Extreme Data Management

Colin Hartley
CTO, DataGenic Ltd.

Backward and forward traceability; a small amount of text for what will essentially swamp your database with information - or will it?

Suppose I receive an assessment of Brent for the 1st May 2009 of $50, in a few days time, I want to see a report of everywhere that number is used: forward curves, reports, users viewing it, IPV, etc. If, further along, I see a report with the price for Brent on 1st May 2009 at $51, I will also want to see a complete trace back of that figure.

To be a responsible data provider, you need to be aware of who or what is using the data you provide and what they are using it for. To be a responsible data consumer, you need to have the ability to trace numbers back to see where they came from and what has happened to them on their journey.

As you can see, the major benefit of having this functionality is that a number is no longer a faceless digit, it has a history that is fully traceable both from where it came from and where it went.

This all adds up to the production of a lot of additional information for every single data point within a data management system and a hit on performance for every access (read and write) to data. With the ever decreasing cost of hardware, forever more powerful processors and capacious hard drives, this vision of data management utopia is not only possible, it is becoming mandatory for data quality aware users.

The challenge then, is making this tracking system as expeditious, practical and thorough as possible. It mustn't hinder the normal data management process by slowing it down or making it impractical to use, yet it must be thorough with the information that it stores.

The tracking information that is stored must be relatively easy to extract, but also secure from the possibility of tampering. After all, the main reason you are storing this information is so that you can blame someone for that dodgy report!

Please note, this functionality will be available in the next major release (v3.0) of Genic DataManager.

NY Fed Focuses on Data Management Practices

Richard Quigley
CEO, DataGenic Ltd.

On the 23rd February 2009, a significant event happened in the Federal Reserve Bank of New York (NY Fed). It was not reported in our usual mainstream news, like CNN, BBC News etc.; and yet the significance of the event has not been lost by senior politicians on both sides of the Atlantic and data management practitioners alike - John Bottega, a reference data veteran and ex-Chief Data Officer for Citi's Institutional Client Group, was appointed as the as NY Fed's Chief Data Officer (CDO), Markets Division.

It's been suggested that this appointment is being linked with the change in administration in the US and President Barack Obama's focus on collaboration and transparency. However high up the food chain, this appointment is crucial and signals to the marketplace the importance of data management and its relationship to transparency and oversight.

So what are the responsibilities of a CDO? In general they are responsible for data strategy, policies, and data investments. Additionally, as Wikipedia advises, "Besides the revenue opportunities, acquisition strategy, and customer data policies, the Chief Data Officer is charged with explaining to executives, employees, and customers the strategic value of data and its important role as a business asset and revenue driver. This is in great contrast to the older view of data systems as back-end IT systems".

So what does this mean for other Central Banks? Given the current economic climate and the realisation of the inability of the world's central banks to regulate against excessive risk-taking in the financial system, this is the time to address the failings of the current data management practices, appoint a CDO and perhaps increase the data transparency that exists in the collection and sharing of data assets.

Are there lessons to be learned in the Energy Industry? John Bottega was the first appointed CDO in the finance industry, with many following in his footsteps. Data and data systems should be treated like any other strategic assets and not viewed simply as back-end IT systems.

Given the massive growth in data within the energy industry over the years, and especially with the impending Smart Metering Programs, it is paramount for organisations to provide focus and direction in this vital of assets - data! To even start thinking about data as a strategic asset is a step in the right direction - to actually appoint a CDO is the smartest of moves!

Asia 1st Anniversary

Perlyn Per
Managing Director, Asia

To mark our successful one year anniversary operating in the Asian market, we hosted an evening cocktail party at the Swissotel, Stamford in Singapore, inviting industry peers in the energy, finance and public sectors and our data vendor partners to join in the celebration.

We are proud to share our success with our guests. Having been to many events over the years, I'm sure you share the same opinion that they tend to be very formal and even bordering on boring. We decided to be different, not for our sake but for our guests. Instead of a formal and boring presentation, we went for a quick walkthrough about what we do and took a 25 years Macallan whisky journey with our CEO, Richard Quigley who ended up showing a photo of himself at 19 years old. Boy...he had lots of hair back then!

We were very happy that many of our invited guests were able to attend despite their busy schedules. It is important to us that our guests felt it's worth the time and effort to be there with us... Everyone deserves a relaxing evening filled with good food and endless wine with loads of fun and laughter. To make the evening more exciting, we asked our guests to participate in a simple 'About DataGenic' quiz with the perspective of some cool prizes. Three of our prize winning guests went away happier that night!

1^st Prize
25 years old Macallan Whisky
Hoden Wan from Hypercube

2^nd Prize
Winner Aporgee Cross Pen
Wilson Wong from RBS Sempra Commodities

3^rd Prize
2001 Reserva Especial Rioja Red wine
Tang Chek Woo from Kim Eng Securities

We appreciated the compliments from our guests during the evening and indeed from the many emails we received and are pleased to hear that everyone enjoyed themselves. I must say, it makes our efforts all the more worthwhile. Our hope is that our guests take away the message that DataGenic is a fun company to partner with, and also a company that truly aims at delivering solutions that empower our clients and that address their business requirements.

As you are reading our blog now, I just want to thank you personally for taking the time to read. (Hey! Aren't you supposed to be working?)

Our very own professional DataGenic photographer, Jennee, has taken loads of candid shots. Warning: there is absolutely no censorship and no photo was edited... Viewer discretion is advised.

To view the photos, click here:
DataGenic Asia 1^st Anniversary Photo Gallery

Marketing dexterity will save the day

Richard Quigley
CEO, DataGenic Ltd.

