The ARIS models contain, in compressed and clearly structured forms, detailed information about the flows and business logic of the enterprise. IDS Scheer offers financial services companies a branch reference model which contains the typical processes, objects and attributes of a financial services business.

The business information which is depicted in ARIS flows into the technical design of the applications. The CSK platform contains pre-configured solutions for automating typical business models such as securities trading processing and liquidity management.

Branch formats like SWIFT, FIX and EDIFACT are supported as standards. "The implementation and automation of business processes therefore happens much faster than in horizontal solutions," says CSK board member, Andreas Wagner.

IDS Scheer offers pre-configured or customised solutions for business process management in a wide variety of industries, co-operating with top technology partners, and ARIS has established strong market penetration in the financial sector. "Numerous financial institutions increased efficiency as a result of visualising their business processes in ARIS," says Steffen Reitz, sales manager, finance at IDS Scheer AG. "Through the integration of the CSK solution, these clients can now use their exiting ARIS models to automate their processes."

The ARIS toolset is integrated with the Financial Business Process Framework from CSK via an XML interface. The CSK platform has been tailor-made for the financial industry, with in-built workflows, data stream controls and technical integration. A process chain defined in ARIS can be automatically translated into a CSK workflow, based on the Unified Modelling Language (UML). The only pre-requisite is that the ARIS model's conventions are logically consistent and comprehensive. The process is then expanded in a graphical workflow editor to provide system-supported exception and error handling.

The user defines the technical translation of the process via graphic symbols. For this, CSK's technology offers a special model type for workflow, data streams, transformation rules, data structures and interfaces. The model for one level can be used as a type of template in underlying levels and provided with the necessary parameters.

During production, a workflow engine directs and controls the full process through all related processes. Errors, delays, exceptions and system breakdowns are identified, escalated and, as far as possible, automatically processed or corrected.

Changes or new business processes are easily defined in ARIS and transferred to a CSK workflow. Before final implementation, the user checks the functionality and consistency in a test environment, without having to touch existing running processes. Financial services companies can therefore react flexibly and quickly to new business requirements.

Based on the consequential alignment of processes and the complementary nature of each solution, the user's business division drives process modelling and adjustments. The IT department can then enrich the process with technical definition steps.