TP Icap Eyes Cloud, More Tech Partners to Reach New Data Clients

London-based interdealer broker TP Icap is aiming to make more of its market data available via cloud providers, as part of an initiative to reach a broader base of clients who may not have access to its data via premium vendor services.

In additional to proprietary and third-party vendor distribution channels, the broker’s data is already available via Amazon Web Services’ AWS Data Exchange, an online marketplace of third-party data providers that already offers more than 1,000 datasets from 80 providers.

“Working with companies that have a presence in cloud providers is something we’re exploring. And if you’re in that space, you have to look at working with the cloud providers themselves,” says Roland Anderson, CTO of TP Icap’s Data and Analytics division, adding that the broker expects to forge more distribution partnerships this year.

The aim is to offer more options to clients around data delivery. Currently, the company has partnerships with Bloomberg, Refinitiv, the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), and more, but Anderson says that there are certain use-cases where they would like to diversify their client base.

Included in that plan are users who may not have access to a full-blown Bloomberg or Refinitiv solution platform, perhaps because of size, geography, technical resources, or because a potential subscriber happens to reside in a division of a firm that uses these products elsewhere, but not in their business area.

“We want to meet the client were they are, whether it’s in the cloud, or in a hybrid cloud, so that we as a content provider can bring value and be part of the ecosystem that they run. If they’re in a private datacenter, we’re happy to do cross-connects over encrypted lines. Or, in the public cloud—everyone still has security concerns, but these cloud providers employ so many security professionals that the cyber teams inside firms just can’t compare,” Anderson says. “We want to be in that space, and to be the vendor of choice when it comes to OTC data.”

Cloud is one way TP Icap is seeking to reach additional clients directly. Another is via partnerships with data technology vendors such as MDX Technology, which recently implemented its data distribution platform at the broker to support a range of more flexible delivery options to reach clients, including spreadsheets, web portals, mobile apps, and apps running in the Symphony Communication Services ecosystem.

“MDX Technology is another option for us,” Anderson says. “It’s one part of the overall strategy of diversifying delivery direct to customers … and is giving clients options around direct connectivity, so we can reach the types of firms that we haven’t in the past.”

The broker is currently testing the MDX delivery options with some clients, after running a proof-of-concept deployment in the second half of last year, and fully rolling out the platform to support all market data generated by the broker over a one-month period, which the vendor made “as pain-free as possible” in terms of resources and manpower required.

“MDX worked with us throughout the design, security, and documentation process. They built out certain things within their platform—such as helping us build some of the pages that you see on terminals … so that the pages look how we want—and handed it off to our support guys so we could manage it ourselves,” Anderson says.