Top 3 Current Projects

Project Enhance

Objective:

Project Enhance is a multiyear initiative to position our Dallas-based mortgage subsidiary, EMC Mortgage Corp., for at least 100 percent growth and create efficiencies and economies of scale. The first phase will focus on creating a platform that can handle growth. Phase 2 will see a streamlining of all the workflow associated with origination, processing and servicing of mortgage-related products, along with a complete overhaul of client access into our mortgage business, making it easier to manage their loans and access other financial products.

Prime Broker Globalization

Objective:

This is an extension of the BearPrime revamp project that began in 2004 and will streamline all the processes behind it. We will move to exception-only processing, make it easier for clients to interact with the platform, provide executions globally and report back in real time on those transactions, give high-quality performance attribution and measurement capability in real time, and allow clients to do online cancels and corrects. The focus is on providing the infrastructure and facilities to support the hedge fund community in any market.

Continuing Development of Equity Analytics and Systematic Trading (EAST)

Objective:

To be a leader in the next generation of securities trading on Wall Street, we are continuing to evolve the algorithms for the markets in which we interact, and the risk and quantitative models we supply to clients. The market is fragmenting, with multiple pockets of transparent and dark liquidity, so you need high-performance, low-latency technology that will take you to the various pools of liquidity. And the algorithms, through the smart order router facility, can do that better than a human.

2007 Initiatives

Energy Trading Platform

We will be building a platform to support the rapid expansion of our energy-related trading businesses -- including modeling of exotic energy products and risk analysis of the nonlinear aspects of some of those products -- and then assuring the energy trading platforms will seamlessly fit into our core infrastructure for risk management, operations and accounting. The goal is to duplicate our successes in implementing flexible trading systems that adapt to changes in the market, incorporating new products and changes in workflow and advances in valuation techniques.

Vitals

IT Budget:

N/A

Percent of IT Projects Outsourced:

Today, we've got much more than a third of our maintenance outsourced, which allows our best people to focus on leveraging their business knowledge. I view outsourcing of project work as a variable staffing model that effectively allows me to employ new staff for development projects. I like to keep the variable workforce at 5 percent to 10 percent of overall project-related staff.

Key Technology Partners:

We partner with many companies. It is our practice to build long-term relationships.

Success Metrics:

There has to be a solid business case for each new technology project leading to revenue and/or cost savings. Once approved, we apply our seven-step system development life cycle (SDLC) process that tracks all the usual components (such as adherence to schedules and budgets), monitors risk levels and makes sure we communicate with the businesses so they can grade the project's success after delivery. We also have added a couple of rapid prototyping pieces that allow us to work alongside traders on the desk to turn out prototypes quickly.