Facts-and-figures back-up

At a time when the fin
13 December 2003

At a time when the financial services industry is facing the daunting task of market data management, the outsourcing option can provide succour

Chennai: The financial services industry is facing another daunting task today — market data management. As of now, the task of managing market data has become a costly and challenging affair. Being considered the lifeblood of the financial services industry, market data, including real-time historical and reference data, are necessary for completion of the trade and settlement process.

A study by Outsell Inc, a US-based research and advisory company, estimates that global investment banks are spending an average of $32.6 million annually on market data services. Effective capture and smooth flow of data is imperative for successful business ventures. However, the pace at which businesses are expanding today, managing and accessing the various types of data has not only become complicated but critical.

This article will take you through the world of market data management in three episodes. The first episode describes the current scenario of managing data in the financial services industry, while the second highlights why the task of managing data is turning out to be a nightmare. The third episode throws light on how market data management has become a key issue and why financial companies are considering outsourcing as the most viable option for relief from the mind-boggling business of managing data across the enterprise.

The problem
Financial services organisations deal with numerous financial instruments, ranging from stocks, funds and derivatives, to meet the requirements of the ever-increasing demands of the global securities marketplace. As such they need to tackle a huge amount of data to trade and keep track of these instruments.