Why now is the time to switch your bridge

Author: Ivan Egorov

In the recent TFB webinar, we discussed the importance of technology in modern brokerages and the pressing need to constantly keep up with the latest innovations and enhancements.

This article is a summary of what was covered during the webinar so that more clients and partners can participate in the discussion.

The issue of change

Resistance to change is a normal human reaction, and it’s no different when it comes to business. It’s always hard to change something you get used to, whether it’s a phone, a car, or a liquidity bridge in your brokerage.

If you have ever moved to a new apartment or house, you know what kind of stress it is to pack all your stuff into boxes, find a vehicle to deliver it to the new apartment, unpack the boxes and assemble the furniture again. Of course, the place where you live is something essential. But let’s be honest, even if something bothers us at home, such as noisy neighbours, electricity problems, or being too far from the kids’ school, we are ready to deal with all these minor issues to avoid going through all the circles of relocation hell.

But what if someone could take care of all these relocation hassles? Would you still consider relocation too stressful?

At TFB, we know how challenging and stressful migrating to a new software might be. That’s why we designed the whole migration process in a way that minimises the discomfort for our clients. But before we discuss the details of this process, let’s go through the main reasons to move.

To migrate or not to migrate: top objections to a change

Migration is a tricky but often necessary process. And there are many things we are ready to tell ourselves to avoid making a change.

Here is what most of us tell ourselves when faced with a potential software migration.

#1 I am happy with my current provider

Do you know what the most popular objection we get from our prospects on the first call/meeting is? It’s this one: “We are happy with our current provider.” However, when we dive deep into their case, we usually find something that they are not particularly happy with, such as:

• High price
• Poor technical support
• Service downtime
• Lack of functionality
• Tricky user interface

Quite often, we get so used to some minor issues that we don’t even notice until they turn into a disaster.

We know many brokers who didn’t even know it’s possible to avoid discrepancies between liquidity providers (LPs) that might happen because of the best price aggregation or who didn’t realise how much money they lose on swaps because of it.

Some prime brokers think it’s okay to pay for every maker and taker connection until they become so big that it’s almost impossible for them to change anything to optimise their costs.

#2 I have no control over the situation

How would you feel if you got the car of your dreams, signed a contract, and then realised that you are not allowed to drive it by yourself?

Unfortunately, some of our clients have gotten into the same situation with bridge providers that control everything and must approve every change the client wants to make in their own trading environment.

Some of them can’t even test any alternative solutions because they are afraid their current provider will know.

At TFB, we don’t like limitations. That’s why we provide our clients with private servers and complete control of their bridge and trading environment, so they can decide what software to use, how to use it, and when. There is no need to ask for anyone's approval to change something.

#3 We are too deeply integrated

It’s not a secret how many things in the brokerage company flow depend on the bridge:

• Fast price feed
• Seamless trades execution
• Copy Trading, plugins, services
• Reporting

The bridge is one of the core elements of every brokerage company that is deeply integrated into their infrastructure, so it’s not easy to change it.

Some prime brokers don’t even consider changing their bridge as they have many clients integrated with their current software. These prime brokers think that if they move to another bridge, their FIX API clients will be forced to develop additional connectors to the new bridge.

Is this true?

Yes, unless your new bridge can emulate the same FIX API connectors you had before.

Is it possible?

Yes. Trade Processor allows you to keep the same FIX API protocols as you have in your current bridge, so there is no need for your clients to develop new connectors.

So what do you do if you want to substitute your bridge but realise it's too risky a journey to justify the time and costs required to migrate?

• Check if an alternative bridge is compatible with your trading platform, reporting system, plugins, and other services you’re using at the moment.
• Run a trial of the new bridge to see it in action in your particular environment.

Once you’re ready to move forward and choose a Trade Processor liquidity bridge:

• Our engineers analyse all the aspects of your setup and prepare a detailed migration plan.
• Run a test migration to ensure nothing is missing and that all the system components are working perfectly.
• Perform the real migration.

Usually, the whole process takes about 3-4 weeks, but sometimes it can be done faster depending on the environment and the client.

For more information on bridging and other TFB products, please email us at sales@t4b.com. We will be happy to answer your questions and find the best solution for your needs and challenges.