For anyone involved in the European energy industry, two weeks in February every year can easily become a blur. Endless meetings, parties, conferences are all part of the endurance for energy professionals at the two biggest events of the year: E-world (Essen, Germany) and IP Week (London, UK). I can still feel the effect of this 'marathon' even at the time of writing (some 2 weeks after)!

Although there is a degree of cross-over at the events, E-world remains very energy focused (power, gas, emissions) whilst IP Week concentrates for the most part on the biggest traded commodity on the planet: Oil. With the world in a deep recession for the foreseeable future, I was keen to immerse myself in both the buy and sell side of the business to understand the impact to our industry. 

Understandably, you get the feeling of resilience and stubbornness that we can beat this unnecessary evil into submission and come out a stronger force. That was certainly evident at E-world which, impossibly, has gotten bigger than ever before (450+ exhibitors and 15000 delegates), and the exhibition stands seem to reach new heights, both physically and in marketing dexterity. Energy companies and vendors alike seem to be spending more on company promotion in this downturn, maybe trying to assure the market of their financial strength, credibility and future longevity. A friend of mine who works with one of the large European utilities said "my colleagues seem to be a lot more focused and friendly to our customers this year....before that they weren't so caring"! The statement was a bit 'tongue in cheek' but it certainly is a case that dominance and arrogance in the marketplace last year has been replaced with customer focus (client protection) and flexibility this year.

I certainly get the feeling from my discussions, that 2009 will be a tough year all round. On the buy side, all projects must provide beyond any reasonable doubt, a very tangible and indeed short-term ROI or have an operationally compelling argument to do so. The medium and long term projects seem to be on-hold (moth-balled) until conditions improve. 

On the plus side from my point of view (sell-side), I consider these market conditions to be an opportunity to shine. Saving clients money, improving operational practices, increasing business responsiveness is what we do best - it's just a matter of using the same 'marketing dexterity' that was used by the exhibitors at the E-world show to highlight our uniqueness in the marketplace to our global audience. 

Cut costs, not corners

Richard Quigley
CEO, DataGenic Ltd.

As the global economy continues its relentless contraction, the costs of operating a company's services come under the microscope. Nothing focuses the CEO's mind better than the potential of business failure; a hostile takeover or simply losing market share.

In my many conversations over the past 17 years with traders, risk and IT management, there is one thing that I find bewildering and frustrating - the tacit acceptance of the old adage: "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." There have been countless times where the incumbent software package deployed is technically bereft, functionally poor and may even cost more than the nearest competitor. However, it may take a cleverer person than me to work out why the collective brain power and intellectual prowess of these talented individuals manifest itself into irrational exuberance?

Because a software package has "always been there" does not make it fit for today's challenges or tomorrow's unknowns. It doesn't make it effective or indeed efficient even in the right hands. Most conversations relating to why they won't buy another product tends to be around the "my staff don't have time to learn a new system", or "we find workarounds to the stuff we would have liked it to do", or "the account manager is great and does her best" or "Bob the trader likes it and he has a lot of power in the company". I've heard them all!

As the CEO of DataGenic, my mandate from the board is to ensure the future prosperity and profitability of our company. Thus, the challenge is fairly simple to me. Review the costs that are required to sustain this company in the tough period ahead and ensure that the services that we offer are value for money, whilst uncompromising in their richness and return on investment. As a services company in the data management arena, DataGenic is well positioned with our innate knowledge of software, utilities and services that are either low cost, or indeed free. We have ensured that our products can be offered to clients without additional Database or Web Server Licenses. We have also ensured that all our core development is undertaken in Bangalore, India, with exceptional quality control measures in place. Our low costs are passed on to our clients - in good times and in the bad.

So what have we achieved in 2008 and now offer to our clients for 2009?

• Ensured our flagship product, Genic DataManager, is available in 3 Editions. Available now for a fraction of the Enterprise license costs for small to mid-size companies - who simply don't require all the bells and whistles.
• Zero IT footprint, web-enabled desktop decision application for traders and data analysts for access to over 150 data sources from the world's leading exchanges, brokers and assessment providers.
• Our managed data service, Genic DataHub, now offers clients the ability to simply download their licensed data directly to their own application or database server.
• Full ASP/SaaS model offered to clients who simply understand that companies such as DataGenic have the ability to provide economies of scale with these services and give them a better deal than internal hosting. The added bonus is that system and data maintenance costs are shifted to the vendor (us) with a bespoke Service Level Agreement (SLA) in place to ensure minimal service requirements.
• All software is architected for flexibility, scalability and performance. It is no longer acceptable that a system should be a 'black box' and comes with proprietary databases, and high level programming languages. It needs to be, and clients demand, Service Oriented Architecture (SOA).
• On average over the last 3 years, 35% of our turnover is spent on Research and Development. At least 25% above the average for the industry and something we are proud of and our clients are enjoy.
• Breaking the mould with our support offering: Our standard SLA provides client with a target resolution of 4 hours on Critical 1 issues.

My question to all CEO's, senior managers and business sponsors: Can you afford to accept the norm? Can you afford to accept that "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" in today's landscape? Isn't it time, we stop getting carried away with the latest 'management wisdom' that encourages the consolidation of vendors, thereby accepting mediocrity. The idea that your vendor partner of choice will develop in partnership with you and your business pace is a utopian view, not often realised in the real world. Encourage your managers to review the offerings from multiple vendors: small, medium and large size alike. You are after the best bang for your buck so why settle for second or third best?

You can cut costs in a global downturn but you don't have to cut corners!

An introduction

This is the blog of DataGenic management. DataGenic an international specialist in the delivery of data management solutions and we'd like to share some of our thoughts and opinions with you here.