Last week, in a city café, opposite me, the Head of Trading from a well-regarded asset management firm. As our conversation flowed, he revealed an unexpected detail that their buy-side EMS trading front-end, is still humming on Citrix.
“Citrix? Now that’s a name I haven’t heard in this context for a while, that was late 1990s and 2000s” I mused, trying to mask my surprise, but my raised eyebrow gave me away.
He laughed, acknowledging the elephant in the room, “Yes, it served its purpose and had its golden era, but with time, its limitations have become evident.”
Down memory lane, our dance with Citrix
Latency’s lingering shadow: “Every millisecond in trading is a currency in itself,” he explained, “And there are moments when we’ve felt the weight of latency with Citrix.”
“In trading, milliseconds is a currency in itself,” he explained, “And with Citrix, we occasionally grapple with that latency.”
The integration tango: With a resigned sigh, he admitted, “Anytime we eye a new tool, there’s the lurking question of its harmony with Citrix.”
The costly affair: “The price tag isn’t just about the licenses. It needs continuous maintenance, the upgrades… it quickly snowballs.”
Generational gap: “The fresh recruits? Let’s just say Citrix isn’t what they envisioned when thinking of cutting-edge tech,” he mused.
Switching gears with trading’s fresh tech frontier
Intrigued, I leaned forward, sharing, “Have you considered a leap into the future with an alternative like THETA’s Apollo? Picture a buy-side EMS without the traditional constraints. A fully cloud-native solution, anchored on Microsoft Azure, and accessible through a smart intuitive web-native app or a PWA.”
His eyes lit up, “Cloud-native? On Azure? Tell me more.”
Ubiquity of access: “Anywhere, any device. As long as you have the internet, you can access Apollo. That’s the charm of a web-native solution.” So “Whether you’re on a PC in London or a MacBook in Tokyo, as long as you have a browser, you’re in business.
The PWA promise: “Apollo’s PWA facet ensures you get an app-like experience, minus the hassles. It’s swift, efficient, and platform agnostic.” And “They’re reliable, fast, and more importantly, they offer a native-like digital user experience without being tied to a specific OS or device.”
Bridging the future: “And let’s not forget about our API-first strategy. Apollo’s architecture ensures seamless integrations and interactions with other systems, tools, and data sources. It’s about staying nimble in a rapidly evolving landscape.”
As we drained our coffee cups, it was clear that a shift was underway. While Citrix had its golden era, platforms like Apollo were ushering in the future.
Reflecting on our conversation, the message was clear. The landscape of trading tech is evolving, and those poised to embrace this change will be at the forefront. The new age, it seems, belongs to solutions like Apollo — intuitive, innovative, and impeccably timed for the modern trader.