It’s not a Build vs. Buy Technology Choice Anymore 

Firms increasingly focus instead on balancing control of their tech with market agility  

While capital markets participants once faced a binary “build vs. buy” choice – building high-performance trading technology in-house or buying third-party solutions – many sophisticated firms now seek a more nuanced middle ground. 

Thanks to today’s evolving technology marketplace, firms can craft solutions that allow them to exercise fine-tuned control of some aspects (the “build”) while purchasing other parts off the shelf (the “buy”) in order to reach new markets more quickly. 

Exegy’s Director of Hardware Trading Solutions, Laurent de Barry, discussed the range of options available to firms in an interview with Markets Media.  

De Barry noted that partners such as Exegy can help guide firms in these decisions, which are based on a complex set of circumstances – venues, asset classes, geographic regions – that may change as their strategies change. 

He said firms can choose to maintain control over the differentiated parts of their infrastructure (the “secret sauce” of their operations) while using less customized solutions for the parts of their tech stack where quick time-to-market is most important. 

This approach maximizes one of the most precious resources a firm has: its engineering talent. At a time when firms struggle to hire qualified engineers, particularly experts in field-programmable gate array (FPGA) technology, it’s important to put that staff to work on alpha-generating activities, and let a trusted partner handle the rest. 

By moving from a build vs. buy decision process to a more sophisticated focus on control and agility, smaller firms can compete more successfully against more well-resourced market participants. 

The Markets Media article explains what firms should be thinking about in their technology planning. Because of Exegy’s wide array of solutions, we can meet the needs of any firm, regardless of its place on the control/agility spectrum. 

Laurent de Barry will be part of Exegy’s team at FIA’s IDX London June 19-21. Make an appointment to meet with the team and learn more about how to customize your trading infrastructure to meet your firm’s needs. Or reach out to us now to start that conversation.