Introduction:

This case study outlines our role in fixing outsourced electronic connectivity services for a world-leading exchange. 

Focused on helping the client urgently consider more effective options to fix underperformance, our engagement aimed to swiftly restructure, source and transform historically unreliable services to the participants, while delivering more profitable revenue growth for the exchange.

As well as showcasing our support, this case study illustrates the value of integrating commercial, transformation and strategic relationship expertise to quickly simplify complex, multi-party challenges.

The Client’s Challenge:

Our client, a leading global financial services exchange, had recently been acquired and was embarking on an ambitious change agenda that included considering the leverage of synergies in new territories with its new parent, establishing a new clearing business and insourcing all of its IT functions from a long-time incumbent provider.

But at a time when it was seeking to encourage greater electronic trading volumes in support of its agenda, it was continuing to suffer long-running connectivity services that were routinely disrupting the participants’ trades, driving some to other exchanges.

Our Approach:

Urgently needing more emphatic progress and improvement, the client sought our expertise to help secure more reliable, performant and profitable connectivity solutions for the participants in a way that would also minimise distraction to its other key change activities.

Our key actions included:

• Working closely with the client’s executives and their operational, technology, marketing, finance and legal teams to accelerate the approach the CTO needed to achieve his vision for the services.

• Rapid situation, spending and requirement analysis, with initial artefacts and RFP documentation presented in days

• Designing and leading accelerated actions for commercialisation, sourcing and implementation of a wider range of new, high-quality, and lower-cost market access services

• Validating cross-functional requirements, decision criteria and the evaluation process

• Structuring the implementation roadmap to incentivise faster build, migration and adoption stages

• Building and aligning the marketing strategy for the services according to the client’s practices and preferences

• Enhancing service and pricing options for both latency-sensitive users with a keen focus on speed as well as more cost-sensitive users

• Expediting business case development, cost and synergy improvement

• Expediting risk assessment and mitigation options

• Rapid RFP, contract, and diligence preparation and management including the drafting and update of all documentation through all iterations in the process

• With the client’s in-house and external lawyers, facilitating contract negotiations and executable agreements with down-selected parties to closure

• Providing board papers and updates in support of the client’s board considerations, as to key stakeholders and committees of the parent organisation.

• Strategic sourcing and project management of the decision, selection and all pre-contract actions

Results:

The outcomes were:

• The successful marketing launch of a new suite of tiered connectivity services that offered greater choice and a stepped change in reliability, quality and cost for the participants

• A competitive tender that successfully leveraged a new strategic relationship and lower-cost solution for the delivery of the services

• De-risked implementation with clear responsibilities and incentives for all of the parties

• Reduced overhead and distraction for the existing change activities and teams

• Reduced switching costs and legal fees, while delivering a robust, regulatory-compliant contract

• Increased assurance for the board and new parent of a more stable and deliverable investment

Tags:

#FinancialServices, #CriticalInfrastructure, #Commercialisation, #RevenueImprovement, #CostReduction, #Transformation, #Sourcing, #Contracting, #Negotiation, #Acceleration.