Profile of Jim Middlemiss

Blog Posts: 143

Europe Moves Toward a Single Financial Market

6/16/2006
Traders struggle to understand the implications of MiFID as many of the regulation's details still are uncertain.

CIO Challenge

6/27/2005

CIO Challenge- SOA

5/25/2005
THE CHALLENGE: Legacy systems and inflexible architectures often prevent investment management firms from leveraging applications across the enterprise. To improve interoperability across the organization, many firms are turning to service-oriented architecture.

Data Managers: Ambassadors of Change

5/25/2005
Data managers are earning new respect and their roles are evolving from back-office clerks to business-savvy, C-level executives.

CIO Challenge: Two-Factor Authentication

4/27/2005
The rising incidence of account hijacking and identity theft has created a challenge for financial organizations that want to secure their data, but still allow clients and staff to conduct transactions online. Two-factor authentication may provide a solution.

Internal Auditors

3/22/2005
Traditionally, internal auditors have been feared by IT organizations. But, rather than view auditors as foes, technology executives must learn to embrace auditors' expertise.

3/1/2005
Without fast data, the most advanced trading systems are useless.

CIO Challenge -- VoIP

2/27/2005
Managing traditional analog hoot-n-holler networks, which are critical to investment management firms' operations, can be expensive and challenging, so many CIOs are eyeing alternatives. For some, the answer is IP telephony.

Setting Sights on China

2/4/2005
As China emerges as a land of opportunity, U.S. firms are flocking there to set up shop. The first step is to assist Chinese broker-dealers and exchanges with governance issues and trading technology.

Outsourcing: Captive Sites

2/4/2005
The newest outsourcing trend is the building of captive sites, in which brokerage firms essentially expand their operations, taking on their own space and employees in a foreign country rather than using the services of a third-party service provider.

Firing On All Cylinders

1/5/2005
Having the proper infrastructure in place is critical to measuring enterprisewide performance.

CIO Challenge

1/5/2005
THE CHALLENGE: As markets make the seemingly inevitable transition to automated trading, former floor-based traders need to relearn their craft. To familiarize themselves with electronic trading technologies, many traders are going back to school.

CIO Challenge

11/29/2004
As hedge funds soar, winning their order flow has become more vital than ever. To compete for that business, brokers and other providers need to offer hedge fund managers wider access to markets and trading products, and break down silos to improve integration.

Riga to Manila to Mumbai

11/29/2004
More firms are considering offshore outsourcing than ever before - and their choices are growing by the minute.

BPO Draws Broader Appeal

10/25/2004
Faced with ever-increasing pressure to cut costs, more investment firms are tapping business process outsourcing.

Results-Oriented Approach

10/22/2004
LEHMAN BROTHERS' approach to one of its most-difficult IT strategies - outsourcing - offers an example of how CIO Jonathan Beyman leads: Get the right people in place, challenge them and then let them do their jobs and hold them accountable for results.

Hybrid Market, Myriad Challenges

10/22/2004
Chief Technology Officer Roger Burkhardt has the unenviable task of automating the New York Stock Exchange and putting it on a level playing field with electronic competitors by creating a hybrid market.

Barclays Conquers Data Issues

10/22/2004
Like Jason and the Argonauts, Paul Stevens, CIO at Barclays Global Investors, is on the hunt. But the target of Stevens' interest is what he calls the Golden Source - data of unquestionable integrity.

IT Architecture

9/21/2004
Industry consolidation, new computing standards and a move to horizontal business structures have IT architects' plates full. To build a cohesive strategy, they need to leverage architectures across an organization, bust down technology silos and meld newly acquired units.

CIO Challenge - Project Management

8/27/2004
Ramping up for growth while keeping costs in check is a challenge for any manager.

The ABCs of ASPs

8/27/2004
The application-service-provider model is gaining momentum as firms seek ways to lower the cost of technology adoption.

Making Connections

8/27/2004
Already in control of the desktop, OMS vendors are looking to add direct-market connections.

Going Direct

8/27/2004
Industry consolidation and the emergence of new asset classes drive direct-market-access technology.

CIO Challenge

7/28/2004
Wireless holds tremendous potential for financial-services firms, but implementing it across an enterprise is no easy task. Organizations must determine the best applications of the technology, find a way to integrate it with their legacy systems and then secure it all.

