Architects of Electronic Trading: Technology Leaders Who Are Shaping Today's Financial Markets

CHAPTER 2

Business Challenges

Driving New Technology

Technology, while a powerful modernizing force, cannot be implemented in a vacuum. In financial and commodity markets, as in most other industries, technology becomes valuable only when applied to business issues. Thus, as a means of setting a backdrop for this book's collection of interviews on individual technologies and trends, this chapter introduces the major business issues impacting technology in the markets, as seen by technology leaders. It also highlights common themes among interviews. In subsequent chapters, leading technologists will provide their perspectives on the application of technology to meet these challenges.

Cost pressures, impending regulatory changes, low trading volumes, and infamous scandals have combined to create a dangerous crisis of confidence. But this book takes the optimistic view. In cooperation with the business side, advances in technology have the power to help the industry implement creative solutions to meet its challenges head on.

In the midst of some of the toughest market conditions of all time, as an industry we are faced with many challenges. Perhaps the single biggest challenge for the financial industry is change itself. The story of financial markets has always been about change; how well or how poorly market participants adopt or fail to do so has long been a determinant of success. However, change is now supercharged. Over time, as the pace of change of technology and within ...