NYSE To Add Portware Technology to Hosted Platform
November 17, 2008
Execution management systems provider Portware's solutions will be made available on a hosted basis to firms on the Secure Financial Transaction Infrastructure (SFTI) network, said NYSE Euronext's commercial technology division last week.
Under the agreement, NYSE Euronext Advanced Trading Solutions will give users of SFTI--a highly resilient communications network linking exchanges, market centers, content service providers and more than 1,300 market participants--direct access to Portware systems. Portware, in turn, will gain opportunities to expand its customer base.
A New York-based supplier of broker-neutral technology for global equities, futures, options and foreign exchange, Portware is the third trading systems company to link up with the SFTI Community Platform, touted at its June launch as the industry's first network providing customers with both global connectivity and third-party hosted solutions. The other participants offering their wares on the platform are UNX, a provider of technology and agency brokerage services to buy- and sell-side firms, and Progress Software Corp.'s Apama complex event processing unit.
"The vision of the business is to continue to identify ideal third-party software vendors to invite into this hosted service offering," said Mark DiFraia, managing director of business development at NYSE Euronext Advanced Trading Solutions. "Execution management and strategy-based execution services are a good fit for us. I've known Portware for some time and they're very strong in the marketplace. We naturally thought they would be a very compelling offering for our customers."
Harrell Smith, head of product strategy at Portware, called the deal "definitely something we think some future clients will find attractive given the advantages NYSE offers." Emphasizing that this is "not an exclusive relationship [but] another option that firms can have when they choose to deploy Portware," Smith said it is "just one more choice for potential clients. ... We're making ourselves available to clients in this environment if they want it."
In April 2007, NYSE combined SFTI with the FIX infrastructure of TransactTools, which it had recently purchased, to form NYSE TransactTools. The NYSE Advanced Trading Solutions unit was introduced in March in conjunction with the exchange operator's finalized acquisition of market data technology provider Wombat. "Those three things together make a lot of sense if you're trying to build a strategy-based execution service," said DiFraia. "Over time I expect to see the footprint of this environment grow to include services that are both earlier and later in the trade life cycle. ... But I think for now this is a real obvious place for us to be."
Portware president Ary Khatchikian said in a statement that his company's "relationship with NYSE Euronext Advanced Trading Solutions provides a robust, hosted environment," adding that, "together, this suite of products and services gives firms everything they need to address the challenges of today's complex global marketplace."
