Northern Trust Enterprise Architect Christopher Price presentation on his company’s approach to an “occasionally-connected” mobile world.

1. NORTHERN TRUST
Beyond the Wireless Tether
An “Occasionally Connected” Architecture
A Gartner Catalyst Case Study
2012.08.20
Christopher Price
Vice President
The Northern Trust Company
© 2012 Northern Trust Corporation northerntrust.com

2. About me…
Christopher Price
Vice President, The Northern Trust Company
cp68@ntrs.com
 Architecture and Innovation Team member
 IT Standards and Guidance
 Evaluation of New Technologies
 R&D for High Value Projects
 At Northern Trust for 7 years, experience with:
 Enterprise Architecture
 Software Design and Development
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3. Agenda
 Background on Northern Trust
 Determining the Requirements
 Application Architecture
 Infrastructure
 Security
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4. Northern Trust Overview
Founded in 1889, Northern Trust Corporation is a global
leader in asset servicing, asset management, wealth
management, and banking for personal and institutional
clients.
Assets under custody
US$4.6 trillion
Assets under management
US$704 billion
Banking Assets
US$94 billion
*As of 30 June 2012
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5. Northern Trust’s Global Presence
Chicago (Corporate HQ) Abu Dhabi Guernsey London
Toronto Amsterdam Jersey Luxembourg
New York Dublin Limerick Stockholm
Bangalore
Beijing
Hong Kong
Melbourne
A network of offices Singapore
in 18 States and Tokyo
Washington D.C.
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6. Agenda
 Background on Northern Trust
 Determining the Requirements
 Application Architecture
 Infrastructure
 Security
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7. Determining the Requirements
Focus on what matters to clients, not on technology.
 Relationship managers want latest mobile technology but need:
 All data necessary to conduct meeting
 Minimal distractions
 Ability to work anywhere the client is located
Having “zero bars” shouldn’t hinder the conversation!
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8. Business Requirements
Need to avoid this situation….
WELCOME - Today’s Agenda
 9am – 9:05am Attempt to connect to available Wi-Fi with incorrect settings
 9:05am – 9:15am Give up and struggle with slow 3G connection
 9:15am – 9:20am Locate presentation materials with assistance from help desk
 9:20am – 9:30am Diagnose problems with projector and screen
 9:30am – 10am Finally… Discuss client’s financial goals
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9. Technology Requirements
The two primary technology requirements...
 Disconnected mode
 Maximize time with client
No connections to establish.
No interruptions caused by poor reception, network outage, etc.
 Quick
Highly responsive user interface by minimizing server requests.
Not relying on slow connections to transfer large documents during meetings.
 Reach
Client meeting location not bounded by reach of antennas.
Want to accompany the client on their yacht? – No problem.
 Security
 Highly sensitive client data being stored.
 Mobile device more susceptible to loss and theft.
 Primarily using untrusted networks.
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10. Agenda
 Background on Northern Trust
 Determining the Requirements
 Application Architecture
 Infrastructure
 Security
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11. Architectural Choices
“Got the requirements, let’s build a mobile app!” ...not so fast.
 Need to establish formal guidance for building mobile solutions at
Northern Trust with help from vendors, consultants and peers.
 The result: Northern Trust Mobile Strategy and Reference Architecture
Strategy contains guidance for management:
• Definition of mobile apps, devices and content
• Governance recommendations
• Usage Policies
• Risks
• Etc.
Architecture contains developer guidance:
• Style of app: web, native, or hybrid
• Security
• Device support
• Service development
• Etc.
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12. Architectural Choices
First major decision…web, native or hybrid*?
Web/Hybrid Native
* Defined as a thin native wrapper around a primarily HTML/JS view. Hybrid apps fall within a
spectrum between web and native depending upon how many native features are utilized.
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13. Architectural Choices
Decision: Native Application Architecture
1) Secure offline operation
Secure local storage
“Why not HTML5 local storage?”
Size restrictions (app is a storage hog!)
Reliability – browser cache easily erased
Security concerns
2) Superior presentation
Better appearance
Greater app awareness
3) Performance
Fewer round-trips to server
Quicker rendering
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14. Architectural Choices
BUT: Typically don’t recommend native at Northern Trust
 Web or hybrid apps are preferred because:
Cheaper to build with in-house web expertise
Majority of effort is reusable
Can be indistinguishable from native with HTML5/JavaScript
Quicker to deliver new features
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15. Architectural Choices
Gartner, 2012
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16. Agenda
 Background on Northern Trust
 Determining the Requirements
 Application Architecture
 Infrastructure
 Security
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17. Infrastructure
1. User places documents in folder on internal portal
2. Synchronization initiated by user from iOS app while online
3. Middleware sends updates back and forth between mobile
app and source systems.
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18. Infrastructure
Decision: iOS Platform Only
 Internal application. Control of device choice
 Users more familiar with Apple products. Less training.
 Fewer platform specific updates.
2012 Market share
Apple
Android
Microsoft
Other
http://www.gartner.com/it/page.jsp?id=1980115
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19. Infrastructure
Decision: Vended service gateway
 Layer 7 is edge security for external services
 Integration with authentication providers
 Speaks multiple security protocols
 Custom solution added no value
http://www.gartner.com/technology/reprints.do?id=1-17Q04QM&ct=111019&st=sg
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20. Infrastructure
Decision: ReST over SOAP
 Lightweight - important for mobile
 Heavier SOAP difficult to handle on mobile client.
 Mobile clients have APIs for handling basic URL calls
 Poor web service support in iOS/Android unlike in Java or .NET
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21. Infrastructure
Decision: Custom Middleware
 Purpose – Extract data from source systems, feed to mobile client apps
 Why Custom?
Anticipated consolidation within market for mobile middleware (MEAP)
Cloud based solution not acceptable for use case
Custom source system integration
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22. Agenda
 Background on Northern Trust
 Determining the Requirements
 Application Architecture
 Infrastructure
 Security
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23. Security
Decision: Plan for the worst with numerous security layers
Over the wire
OAuth 2.0
Popular standard for cloud APIs
Open to federation in future with 3rd parties
Easy to use with ReST services
Two-factor
Access token required due to sensitivity of data
RSA SecurID Software Token + iOS SDK chosen for limited
user involvement
Better user experience, but still as secure as physical token
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24. Security
On device
Mobile Device Management (MDM)
Passcode requirement
Remote data wipe
Local Authentication
Support offline identification of users
Future SSO with all Northern Trust applications
Local Encryption
Secure whether online or off
Strongest available algorithms
Double security – iOS platform and custom
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25. Summary
Listen to your clients
Define your Strategy
Design for Resilience
Go Web by default
Buy a Gateway
Caution: Middleware
Security: Plan for a worst case
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26. Questions?
Thank you for attending!
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