Time for some crystal ball gazing, let's look at Factset. Bought Portware already but they need connectivity and an OMS. So what should they do?
Proposal for Factset
Proposal for Factset
- Buy Ullink for the old NYFIX business
- Buy FIX Flyer since it's a good FIX toolset
- Buy the old McGregor business from ITG (what's left of it)
- Buy the ITG.net connectivity business from ITG and put in place a deep SLA.
- Replace the old Appia instances with Flyer
- Integrate ITG.net and NYFIX to a new common platform
- Integrate McGregor and Portware
The critical, most important part is: Hire a development team
to build a modern SaaS, HTML5 OMS to replace McGregor
That will allow FactSet
to enter the field to compete more thoroughly with Bloomberg.
Last year I had the opportunity to talk to Factset CEO Phil Snow about his OMS strategy. He said he wished to buy a well known OMS but obviously this one wasn't for sale. Instead, the acquisition of CYMBA Technologies was made public some weeks later. I don't know much about their products called Athena IMS and Centurion (Compliance-Engine) and how they will integrate with Factset.
ReplyDeleteIf I had the opportunity to spend an hour with Phil Snow I would ask why he feels the need to buy rather than build.
ReplyDeleteThe sales cycle for an enterprise OMS deal is a lot longer than the build cycle for an MVP to deliver value initially while the product can be built out.