As we begin the second half of 2008, ACI and ACE reflect on the tremendous amount of change we have already seen this year. The end of 2007 brought news of ACI’s partnership with IBM to deliver next-generation payment solutions to the financial industry. This long-term alliance to deploy a new generation of ACI software on the IBM® System z mainframe platform allows ACI to extend its reach while helping IBM expand its footprint in the payments arena.

What does this partnership mean to the ACE membership and the decisions the executive committee has to make? From a vendor relationship perspective, it doesn’t make much difference, as IBM has been an exhibit hall participant for many years. It will, however, make a difference in ACI’s product updates and the topics chosen for the annual meeting. The ACE executive committee has included as much content as possible to help members make educated technology decisions for the future.

Shortly after the IBM partnership announcement, ACI announced a sunset date for the beloved BASE24® product and that the strategic replacement will be BASE24-eps™, which made its debut at the 2003 ACE Annual Meeting in San Diego. The final release of the original product, unofficially called BASE24 classic, will be version 10 in November 2009, with mandated changes, fixes, and help desk support through November 2011. Thereafter, help desk and fix support will be available, but mandates or functional enhancements will be provided on a time-and-materials basis only.

ACI’s sunset announcement simply places a deadline by which each organization will need to determine the best solution for its business going forward.  

These announcements and the ACE executive committee’s decision to move toward an advisory committee model, place more focus on specific segments and encouraged us to restructure the 2008 March Focus Group meeting. The ACE executive committee strives to meet the needs of its entire membership every year with the best of all business and technology conferences. An all-day training workshop was added to the beginning of the meeting to help with BASE24-eps education. Many sessions were added to drive technical requirements and best practices.

The idea is to put more focus on migrations, releases, support and documentation, allowing ACE members to influence the direction of ACI products, like BASE24-eps and ACI Proactive Risk Manager™. This concept is not new and the membership has created many advisory groups to help drive product development in the time of need. Over the years, we have seen the success of similar focus groups for self-service banking, Visa and MasterCard.

I am happy to say that these announcements also helped drive the voice of the customers. The March meeting was extremely productive, and a four-page document containing member feedback has been developed. ACI is reviewing each of these items and determining the next steps. The plan is to provide members with an update at the annual meeting in September.

The 2008 ACE Annual Meeting will be held September 14–17 in Scottsdale, Arizona. The executive committee has completed the agenda and included industry updates about all ACI product lines. We expect the entire ACE membership will be pleased with the agenda, and it is available at www.aciworldwide.com/ace.

The concept of moving the ACE executive board toward a vendor-managed and user-supported model provides a structure that more closely aligns with ACI market segments and products. The plan is to have an oversight board to help organize individual advisory committees. These committees will be created as the membership drives the need or as ACI needs product advice. An example may be payment engine, architectural, or fraud and risk advisory committee(s).

These committees will allow us to influence product direction by providing subject matter experts to advise longer term in specific areas. Each advisory committee will meet at least twice a year, with one of the meetings coinciding with the annual meeting. Conference calls may also be held, as needed, to drive progress. The intent of the meetings will be for committee members to provide ACI with updates about industry trends or technology strategies that are then translated into business requirements for product consideration. Interaction would also include previews of product strategies, new products and proposed enhancements to existing products throughout the development process.

As we progress with the new structure, the executive committee will continue to announce the next steps. Please feel free to send me an e-mail regarding these changes at michele.schwappach@bankofamerica.com. I hope that this new format will create an environment for ACE members to help set the direction for more strategic conversations and focused attention to specific products.

Regards,
Michele Schwappach
ACE President