Information and Knowledge Management using ArcGIS ModelBuilder

Renata Paola Dameri
In the second section of the paper a business case is studied, to demonstrate that it is possible:
To use Internet and the web site to collect information about customers’ behaviour and
preferences and to use this information to pursue specific strategic goals;
To link strategic goals with ICT projects and performance, and to measure the obtained results;
To evaluate the effectiveness and the return on investments of web projects.
2. Diffusion of internet in financial institutions
Banks and financial institutions have ever been top ICT spenders; also nowadays banks account for a
large share of total ICT spending all over the world: in 2009 they accounted for the 10% of the total
spending in ICT (Global Insight 2009). Historical trends show that ratios between ICT spending and
operational cost or gross margin are ever higher than the average in other industries and business
sectors (OECD 2010). During the latest 50 years, ICT in banks has been especially used for
supporting operational activities. Thanks to ICT, banks have been able to expand their activities,
gaining higher efficiency and offering better services to their customers at adequate prices.
However, ICT in banks has also been used to innovate business models and services; from ATM to
web banking, all technologies have been adapted to bank specific products, to realize both ICTsupported
internal processes, and ICT-based customer services. During the latest ten years, Internet
and the web have been the most important technology for banks. Indeed, Internet is a flexible
technology, able to cover several aspects of data processing: from process automation, to data
storage, from information management to customer communication. For these reasons, Internet is a
common instrument, but able to transform business models in several ways: from simple virtual
replication of traditional business models, to creation of completely new business models (Wielki
2010).
If we analyze bank service portfolios, we can note that almost all financial services are influenced by
the use of the Internet. However, several financial services are indeed based on old business models,
but modernized by product or infrastructure virtualization. For example, the on-line current account is
no more than the old current account, but the business infrastructure is virtualized. Credit cards are a
new product, based on the virtualization of both the product (the electronic money) and the business
infrastructure on which payment is based.
As financial business is an intangible product, the use of ICT and the Internet is particularly useful in
banking. Indeed, banks and financial institutions aim to gain several benefits from the use of ICT and
the Internet in their activities, both in operational internal processes and in offering services to their
customers. We can list a set of expected benefits from Internet in banking from more traditional use to
more innovative one (see the Wielki model):
To improve the efficiency of banking business processes, reducing manual operations and
execution time;
To customize financial services;
To create innovative channels to sell financial services;
to create innovative relationships with their own customers;
To create a value constellation, including the customer in the service production activity and
therefore in the value chain (Normann and Ramirez 1993).
Therefore, the use of the Internet is a potential success factor for financial institutions, as they could
invest in a low cost technology and to gain several benefits, from different value drivers of their
business. However, Internet is also very widespread in banking; financial institutions have been very
fast in adopting web-based applications, web sites and so on. Therefore, it is not possible to gain
competitive advantage in banking simply based on Internet adoption. Perhaps Internet has been a
strategic weapon during the first stage of its adoption in business; but opportunities for advantage are
not available indefinitely. Internet is nowadays a commodity and no more a success factor nor for
financial institutions, not for other business. Indeed, Internet is a resource essential for competition
and banks are not able to compete or survive on financial markets without Internet both in internal
processes and in services for the customers (Carr 2003).
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