Gone Phishing

7/28/2004
In the latest identity-theft scam, fraudulent e-mails trick individuals into coughing up passwords to 'secure' financial data.

CIO Challenge: Maintenance Costs

6/22/2004
On average, IT maintenance eats up more than $6 out of every $10 in the IT budget.

Taking AML to the Next Level

6/22/2004
Investment-management firms are beginning to leverage AML technology for more than anti-money laundering.

Is VoIP Ready for the Mass Market?

6/22/2004
Financial executives say yes.

CIO Challenge: Search Engines

6/4/2004
With digital data doubling each year and the number of available Web pages spiraling upward, helping investors find the information they seek online to make informed investment decisions is no easy task.

Wall Street’s Future Stars

6/4/2004
Simulated trading rooms are popping up on college campuses, and they're opening recruiting doors on the street.

https://www.informationweek.com/

4/27/2004
The need to jam more computing power into less space has firms scrambling to manage their data centers.

More than Managing Names and Numbers

4/27/2004
Successful CRM requires more than information. It requires tools to use that information effectively and add value to the customer relationship.

Integration: The Wheel That Makes STP Spin

4/27/2004
Before firms can hope to achieve straight-through processing or one-day settlement of trades, they have to get their systems and data to speak to each other.

IT Challenge: Settlement

3/26/2004
The Challenge: For financial services firms, moving away from batch processing is still a challenge. The DTCC's new inventory-management system offers delivery flexibility and helps firms find efficiencies and increase automation in the settlement process.

Biometrics Add Security in Insecure Times

3/26/2004
Technologies like voice-recognition and fingerprint authentication can add a layer of security while improving customer service and cutting costs.

IT Challenge: Spam

3/2/2004
The Challenge: Junk e-mail is becoming a big problem, as spammers clog inboxes with dubious offerings from weight-loss remedies to cheap Viagra.

Putting an End to the Spend

3/2/2004
Having a fail-proof disaster-recovery plan is important, but so is a cost-conscious budget. Can financial-services firms have both?

Tue, 17 Jul 2007 11:30:56 -0500

3/1/2004
Financial-services firms grapple with the multitude of compliance issues facing the industry. Is there an end in sight?

To Be or Not to Be an IM Shop?

2/12/2004
Financial-services firms are divided when it comes to allowing instant messaging. Many warn they don't have a choice.

Gearing up for Grid

2/12/2004
Athough mass adoption is several years away, many financial institutions are reaping the benefits of grid computing.

IT Challenge: Setting Priorities

1/5/2004
The Challenge: Figuring out which project to tackle first is no easy task for IT executives.

Bringing Risk Into the Mix

1/5/2004
Legg Mason is among a handful of firms revamping their wealth-management platforms to include risk management.

Early Adopters Endorse Linux

1/4/2004
While some are cautiously dipping their toes into the Linux pool, E*Trade's Josh Levine is taking the plunge.

Corporate-Performance Management

11/17/2003
When Scotiabank Group merged its corporate-banking and capital-markets groups in the late 1990s, the challenge became how to stay on top of the global juggernaut's performance in multiple countries.

A Risky Operation

11/17/2003
A wave of new regulations is forcing firms to focus on reducing their operational risk.

Under Attack

11/17/2003
Forget about locking the windows and the doors, financial-services firms now have far more to fear from worms, horses and bugs.

IT Challenge

10/27/2003
When it comes to instant messaging, firms must grapple with the fundamental question: Do you allow the deployment of multiple platforms or limit users to only one?

Finding a Needle in a Haystack

10/27/2003
One of the main difficulties in complying with the U.S.A. Patriot Act is sifting through the huge amount of information firms process every day.

The Challenge

10/6/2003
For E*TRADE CIO Josh Levine, integrating platforms from brokerage to banking, while juggling a LINUX implementation, has been his challenge for the past few years. He says the next hurdle the industry faces is moving away from vendor-owned operating systems to unleash the power of Web services.

STP's First Step

10/3/2003
Portfolio-management systems are proving to be the buy side's straight-through-processing cornerstone.

For Some, ASPs Are Worth the Risk

10/3/2003
Risk managers are finding that ASPs can help them reduce costs and mitigate risk at the same time.

