The Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT), an industry owned cooperative supplying secure messaging services and interface software to financial institutions worldwide, has recently urged banks to undergo an interbank network migration from the current operating platform X.25 to a more secure and reliable IP (Internet Protocol) network.
This migration is mandatory and will take place between the end of 2002 and the third quarter of 2004. Eastern Networks (EN), the SWIFT Business Partner for the region, has called upon banks in the Middle East region to initiate the process of migration and has offered them specially created migration care and post migration care packages to facilitate and ease the entire migration process.
All SWIFT users around the globe are expected to complete the migration from X.25 to the IP network managed through short, country specific time windows. In order to complete the transition smoothly, it is important that SWIFT users undertake a process of preparation prior to the window and this can be achieved successfully with the help of the local SWIFT certified Business Partner, EN.
SWIFTNet is SWIFT's advanced IP-based messaging solution, made up of a portfolio of products and services that allow the secure and reliable communication of mission critical financial information and transactional data. SWIFTNet enables business to be conducted in an environment that now combines the security of a virtual private network and the guarantee of a trusted third party with the flexibility of internet technologies, while offering the added facility of straight through processing and global messaging.
The SWIFTNet messaging services offer secure and interactive messaging, file transfer and browsing capabilities. These SWIFTNet services effectively complement SWIFT’s traditional FIN service by providing new functionality and features to the users. They allow a more comprehensive set of managed messaging services to be offered, thus allowing complete solutions to be developed that address the financial service industry’s evolving needs. The SWIFT infrastructure currently consists of two separate networks, namely traditional FIN services over X.25, and the new IP-based SWIFTNet.
EN has provided computing and communication technologies throughout the Middle East since 1984. In addition to being banking application developers and a SWIFT business partner, EN is also a bolero.net regional agent and a Microsoft Certified Partner. EN’s regional operations are managed through offices in Amman, Jordan Dubai Internet City, UAE and Istanbul, Turkey. — (menareport.com)
© 2002 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
