Optimising performance of single-dealer platforms

Many of the posts in this blog quite rightly focus on how single dealer platforms (SDPs) solve the problem of delivering compelling business workflows to clients right across the trade life-cycle. And why a well researched and intuitive UX design, is so critical to the usability of the platform by end users.

However, perhaps we don’t talk here enough about how important it is to help clients optimise the performance of their trading platform over the internet for very large numbers of end users, to ensure it’s always delivering added value.

Each client, faces a unique set of optimisation challenges, relating to the type of workflows being delivered, the number of concurrent users, their geographic location, as well as the number of instruments, and the speed of update, and the front end technology selected.

Architects need to work closely with the business, helping them optimise workflows, reducing message size, whilst ensuring internet latency is both minimised, and deterministic even for the most demanding of platforms, in the most hostile of internet terrains.

With that in mind, it’s interesting to see in today’s FX Week that Citi, whose Velocity 2.0 platform, has just released their updated Velocity platform, and as Anil Prasad, Global Head of FX and Local Markets at Citi says:

“We think Velocity is faster than any other bank platform on the Street. The design will take care of five things – fast execution, lower transaction cost, more liquidity for our clients, real-time information and far more efficient use of desktop space. We think it’s going to revolutionise FX trading,”.

Anil goes on to say..…

The platform can accommodate 42 open tiles on a single screen and has the ability to update prices 92 milliseconds faster than previous versions, he said.

Optimisation is a continual process, and the ability to squeeze every millisecond of latency out of the platform, is critically important if banks are to maintain the quality and performance of service they offer to their clients.