Putting on a brave face

When your chairman is quoted as saying that your software is not as good as that of your competitors, it is difficult to hold your head high and carry on as if nothing has happened.

Mired in negative publicity over the last few months with respect to mismanagement of the company and failed takeover bids, the future of Misys Software is anything but certain.

At Sibos in Sydney where Misys has a rather imposing stand decorated in purple and white, its corporate colours, Jerry Luckett, director, product & strategy, core banking, Misys Banking Systems, was putting on a brave face. Luckett says chairman Dominic Cadbury's comments were taken out of context, but conceded that it was a topic that customers at the Sibos conference continued to raise. "We are getting on with doing business," he says. "That is what is important to our customers."

On the core banking systems front, recognising some shortfalls in its Equation and Midas applications, Luckett says Misys is "refreshing" its technology by breaking them down into components, which can be leveraged within an SOA environment.

Misys' competitors in the core banking systems market, more notably i-flex Solutions and Temenos, claim to have been winning business from Misys. Luckett maintains Misys is still winning business in branch banking applications. "The technology refresh recognises that people want open platforms and architectures," he says.

Misys Treasury Plus, the FX confirmations solution it provides to approximately 800 corporates, banks and fund managers, will also have new components added to it including cash management applications - the first piece being multibank and multicurrency reporting - that are not in development yet.

However, it is difficult to be certain about Misys' future direction let alone its foray into the cash management application space until Dominic Cadbury finds Misys a new CEO, following Kevin Lomax standing down as chairman and CEO of the company.