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

CHAPTER 3

Laying a Strong Foundation with Transformational Technology

This chapter focuses on how firms are making the transition to enterprise class technology and, in doing so, laying a strong foundation for business growth. Suhit Gupta, a consultant and expert in the field of transformational technology, explains how a comprehensive approach to technology can help businesses meet upcoming challenges. Thus, his interview is an optimal beginning for this book.

There are a variety of factors influencing firms' growing appreciation of professional class information technology, chief among which has been the financial crisis. Keeping a tight rein on IT as a cost center is important, and in today's tough market conditions even more so. Arguably, high-profile trading mistakes, securities market scandals, and the failure of several high-profile Futures Commission Merchants (FCMs) have prompted firms to reevaluate key processes, especially those that involve oversight. Partially as a result of the crisis and the introspection that it encouraged, firms of all shapes and sizes are professionalizing their IT departments and prioritizing information technology to bring their businesses to the next level.

The nature of highly competitive and rapidly evolving financial markets has forced firms to deploy new technologies quickly to keep up. Failure to upgrade connectivity or co-locate in a data center can lead to a dangerous loss in competitiveness. Often, rapid adoption of new technology ...