(Editor’s note: FTF News is launching today a new area of coverage as we spotlight each month a key information technology (IT) trend that is proving to be crucial to the successful operation of middle and back office processes. For January, we focus on the eXtensible Business Reporting Language, also known as XBRL.)

The open and free eXtensible Business Reporting Language, or XBRL, has been permeating the financial services industry because of the efficiencies it offers to manual, error-prone and often expensive financial processes. In fact, XBRL has become a way of life for more than 8,000 companies that file XBRL-formatted financial statements. Many hope that XBRL can also serve as a catalyst for more automation of corporate actions processing.

FTF News is pleased to announce that nominations are now open for the FTF News Technology Innovation Awards 2012. Nominations can be made by any registered subscriber to FTF News (subscription is free). Nominations close on January 31, 2012 and will then be considered by the editorial panel before a final short-list is presented for voting. To make a nomination, please click on the link below and complete the nomination page.

Financial services firms are prepared to spend money on cloud computing for disaster recovery/business continuity (DR/BC), email and mobile computing as many of them foresee clouds in their futures. But they are reluctant to move key middle and back office functions to the cloud as concerns over security have spiked in the year since FTF News first asked its readership about cloud computing.

Cheryl Nash has hit the ground running since she became president of Fiserv’s Investment Services division this past November. For 2012, she will be the driving force behind major product rollouts from her division. She and her team will be taking on competitors and tight budgets but the most challenging variable is market volatility.

Fiserv’s Investment Services division, headed by Cheryl Nash, is not the only part of Fiserv gearing up for the year ahead.

Earlier this month, Fiserv named Shawn Donovan as chief sales officer, tapped Steve Tait to take on the new post of group president, International and appointed Tom Warsop to head two divisions—Depository Institution Services and Distribution and Sales. Donovan was most recently executive vice president for Acxiom Corp. while Tait, who joined Fiserv in 2009, had been group president, Depository Institution Services.