Front Office Systems Challenges: A Vendor Review

ISC: 2009 was a difficult year for the financial services industry, how has it affected your organisation?

Clearly, financial organisations were under pressure through 2009 and IT budgets tend to feel the squeeze in such an environment. We certainly observed a reduction in the number of new solution projects being launched, and that affected how we allocated our investment throughout the year. We saw the flip side of this squeeze presented in two forms; firms looking to leverage existing investment in the front office by upgrading to the latest versions of software where the business case was compelling, and initiating research in to how technology could help mitigate risk in the future.

ISC: What do you regard as the primary issues facing the buyside front office over the next year?

We think the main challenge for everyone will be to do more with less, and specifically the buyside front office will need to be more risk aware, with less total investment. Moving risk management, of whatever flavour, to as early a position in the investment process as possible is key, and the total cost of ownership of relevant software solutions is expected to come down.

ISC: What are your primary areas of focus in product development?

Predictably, recent market events continue to influence our product development plan. Notwithstanding functional advancement, we are investing significantly in making InvestmentManager even simpler to implement, even more intuitive to use and driving down the cost of maintaining the product. In addition, we are investigating several opportunities for delivering the product on a SaaS (Software as a Service) model. On the functional side, we continue to enrich our asset class coverage as the market evolves in its attempt to mitigate risks and exploit opportunities. Credit and currency derivatives continue to evolve apace, with many investment strategies relying on them.

(...)

Contact