This blog provides an introduction to the new breed of tech that's revolutionising trading and operations desktops, helping optimize trade and back office workflows. We'll look at how omnichannel delivery now makes it possible to deliver data automatically, in real-time and in a common format to the end user's application of choice. Whether that's Excel, a custom web application, an easy-to-connect API or, increasingly, delivered by chatbots into one of the dominant chat platforms like Slack, Symphony or Microsoft Teams.

Benefits of omnichannel delivery for traders

Real-time information has long been available to traders on their desktops. However, keeping abreast of what's happening in the market across multiple platforms can be challenging, to say the least. A trader may be receiving information from many different sources and need to be monitoring news services, broker screens, pricing platforms and electronic trading platforms, all at the same time as performing a host of tasks in Excel while communicating with counterparties and colleagues over chat. What this means is a lot of manual workflow tasks and context switching for the trader and tremendous competition amongst services to have a presence on the trader's desktop. 

While it's fair to say that quality and price of service and the client relationship have traditionally driven traders to use a certain provider's screen, the new tech coming onto the market adopted by some more forward-thinking services is now becoming a decisive factor in determining which services get used. For traders, given the choice of logging on to a screen each day versus receiving automatic updates into a chat session or directly feeding a model in Excel, 9 out of 10 will choose the latter. Particularly for the new tech-savvy generation for whom automation is king.       

So what are the real benefits to traders?

• • Reactive versus proactive. With thousands of news items and data points bombarding them throughout the day, traders don't have the time to proactively look for prices or market information. What they want is information delivered automatically to them into the applications they're already using, chat for example, with simple bot commands to allow them to request further information or price quotes. Efficiency and speed on the trading desktop can be transformed by adapting workflows with omnichannel delivery and automation so the trader can be more reactive.
    
    
  • Fewer missed trading opportunities. By automating the data delivery process through chatbots or API, traders can receive the information in real time and in the right place. On desktop or mobile, in Excel or in chat, that means they won't miss an opportunity to trade. 
    
    
  • Ability to make better-informed decisions, faster. With all this data at their fingertips, end users can quickly gather ALL of the information they need from many different sources, all channelled into a single application. This improved efficiency means the trader can make better decisions, faster and with more confidence. Ultimately reducing risk and improving their returns. 
    
    

Using automation and omnichannel delivery and automation to transform time-consuming workflows is a game changer for the trader in terms of efficiency.

...and the benefits to trading services?

Omnichannel delivery is also a game changer for the services that are early movers in delivering in this way, with their offering always at the traders and back office fingertips. 

The service that is able to deliver in this will more and more win the business. Whether that's the broker offering to deliver RFQs direct into chat or Excel, or a reference data service that's switched from file-based delivery to an omnichannel model. Find out more.

Where can ipushpull help?

The ipushpull platform provides omnichannel delivery, complementing existing screens and file-based models, and no-code data onboarding, all out-of-the-box.

Integrating ipushpull is quick and easy. Simply connect your data in various formats, configure how you want to deliver it into a broad choice of chat platforms or other applications like Microsoft Excel, and then invite your clients. ipushpull does the rest.

With ipushpull's fast data onboarding and omnichannel delivery, you can quickly future-proof and scale your business, and watch your client satisfaction go through the roof!

Please get in touch now to find out how you could be running a PoC within days.