Automating the expensive and error-prone process of manually testing trading systems will reduce the dependencies on counterparty test environments, and It enables trading firms to quickly simulate trade scenarios, which impacts the firms to realize the trading system’s reliability and efficiencies before going live with complex environments. What’s required is the ability to maintain and test on an organization’s scale; to create an error-free infrastructure while reducing the cost and improving the operational efficiency.
This ultimate cheat guide can help you understand learn more about how to overcome the trading Infrastructure challenges and to benefit from its business advantages.
| Category | The ultimate cheat sheet | Challenges in Market |
|---|---|---|
| Platform Independent | Should have been developed using Java to run on all platforms | Some of the products are built on specific platform which will only work on few operating systems such as Windows, Linux, etc. |
| Compatibility | Need to be platform independent and support all operating systems | Web-based applications might experience platform or browser compatibility issues |
| Performance | Test huge volumes of data across multiple connectivity | Web-based applications may lower system performance as they cost more bandwidth usage |
| Security | Data is highly secured as it is stored within the systems. SSL-based encryption | Security concerns, if data is stored and hosted outside premises and vulnerable to attack for web-based applications |
| Internet Reliability | Should work on both offline and online | Web-based applications rely on internet connections |
| Product Modularization | Validation, Monitoring & Onboarding can be added within the testing suite | Separate software to be purchased for each module |
| Existing test case | Should have a feature to import existing test cases | No such provision provided to import existing data |
| Configuration | Should be easy to configure, customize with rich user interface templates | Customization is time-consuming |
| Multi-Protocol Supportive | Supports multiple protocols such as FIX, FAST, ITCH & OUCH, EMAPI, etc., and any new protocol can also be added in the future | Most of the suites support only FIX with limited version (up to 5.0) |
| Bundled Package | PTS comes as a bundle package where the price includes Implementation, Configuration, and Support | Separate price to be paid for Implementation, Configuration, and Support |
| FIX Connectivity | Establishes a network connection and manages FIX session layer | |
| Throughout Deployment | Comprehensive end-to-end testing | Module testing with third-party support |
| Validating FIX Connections | Extensive Business level validations | Not much pre-defined test cases available to perform business-level validations |
| Value-added features | Import/Export functionality | Restricted feature access |
| Process Automation | Test script automation | |
| Customization as per user | User-based customization & Customizable Reports as per client requirements |
Today’s critical regulation-based trading scenarios, the best implementation of FIX protocol testing is required to reduce the dependencies on counterparty test environments to create an optimum risk averting environment at the lowest operational cost.
This checklist will give you a comprehensive understanding on the capabilities & must have for the complete FIX protocol testing scenarios and infrastructure validations. To reduce the cost associated with the development and deployment of electronic trading systems and gateways, Contact Us