VoIP Comes Through Loud & Clear

8/26/2003
When Cantor Fitzgerald needed to rebuild its infrastructure following the Sept. 11 tragedy, the firm had to make a decision about its telephones.

Firms Eye Risk In Regulatory Storm

8/26/2003
In today's compliance-intensive environment, firms are seeking the most effective way to structure their risk departments.

IT Challenge

8/26/2003
Auerbach Grayson & Company has built a brokerage business that spans 83 countries by partnering with local brokerages and building a 24X7 international trading system.

The Challenge

7/17/2003
Management consultant Asiff Hirji got to know his client Ameritrade Holding Corporation so well that when the chance came to shape the technology strategy at the online broker, he couldn't say no.

Options Markets Hold Hidden Dangers

7/17/2003
Financial institutions are taking a closer look at credit risk as a means to guard against losses. Determining the best way to evaluate it, however, is up for debate.

Litigation Casts A Shadow Over Linux: Will Uncertainty Slow Adoption?

7/17/2003
A billion dollar lawsuit that alleges IBM's use of UNIX, and its Linux play, is a misappropriation of a Utah-based company's software, has garnered the attention of Wall Street firms, which are quietly watching the fight over computing code.

New Risk Vendors Bet Big on SIA Tech Show

6/20/2003
Financial institutions aren't the only ones managing their risk when it comes to market activity. Nascent risk-management vendors are also hedging their bets at this year's SIA Technology Management Conference & Exhibit by seeking out new clients.

Firms Seek IT-Structure Holy Grail

6/18/2003
In a decade of change, featuring everything from expansive growth and shifting technologies to tough competition, mergers, layoffs and belt tightening, one thing has remained constant: chief information officers continually restructure their departments in search of the perfect model by which to govern operations.

An Emerging ’New Science’

6/18/2003
Basel II is supposed to help firms survive a crunch by forcing them to keep more cash on hand, but will compliance with the accord leave their hands tied?

The Challenge

6/17/2003
Managing hundreds of desktop computers is no easy task. Firms can't afford to have their traders and brokers down while IT staff rummage around desks replacing broken units. Now, there's an alternative to decentralized-workstation computing.

IT Challenge

5/13/2003
The Challenge: Slumping trade volumes, cost-containment initiatives and threats of more layoffs have combined to lower morale across the brokerage business. IT departments aren't immune to this toxic mix, which can have employees worrying as much about their future as the task at hand. It makes motivating staff and shoring up morale a real challenge.

Lehman CIO Keeps Ear to the Ground

5/13/2003
If you think chief information officers stay holed up in their offices pouring over reports; learning about a typical day in the life of Lehman's CIO may change your mind.

OMS Vendors Revamp Offerings to Meet Demands

4/16/2003
When it comes to buy-side order-management-system vendors, the market features a range of players, catering to all firms from small hedge funds to large investment managers.

The Buy Side is Buying into OMS Tech

4/16/2003
It goes without saying that in a volatile market, traders must be on their toes and ready for anything. One way that firms are keeping pace with rapidly changing markets is by deploying the latest in order-management-system technology.

Natural-Language Search Engines

4/15/2003
The Challenge: Weeding through thousands of pages of Web-site documents to locate the answer to a question can be a laborious process and a challenge outside the scope of many search engines. Now, financial institutions are turning to natural-language search engines to make them more efficient and improve the self-help capabilities of their Web sites.

One Size Does Not Fit All: Matching the Right Technology With the Right Adviser

4/15/2003
Financial institutions are turning to natural-language search engines to make them more efficient and improve the self-help capabilities of their Web sites.

The Challenge

3/12/2003
Finding the right technology vendor in a sea of offerings is no easy task.

Next on the FIX Hit List: Bonds and Derivatives

3/12/2003
Experts say that 2003 is shaping up to be the year of FIX.

IT Challenge

2/12/2003
Investment statements are the primary communication tools used to reach clients, so its important to make sure they're getting the right message.

Expanding Your Options

2/12/2003
The recent influx of new electronic-trading systems for options is revolutionizing the marketplace - but are traders ready?

IT Challenge

1/17/2003
In the world of venture capital and private equity, communicating with investors in an efficient way is critical. Read about how some firms have improved the process.

