June 2006

COVER STORY Banks Take Their Places on the Grid As computing demands increase, more and more investment banks are jumping on the grid bandwagon. And as it matures, they're finding more and more uses for the technology. Merrill Lynch Drives Efficiency Through Grid Computing To drive greater efficiency, higher utilization and more flexibility in providing the tools and infrastructure the business needs to remain competitive, Merrill Lynch's business, development and infrastructure teams are collaborating on an enterprisewide grid computing project. FEATURE Money, Power And Principle A lawsuit against Morgan Stanley provides a rare look into high-stakes IT deals and begs the question: Are you crossing the line? BUSINESS LINES An Industry in Denial Industry participants believe the costs of Reg NMS will be someone else's problem, but investors surely will pay. The Best of Both Worlds Mutual funds with hedge fund characteristics, such as offerings from Rydex Investments, are giving customers more choices. INDUSTRY VOICE The Virtual Trader By Peter Skoglund In the event of a disruption, organizations can get traders back to work quickly by using infrastructure such as dedicated alternative trading facilities or by having a distributed architecture that enables traders to move among operational sites in a "hot desk" fashion.

FROM THE EDITOR Playing by the Rules The cost of compliance is extremely high. The SIA estimates that the financial services industry alone spends in excess of $25 billion on compliance. CIO CHALLENGE Project and Portfolio Management The Challenge: As IT budgets have soared, firms have increased efforts to wring business value out of IT. Project and portfolio management software can help strengthen IT governance, better aligning tech initiatives with business goals and improving resource allocation. PRODUCT WATCH Flow-Based Anomaly Detection Derivative Confirms for Buy Side StreamBase Upgrades Engine SHIFTING GEARS Banhidi Switches Gears Capitol Wealth Advisors Taps Paventi Goldman Exec Joins OptionsXpress UP FRONT 2006: The Year of EDM Time Is Of the Essence Dipping Into Dark Pools of Liquidity EFX Users Plateau, But Volume Increases For Good Measure I Want My BPO Communication Overload Ask The Expert: Careers SPECIAL REPORT Getting Crafty With VOIP Concerns about call quality, security, and infrastructure construction and management have kept some financial services organizations from investigating VOIP. But as the technology matures, that may be changing. PERSPECTIVES Strolling With My Alpha Alpha? Beta? Have the Greeks invaded Wall Street and no one told me? Nah, not the Greeks, more like the quants.