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Thanks to a new touch screen interface built with the help of Integrated Computer Solution Inc.'s Builder Xcessory, Wall Street brokers have a new way to enter trades, and extract information from their computer systems. The new interface is the front-end to QV Trading Systems' (New York, NY) trade entry and risk analysis system. Rapid graphical user interface (GUI) development with Builder Xcessory enabled QV Trading to lead others to market with this new style of interface. The tool's ease-of-use features and its ability to easily integrate new code with existing back-end software, cut development time to less than five months. Traders and sales people who have used the new interface have accepted it overwhelmingly, giving QV valuable market credibility while competitors scramble to catch up.
The new interface allows users to enter trades simply by touching symbols on the computer screen -- similar to using an automated teller machine at a bank. The simplified interface means traders and sales people are more likely to enter their own trades into the system themselves -- rather than writing the trade on a piece of paper, and then having someone else enter the data into the computer for them. Not only is this a faster and less expensive way to execute trades (which can raise commission volume and reduce costs) -- it is also less risky. That's because trades are entered immediately and there are fewer data entry errors -- so traders can always know exactly what their position is on any issue at any point in time.
What's wrong with this picture?
Looking at the offices of the securities industry, it's easy to believe that this is one of the most automated businesses on the planet. But look closer. Sure there are lots of monitors on people's desks, but sometimes those monitors just seem to be bookends for all the paper stacked up everywhere. Most of the brokers (the "big producers") are on the phone or scribbling notes on paper. Most of the people on the computers are entry level ticket takers trying to break into the business. Sure, this picture varies from firm to firm, and many brokers are very able computer users, but the scene described here is very often a model for the industry.
The fact is -- most trades are executed by writing down the details on a slip of paper, called a ticket, putting the tickets in a basket, having a clerk collect them at intervals throughout the workday, and enter them into a computer. So, you think you own a hundred shares of CitiCorp? Well, maybe, maybe not. Are you sure all the tickets have been entered? In the fast paced world of the trading desk, not only is this lack of certainty annoying, it can be expensive.
"There is a major concern within brokerage firms about risk management," says Albert Moras, president and CEO of QV Trading Systems, Inc. "Risk management boils down to two questions: 'What do I own?' and 'What does it mean?' If I can't answer those questions I don't know how much risk I'm managing, and I can't answer those questions if transactions are not entered into the system on a timely basis."
Moras should know. His company has been producing trading systems for 18 years -- and he is the first to admit that traditional interfaces have been a roadblock to getting the traders to use the technology sitting a few inches in front of them -- and the frustrations that can cause.
"The process of doing the trade over the phone, writing the details down on a piece of paper -- it all takes time. In a busy day, this stuff can back up -- particularly if you're dealing with out of town branches that aren't right there within ear shot of the trading desk. You have a lot of things going on, a lot of decision making that depends on those fundamental risk management questions. You may end up bidding for something you already have a lot of, or hedging a position incorrectly."
The problem, Moras notes, is that traditional trading systems have interfaces that require memorizing and typing complex commands, which traders don't have the time to learn. "What you typically, see," he says, "are pieces of paper taped onto monitors. What traders need is an interface that is contextually intuitive, that can keep up with them as they move through their day."
QV went to a touch screen solution because traders and salespeople can just point at the choices on the screen. Like using an ATM, they simply point to a transaction type, an item they want to buy or sell, a quantity, a price, a customer, and push an execute button. The system also lets them ask complex questions, which have been pre-programmed into the system. "Instead of having to know the command that lets you express all of my position in terms of long bond futures contract, or current 10-year, all that can be precoded and put under a little label, so all I have to do is touch it."
To achieve this kind of power and flexibility, QV needed an interface development environment that was also powerful and flexible. That's why they selected Builder Xcessory from ICS. "We are a UNIX shop," says lead developer Neville Orellana. "We already had a legacy trading system which we wanted to use as a foundation for the new interface. The most logical choice was X Windowsª and OSF/Motifª. When we evaluated GUI builders, we looked at how easy they were to learn, their portability across different UNIX environments and how easy it would be to manipulate objects in their environment. BX was clearly the leader."
QV especially liked the fact that Builder Xcessory integrated easily with existing back-end code -- as well as with third-party widget sets (the on-screen symbols used to construct the interface). "We wanted to speed up the whole development process," says Orellana, "knowing that X Windows is not always the easiest place to make changes in." Orellana points to the scroll bar as an example of where this flexibility paid off. "Most scroll bars are designed for a mouse. With ours, you can actually touch it with your finger and move the screens up and down. Builder Xcessory made it that much easier to accomplish these kinds of tasks.
"We were able to put together the application and deliver it to a customer in five months -- something we had initially projected to take over a year. We are very happy and so is our customer."
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