ARCHITECTS OF ELECTRONIC TRADING -- CONTENTS -- FOREWORD -- ACKNOWLEDGMENTS -- ABOUT THE AUTHOR -- CHAPTER 1 Meet the Architects: Agents of Change -- A Vision and a Plan -- Broad Focus -- Great Communicators -- Other Important Character Traits -- This Book's Structure -- CHAPTER 2 Business Challenges: Driving New Technology -- In Summary -- CHAPTER 3 Laying a Strong Foundation with Transformational Technology -- Suhit Gupta, Technology Consultant -- What does transformational technology mean in the context of financial services? -- How are new technologies helping to deliver new sources of alpha? -- Are new technologies leveling the playing field in financial markets? Are these changes healthy for the financial markets? -- What thresholds must new technologies surpass in order for CIOs to seriously consider adopting them? -- How has the consumerization of IT affected the CIO? -- Are the IT challenges faced by a mid-sized hedge fund significantly different from those faced by other market participants? -- How are technologists helping to create edge? -- Is ROI a good measure of success for IT? -- Where is new technology having the most impact within the trade cycle? -- How does new technology cross your radar? -- Like many technology professionals in finance, your background is in the technology sector. How does your current role benefit? -- How long does an IT edge last these days? -- What are the risks of adopting new technologies in finance? Are they greater in the hedge fund industry given regulatory uncertainty or other factors? -- What do you view to be the biggest impacts of global regulatory reform on IT? -- How are new technologies helping to increase transparency for investors? -- What keeps you up at night? What are your major concerns at the moment (e.g., capacity, disaster recovery)?.

What would you list as the most important technological achievement within the financial services industry within the last several years? How has it been a game changer? -- In your opinion, what is the next "quantum leap" in trading technology that will revolutionize our industry? -- What lessons do you have for technologists in our industry? -- Can you discuss your biggest technology challenge and how it encouraged you to think outside the box? -- Key Learning Points -- CHAPTER 4 Hardware Acceleration with FPGAs -- Jan-Dirk Lueders, CMT Capital Markets Trading, and Robert Walker, xCelor -- Why are FPGAs so appealing to financial institutions? -- How has your proprietary trading heritage impacted your utilization of FPGAs? -- How has your technology impacted the market? -- What kind of speeds are FPGAs currently achieving? -- When would you utilize FPGAs versus GPUs? -- How do they compare with CPUs? -- Why wouldn't you produce your own chip? -- What advances in FPGAs will further propel their adoption by financial firms? -- How are FPGAs enhancing risk management? -- What would you say to those who want to limit technological advances in the market? -- Are custom FPGAs more prone to error than off-the-shelf hardware? -- Is the search for programming talent acting as a drag on FPGA adoption? -- What does intelligent code look like? -- What's the most novel use that you've seen of an FPGA? -- What keeps you up at night? -- How did your FPGAs perform during the sovereign debt crisis? -- Is it harder for firms to gain a technology edge these days? How long does such an edge last? -- What lessons do you have for technologists in our industry? -- CHAPTER 5 GPUs: Affordable Desktop Supercomputing -- Gerald Hanweck, Jr., PhD, Hanweck Associates -- What is the difference between GPUs and FPGAs (field programmable gate arrays)?.

Can you provide us with a brief overview of GPU utilization in financial services? -- What are the technological challenges of GPU utilization for financial firms? -- Are there other reasons why GPUs have not been widely adopted? -- What is the most novel use that you've seen for GPUs? Are there applications/uses for GPUs in other asset classes that people are missing out on? -- What inspired you to harness GPUs for financial computations/use in trading? Are you an avid gamer? -- Can you describe your GPU eureka moment? -- Do GPUs still represent an edge? -- Is there a size/sweet spot in terms of project/task size for the utilization of GPUs? -- Within the trade cycle, where will GPUs have the biggest impact over the next several years and how? -- Can GPUs prevent a meltdown? -- How has your technology impacted the market? -- What do view to be the biggest impacts of global regulatory reform on IT? How can GPUs help? -- What would you say to those who want to limit technological advances in the marketplace, (e.g., throttling speed)? -- Is it harder these days for firms to gain a technology edge? -- How long does an IT edge last these days? -- What keeps you up at night? -- How did your GPU-based technology help your customers better manage risk during the Flash Crash and sovereign debt crisis? -- Can you discuss your biggest challenge and how you grew from it as a firm? -- In your experience, in which asset class do you see technological change currently having the most impact? How quickly do others catch up? -- What would you list as the most important technological achievement within the financial services industry within the last several years? How has it been a game changer? -- In your opinion, what is the next "quantum leap" in trading technology that will revolutionize our industry? -- What lessons do you have for technologists in our industry?.

Key Learning Points -- CHAPTER 6 Microwaves in Trading: Conquering Resistance -- Mike Persico, CEO and Founder, Anova Technologies -- How do microwaves work? -- What's behind the newfound interest in microwave technology in financial services? -- How is microwave technology being used in trading? -- How widespread is the use of microwave technology in trading? -- What type of physical footprint does microwave technology require? -- Are microwaves a backup for fiber? -- So, microwave technologies are more reliable than commonly assumed? -- Are capacity concerns affecting the adoption of microwaves? -- How is the bandwidth of microwave transmission affecting data consumption? -- How is the licensing of radio frequencies driving the development of microwaves? -- What's next in microwaves? -- Is the speed advantage that microwaves offers tantamount to a net tax on HFT participants? -- Are there any significant differentiating factors between vendors of broadband microwave networks? -- Are broadband microwave networks ideally suited for emerging markets? -- What would you say to those who want to limit technological advances in the marketplace (e.g., throttling speed)? -- Is it harder these days for firms to gain a technology edge? -- How long does an IT edge last these days? -- What keeps you up at night? -- In your experience, in which asset class do you see technological change currently having the most impact? How quickly do others catch up? -- What would you list as the most important technological achievement within the financial services industry within the last several years? How has it been a game changer? -- In your opinion, what is the next "quantum leap" in trading technology that will revolutionize our industry? -- What lessons do you have for technologists in our industry? -- Key Learning Points.

CHAPTER 7 Cloud Computing: Moving toward Acceptance -- Ken Barnes, Options IT -- How is cloud computing already impacting our industry? -- How is cloud computing helping financial market participants meet IT business challenges? -- What is arguably the single greatest value add of cloud computing? -- Is adopting cloud computing a necessity for financial services firms? -- Are there customer types that are at the forefront of cloud utilization? -- Will cloud computing remain attractive primarily for non-latency-sensitive participants? -- What are the behavioral challenges of cloud adoption from a global standpoint? -- What are the technological challenges associated with utilizing cloud computing for financial market participants? -- How will the increasing popularity of mobile devices impact the utilization of cloud computing? -- How can cloud computing help manage the problem of Big Data? -- How did Hurricane Sandy affect cloud computing's image? -- Is the financial services sector leading technological development? -- In your opinion, what is the next "quantum leap" in technology that will revolutionize our industry? -- Key Learning Points -- CHAPTER 8 Globalization and Automation: Unfinished Business -- Justin Llewellyn-Jones, Fidessa Corporation -- Globalization and automation have shaped today's financial markets. Do these trends have farther to run? -- What barriers are left in the global marketplace? How can technology help market participants address them? -- How essential has the adoption of standards like the Financial Information eXchange Protocol (FIX) been in connecting markets on a globalscale? -- Looking out on the horizon, how will technology facilitate global trading and investment? -- Has technology reduced or increased the risk for global firms? -- Has increased automation made markets safer? How?.

How important is the ability to scale in global markets?.