Joe Mullich
Freelance Technology Writer
818-907-9109
Microsoft
BUILDING A BETTER B2B
All together now
A new and better crop of technology tools helps ease the burden of B2B integration
By Joe Mullich
Ohio Savings Bank was founded in 1889, the same year the first electric lights were installed in the White House. In the past century, the Cleveland-based lender has grown to $8.5 billion in assets and won a batch of awards from Consumer Reports and other organizations for its service and products--not surprising for a firm founded at the height of the industrial revolution. Today, Ohio Savings finds itself leading the charge for the economy's new technological revolution: business-to-business (b2b) connections.
The bank is leveraging the Internet and a new Microsoft BizTalk Server 2000-based application to integrate its loan processing software with the back-end systems of its mortgage insurance company business partners, over the Internet, including GE Capital Mortgage Insurance Company and Mortgage Guaranty Insurance Corp.
In the past, these firms provided loan application information to Ohio Savings by telephone or fax. The paperwork would disappear in a maze of manual hand-offs. That meant brokers who sent loans through the bank weren't able to easily tell clients how close their loans were to approval. "We want to be the easiest bank to work with, so brokers will give us more of their loans," says Jo Ann Boylan, the bank’s chief technology officer.
Ohio Savings' BizTalk application, built on top of the eXtensible Markup Language (XML)-enabled Windows DNA platform, gives the bank a common language to speak with the back-end systems of its partners. As a result, brokers can log on and see the status of their loans as the paperwork travels through the approval process. With the integration of the systems, loans can be processed quicker, partly because the massive loan information no longer needs to be rekeyed several times by the different entities."The benefit of being able to electronically exchange data is powerful for everyone," Boylan says. "The brokers can see what's going on behind the scenes and that information is at their fingertips."
Power behind the concept
That, analysts agree, represents the real power behind the buzzword of business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce. New technology and business pressures are compelling firms to search for new ways to connect with partners, suppliers and customers, either through point-to-point extranets or online exchanges.
"Making business-to-business connections is critical and there is a real competitive advantage to the companies that get there first," says Randy Covill, senior analyst for e-commerce strategies and applications for AMR Research in Boston. "Once a good business relationship is in place it's not easy to displace because it's based on trust and the mutual mission and goals of the organizations."
The first wave of online procurement has largely been about reducing buying costs. However, that is merely the low-hanging fruit of B2B connections. In addition to improved customer service, cutting-edge firms are reaching out to partners in order to lower marketing costs, reduce cycle times and find new ways to solidify their business relationships.(next)