Asia-Pacific Tour Diary 4
A key idea from the Tokyo Financial Information Summit yesterday, concerning reference data, has to be the suggestion, advanced during a panel discussion among end-users, that reference data operations professionals are becoming more like real business analysts and even partners in the firms' businesses, or even providing an additional layer of internal self-governance to the business.
During this discussion, Miguel Ortega, head of market data at Deutsche Bank Securities, borrowed a phrase from Charlton Heston to describe how much data technology personnel tend to value their Bloomberg terminals, saying they often vow that these would have to be pried out of their "cold, dead hands", by those attempting to cut costs.
But the movie tough-guy to emulate might not be Heston, but rather Clint Eastwood, and not in his Dirty Harry character either. As a director, Eastwood is known for his management of film budgets, always bringing in productions on time and under budget. To hear Ortega and colleagues consider data professionals' changing role, it emerges that they will need to act more like Eastwood the filmmaker than like Heston as National Rifle Association spokesman. That is to say, data professionals will have to continually analyze the data they process to ensure that the operations make business sense – akin to keeping a film production under budget.
Alluding to the value placed on data terminals, David Anderson, director at FISD and Atradia, questioned whether data users should be cut off if they aren't constantly and consistently using those sources, making the analogy that one wouldn't remove a fire extinguisher if it hadn't been used for a few months. Jeremy Green, IPUG Asia and global head of market data at Standard Chartered Bank, countered that a "just-in-time" allocation of resources would be better, for fire extinguishers as for data resources. In fact, that could be taken a step further – one could hold off until the house burned down, to judge whether you really even truly needed the house, Green said, somewhat facetiously.
The question these discussions yields is how far one can truly go in cutting costs of data services, when that would mean prying away essential parts of an operation, when heretofore seemingly essential parts are still necessary, and what are the items that must be kept in data operations to keep production of analysis complete, especially when data operations is likely to be pressed to perform more analysis.
Only users who have a paid subscription or are part of a corporate subscription are able to print or copy content.
To access these options, along with all other subscription benefits, please contact info@waterstechnology.com or view our subscription options here: http://subscriptions.waterstechnology.com/subscribe
You are currently unable to print this content. Please contact info@waterstechnology.com to find out more.
You are currently unable to copy this content. Please contact info@waterstechnology.com to find out more.
Copyright Infopro Digital Limited. All rights reserved.
You may share this content using our article tools. Printing this content is for the sole use of the Authorised User (named subscriber), as outlined in our terms and conditions - https://www.infopro-insight.com/terms-conditions/insight-subscriptions/
If you would like to purchase additional rights please email info@waterstechnology.com
Copyright Infopro Digital Limited. All rights reserved.
You may share this content using our article tools. Copying this content is for the sole use of the Authorised User (named subscriber), as outlined in our terms and conditions - https://www.infopro-insight.com/terms-conditions/insight-subscriptions/
If you would like to purchase additional rights please email info@waterstechnology.com
More on Data Management
Waters Wrap: Quants, CDOs, and the blending of job titles
Anthony explains how a quant at a massive bank taking on the CDO title hints at larger industry changes.
Capital markets firms wary of cloud overspend
Data architects highlight cost concerns as more and more institutions look to use the cloud for data storage and management.
Nasdaq to market new options strike listing tech to other exchanges
The exchange operator is experimenting with emerging technologies to determine which options strike prices belong in a crowded market, with hopes to sell the tech to its peers.
Waters Wavelength Podcast: Bloomberg’s Tony McManus
Tony McManus, global head of enterprise data division at Bloomberg, joins the podcast to talk about the importance of data in the context of AI and GenAI.
Putting the ‘A’ in CDO: The rise of the chief data and analytics officer
As data and analytics become more intertwined, banks and vendors are creating a new role—the chief data and analytics officer—to help them take advantage of the opportunities it presents. It may sound easy, but rethinking data can be a gargantuan task.
The IMD Wrap: Talk about ‘live’ data, NAFIS 2024 is here
This year’s North American Financial Information Summit takes place this week, with an expanded agenda. Max highlights some of the must-attend sessions and new topics. But first, a history lesson...
Waters Wavelength Podcast: S&P’s CTO on AI, data, and the future of datacenters
Frank Tarsillo, CTO at S&P Global Market Intelligence, joins the podcast to discuss the firm’s approach to AI, the importance of data, and what might be in store for datacenters in the coming years.
Breaking out of the cells: banks’ long goodbye to spreadsheets
Dealers are cutting back on their use of Excel amid tighter regulation and risk concerns.
Most read
- IMD & IRD Awards 2024: All the winners
- Waters Wavelength Podcast: Bloomberg’s Tony McManus
- Most innovative market data project—Tradeweb