As the Market Goes Down, Outsourcing Goes Up

1/17/2003
In a tough economy, outsourcing may be your best bet for keeping software-maintenance fees under control.

Is SuperMontage's Honeymoon Over?

1/17/2003
While it's still early in the SuperMontage world, firms trading Nasdaq stocks say that things are running smoothly and many continue to rely on ECNs to help them get best execution.

ECNs Adjust to a SuperMontage World

1/17/2003
While SuperMontage isn't likely the death knell for electronic-communications networks, it will force them to visit the drawing board and come up with a better battle plan for competing in the new environment.

The Real Deal?

12/16/2002
The potential of Web services to revolutionize application communication still seems to be a point of debate for 2003.

Intruder Alert

12/12/2002
The threat of cyber-terrorism has firms spending precious dollars on anti-virus and intrusion-detection software.

The Customer is Still King

12/12/2002
In a down market, it's easy to put something like CRM on the back burner, but that strategy may get you the cold shoulder.

IT Challenge

11/11/2002
When it comes to implementing a wealth-management platform, is it better to buy, to build, or maybe a little of both?

Listening Post: Questions Around WLANs Linger

11/11/2002
Wireless-local-access networks promise benefits of convenience and flexibility, but questionable security is causing some firms to stay away.

Running Out of Room: Data-Storage Needs Explode

11/11/2002
Newly proposed business-continuity-planning requirements make firms rethink their approach to information-storage technologies.

IT Challenge

10/7/2002
The paper-intensive account-opening process can be a major burden at financial institutions, especially when it comes to separately managed accounts.

Linux Garners Wall Street’s Attention

10/7/2002
Server Wars: Linux looks to be gaining ground on the entrenched Unix platform.

IT CHALLENGE

9/4/2002
IT managers talk about the difficulties of cutting costs in the current economic climate.

Financial Institutions Get Serious About Security

9/4/2002
With financial-services firms doing ever more business over the Internet, security has become a major concern.

The Challenge

8/13/2002
FleetBoston, Fidelity and Berkshire Group of Companies are being charged with developing a strong technology platform that will allow them to cross sell their products and services.

Help-Desk Support Is Key to Wireless Success

8/12/2002
Wireless usage in retail banking and brokerage is declining and some firms are suspending service to cut costs.

atg.das.FormSubmission

7/16/2002
.NET? J2EE? Brokerage firms try and decipher the Web-services landscape.

Wireless Financial Services Plod Along

7/16/2002
Most financial-services firms are cutting back on wireless development but some are still plugging away.

Vendor Clearing Market Gears Up for Tech Spending

7/10/2002
When it comes to clearing and settling trades, there's no lack of competition in the marketplace.

Costs Are A Big Issue in Clearing Space

7/10/2002
When it comes clearance and settlement technology, firms notice two things: "The market is not that good right now. People are looking to cut costs anyway they can."

SIA SHOW: HillCast Tackles Streaming-Wireless Trading

6/20/2002
Institutional traders who fear leaving their office in these volatile markets can now cut the desktop tethers, thanks to a new wireless-streaming product that will let them trade from their handheld device.

It Challenge

6/11/2002
How to reduce paper in the account-opening process.

Data Vendors Look To Enter the Wireless Space

6/11/2002
Data vendors want to break into the wireless space but may find a dried-up market.

RIM Looks to Break Out of the e-Mail Box

6/11/2002
RIM offers a Java-development toolkit so users can enhance the functionality of its products.

IT CHALLENGE

5/14/2002
In light of Sept. 11, mirroring data may be the way Wall Street firms ensure they can bounce back from a disaster.

Vendors Seek Wealth Management Holy Grail

4/8/2002
William O'Conor has to figure out how to combine the vast array of Thomson's technology solutions and turn them into an integrated wealth-management platform that attracts firms looking to service the growing high-net-worth space.

Financial Institutions Tackle Wealth-Management Technology

4/8/2002
The answer to your technology prayers will likely be a series of components or software solutions, depending largely on the size of your organization and how you approach wealth management.

Devices Merge Voice and Computing

4/5/2002
The latest developments in wireless gadgets bring together voice and computing.

IT CHALLENGE

4/5/2002
As Web sites mature, they often grow as well. Learn how one firm managed to keep its pages under control.