Cloud Vendors Target Alternative Asset Managers, FX Clients

In a further sign that cloud is now permeating even the most traditionally cloud-resistant sectors of the financial services industry, Gravitas and Portware are reaching out to alternative asset managers and FX clients with new offerings for mission-critical applications.

Gravitas Private Cloud is an expandable cloud solution specifically designed for alternative asset managers, from startup to established funds.

Gravitas’s offering is based on converged infrastructure systems from VCE, which enable secure isolation of client data while providing a flexible pool of integrated networking, computing, storage, virtualization and management technologies from Cisco, EMC and VMware, the vendor said in a release.

The Gravitas solution enables deployment of a fully-functional IT system in days, as compared to weeks for traditional cloud solutions, the vendor said in a release.

"Fully virtualized Vblock systems are an ideal foundation for asset managers to build cloud infrastructures that support mission critical applications securely and confidently, while providing the agility, efficiency and performance so important for today's enterprise IT operations," said VCE president Frank Hauck. The Gravitas Private Cloud is located in the Equinix NY4 data center in New Jersey. The vendor will soon roll out a similar service at the firm’s Chicago Equinix CH4 datacenter.

“With the Gravitas Private Cloud, alternative asset managers have the opportunity to utilize infrastructure-as-a-service and have more flexibility to scale up or down as needed without security concerns. They can be assured that their technology will be as nimble and reliable as their investment decisions,” Gravitas CEO Jayesh Punater said in a release. Meanwhile, Portware is now offering its clients a cloud deployment option for its FX platform, for connectivity to all global liquidity providers, including banks, ECNs and interdealer trading platforms.

Portware said it has also enhanced its FX transaction cost analysis (TCA) service, adding additional reporting and analytics options that give traders greater insight into their execution performance.

The vendor noted that electronic FX trading has exploded in recent years, accounting for more than 60% of FX volumes traded in 2011.

Buy-side fund managers in particular expect their electronic FX trading volumes to increase significantly over the next three years, Portware said in a release.

As a result, these firms are partnering with FX trading technology providers that can easily adapt to structural changes, the vendor said.

Melanie Rodier has worked as a print and broadcast journalist for over 10 years, covering business and finance, general news, and film trade news. Prior to joining Wall Street & Technology in April 2007, Melanie lived in Paris, where she worked for the International Herald ... View Full Bio