Legacy Systems in Capital Markets: Enhance, Augment or Replace?
Finadium
October 2017
Capital markets are powered by the systems and technologies that support the business. These include not only some of the most advanced and cutting edge systems in the marketplace today but also some of the oldest and most established. Important elements of capital markets are based on technical infrastructure that has been in place for generations. These systems are generally known as legacy systems, and they have been the target of modernization efforts for more than twenty years.
Compared to newer computing platforms, legacy systems were considered labor intensive to manage, and difficult to upgrade to meet changing business needs. On the other hand, many technologists and engineers who worked on these platforms are passionate in their defense. They characterize them as stable, reliable foundations upon which capital markets have been built. They could not envision nor would they want to comtemplate a financial markets infrastructure that works without the established backbone.
This report looks at the current role of legacy systems in the capital markets infrastructure, strategies for managing them and opportunities for their replacement. This report should be read by product managers, technology strategists, and others responsible for technology solutions in capital markets firms.
This report is 13 pages with two exhibits.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
■ Executive Summary
■ A New Outlook on the Problem of Legacy Technology
■ Reassessing the Viability of Legacy Systems
– Who Runs the Ship?
■ Legacy Systems Coexisting with Enterprise Systems
■ Can New Technologies Finally Replace Legacy Systems?
■ About the Author
■ About Finadium LLC