Das BONITAS-System

Abstract

Tool support for professional credit-rating is currently dominated by data-oriented approaches. This results in primarily focusing on hard facts in the financial institutions’ process of evaluating credit inquiries of their customers. Content objects and arguments which cannot algorithmically be mapped onto rigid data-tables („soft facts”), however, with the potential of having a decisive impact on credit assessment, tend to be not sufficiently and appropriately placed into consideration. The BONITAS system overcomes this structural lack of information processing in traditional credit management systems in adding to the traditional approach innovative groupware-enabled capabilities. Compound documents in a messaging context are used to be integrative containers for all relevant information. These documents support both information gathering and evaluation of „hard” data and „soft” facts as well as semi-structured information gathering workflows allowing for a continuum of assessment-specific process options. The creation of valid and marketable business knowledge in credit management processes is basically team-driven. Thus, the essential features of groupware-based information management systems, i.e. their outstanding capabilities in communication, collaboration and coordination, represent critical baselines for improving the decision quality in credit-rating. An important goal of the BONITAS system is to aim at creating a constantly improved knowledge base on credit management workflows. This knowledge base is continuously being maintained in the operational progress of customer projects. It enables the financial institution to judge on the financial strength of upcoming clients in a holistic and anticipating evaluation process superior to traditional much more static assessments.