Pervasive change, globalisation and standardisation are rewriting the rulebook for all companies that participate in financial services, especially vendors, says Bloomberg in a recent report.
And, in an era of rising complexity, companies that offer technology solutions such as co-location and network providers, as well as established financial services companies, have discovered the necessity of working together in an era of rising complexity.
Bloomberg’s Kevin McGilloway, head of Business Development for Enterprise Products and Solutions (EPS), says the trends have been apparent for more than a decade. At one time, firms benefited by creating proprietary islands of services or data, but now, those structures no longer make sense in today’s open environment.
McGilloway believes firms want ecosystems that work together seamlessly— systems that do not require many translations between each hop. Developments such as the adoption of FIX protocols and the use of shared infrastructure are driving this demand.
For example, Bloomberg is developing "mini-ecosystems" in collaboration with firms such as Equinix to provide timely access to data. “We no longer see the benefit of trying to be all things to all people.”
McGilloway adds, “We used to focus on the desktop, on the individual, at ‘eyeball speed. We now have to focus on the enterprise. It’s not just the desktop. It’s algorithm boxes, it’s golden copies, it’s middle and back office, it’s handling regulatory needs. We have recognized this need to be open and to think at the enterprise level.”
