APPLICATIONS

Partnership will deliver cluster-enabled data management: Xenomorph and Microsoft have formed a strategic partnership to apply high performance computing (HPC) to data management in financial markets. Microsoft Windows HPC Server 2008 technology will be integrated with Xenomorph’s TimeScape data and analytics management system. The partnership comes as trading automation, expanding data volumes and increasing regulatory demands put financial data management under strain. In addition, management systems are moving from being over-night batch-based systems to providing real-time responsiveness. In response to this, Xenomorph will apply Microsoft’s HPC technology to the intraday calculation of large correlation matrices, a key calculation for correlation-based trading and risk management. Windows HPC Server 2008 will become the first HPC platform to be fully integrated within TimeScape. This will deliver scalability in reference and market data management, allowing TimeScape to analyse high volume market data and accurately value derivative instrument portfolios. “Faced with an overload of data, technology specialists and business users need greater scalability from data management systems,” said Chris Budgen, chief technical architect at Xenomorph. “Data and its analysis are key pressure points and are growing as data volumes challenge traditional data analysis and instrument pricing. We need to move away from inflexible, monolithic data management architectures to a more dynamic and service-based approach.” Michael Newberry, High Performance Computing Product Manager, Microsoft UK adds “In today’s business environment, people are looking for computing systems that are scalable and responsive to their business needs.” Newberry continues, “With partners like Xenomorph onboard, Microsoft Windows HPC Server 2008 is providing a responsive and cost-effective alternative to UNIX and mainframes. Windows HPC Server 2008 enables businesses to meet the computing challenges, and the data volumes, of the 21st century.” “In many ways, data has run ahead of the market’s ability to analyse it,” added Brian Sentance, CEO of Xenomorph. “Even with high-volume storage of real-time market data, when it comes to data analysis, many institutions find themselves asking the question, ‘We’ve got the data, now what?’ Parallelisation using HPC is the only way to keep on top of this and helps competitive advantage in bringing new trading and risk management ideas to market.”