The Problem
Decisions have consequences. You may have recently learned that your trader voice supplier of equipment and services ceased operations. Much of their equipment was already EOS/EOL. The decision to select that vendor has now giving a new higher priority, and undoubtedly unwanted risk to mitigate. You need options. You may not have the budget to replace the equipment. Your business requires an RFP and the usual three respondents. You don’t have the time or budget for that process as your risk is immediate. What if your trading floor has an issue right now? You may have made the best financial and technical decision for your firm when you selected them, but will the head trader care when the turrets/circuits/hoots/intercom go down? Unfortunately, you are in the crosshairs and need a solution, fast.
While avoiding an outage and the wrath of the traders is important, so is bridging the gap to the next stage in the evolution of your firm’s trading floor technology. You don’t want to compound one bad decision with another. You need time. How do you keep what you have operating, while giving your firm a simple migration path to whatever comes next?
And what are those next generation options? Cloud-based services with expensive hardware that should be saving you money but cost more because of the indebtedness of the vendor? Cloud based services that provide poor quality, rely on the already overtaxed trader workstation, have appalling hardware options, and never made it out of your lab? Another small vendor with no financial backing? All of these options have the potential to be your next bad decision.
The Solution
There is an allegory of a crumbling bridge that a town relied on for trade. The village elders wanted to study the matter, some took to immediate but shoddy repairs, and others ignored it and kept using the bridge. A bad storm came by, and the bridge collapsed killing anyone on the span. What was the correct solution? Probably a timelier combination of all three approaches.
As we were taught in the Army when treating injuries, you first stop the bleeding. First, you need to stabilize your trading floor risk with expertise in managing the equipment you have. Secondly, you need a replacement strategy that gets you from now until that replacement technology and vendor are vetted and implemented. Thirdly, you need a migration plan today that get you there regardless of what vendor and technology decision you make. That company and strategy exists and has been providing such services for over 25 years. Let me explain how XOP Networks can help you navigate your crumbling bridge.
XOP’s platform, the Universal Services Node inherently bridges any protocol to any other protocol, hardware, or software. They are deployed in numerous financial industry firms and service providers as a core technology to provide bridging, gateway, and end user services. In one instance, they are integrating a 3rd party desk stations to bypass the EOL/EOS equipment and replace the Windows Server 2008 based system. In another they sit between legacy analog or TDM services and provide SIP connectivity, soft clients, and secure remote access that the original vendor could not support. And now, they can integrate off the shelf hardware directly into their device giving you low-cost interim or replacement options for your critical trader voice services.
The diagram depicts one narrow but important application on how XOP can integrate in a manner today, that can extend the life of your legacy and provide a bridge to the near term and long-term future and immediately offer you:
- High Availability / Inherent BCS/DR
- LDAP Integration
- RESTful API
- Compliance Recording Integration & Analytics
- CAS/Web RTC/SIP and many more (any to any) integrations
- Cloud, datacenter, or hybrid deployablef
- XOP vendor independent web client
- Optional XOP CPE
- Secure remote dial in/out
- Multi Factor Authentication
- Distribute TV/External Audio/Video Feeds
- OPEX per position MRC
- Low TCO/flexible scalability
- PW Carrier Integration
Again, the answer you need is in service, already working on trading floors, and managed by technicians who know your equipment and can help you meet the challenge you didn’t ask for.
Conclusion
As a former XOP customer, I can tell you that decision was one that never caused me concern. Your job is difficult enough and your vendors should be making your lives easier, not more difficult. If you find yourself in the unfortunate situation that is described in this blog, I suggest that you contact XOP marketing (marketing@xopnetworks.com) immediately as they can help with this problem. There is no learning curve or ramp time. They can develop anything that is required to meet any unique circumstances that may exist. I’m a consultant and my reputation is everything to myself and my business. I have been helping you solve your trader voice challenges for over 30 years. XOP can help you meet and overcome this challenge. Don’t be the villager on the bridge when the storm hits. Be the strategic planner who weathered the immediate crisis with a solution that met the short, near, and long-term needs of your traders and firm.
Bill Wagner is a financial industry technology consultant with over 30 years’ experience as an industry executive in hardware, software, engineering, operations, R&D, product development and introduction, and strategic development.