Initiative
    Collaborative Software Initiative (CSI) was founded in 2007 by Stuart
Cohen, a veteran IT executive and former chief executive officer at the
Open Source Development Labs. Cohen has partnered with Evan Bauer,
financial services industry veteran and former chief technology officer at
Credit Suisse, to bring together like-minded companies to build software
applications at half the cost of outsourcing. CSI introduces a
market-changing process that applies open source methodologies to building
Collaborative Software -- software developed or acquired by a variety of
companies at a fraction of internal developer or outsourcing costs.
    CSI engages the power of community to build project teams and provides
the central project management function for developing Collaborative
Software, including development, testing and support for the code. The CSI
also offers the software to a broader base of customers under the open
source licensing or Software as a Service (Saas) models.
    For applications that don't enable competitive advantage or are
associated with non-value added activities such as compliance,
Collaborative Software allows business managers to maintain individual
control and direction over a project while accelerating compliance,
reducing costs and consolidating project timelines. CSI delivers on this
new promise of Collaborative Software -- on time and on budget.
    About BITS
    BITS was created in 1996 to foster the growth and development of
electronic financial services and e-commerce for the benefit of financial
institutions and their customers. A division of The Financial Services
Roundtable, BITS works to sustain consumer confidence and trust by ensuring
the security, privacy and integrity of financial transactions. BITS
provides intellectual capital and addresses emerging issues where financial
services, technology and commerce intersect, acting quickly to address
problems and galvanize the industry. BITS' efforts involve representatives
from throughout our member institutions, including CEOs, CIOs, CISOs, and
fraud, compliance and vendor management specialists.