The Data-Management Challenge

Market data is often considered the lifeblood of the financial services industry, but the task of managing the data has become a costly, inefficient and increasingly daunting task for financial-services firms. With information ranging from real-time to historical and reference data and everything in between, this data is necessary to completing the trade process.

According to a recent TowerGroup study on market data, four out of five financial institutions said badly managed reference data was a major cause of internal straight-through processing failure. The study also reported that 30 percent of failed trades were caused as a result of poor data management. These stats highlight the importance of quality data and good data management. But with business lines continually looking for ways to cut costs and streamline processes, market data management is a key area for improvement.

But managing data more effectively has become quite a challenge lately. Research by Outsell Inc, estimates that investment-banking firms are spending an average of $32.6 million dollars annually on market data. This data must then be delivered and managed across the enterprise on a continuous basis. With millions being spent on this data and a lousy economy, firms are facing tough choices and new problems as cutbacks prevail and the movement toward automated environments continues.

In order to help you uncover technology solutions to the data issues you may be facing Wall Street & Technology has created the Data-Management Challenge. This unique supplement allows vendors with appropriate solutions to demonstrate their value proposition to you. We hope that by aggregating the offerings of several quality providers into one supplement we can provide you, the reader, with a deeper insight into existing solutions that can help you manage your firm's data more effectively while potentially driving down costs.