Selecting a technology provider is similar to choosing a romantic partner.
There are many nuances to watch out for and many red flags to avoid. Today, we’ll cover the major signs that a tech provider is not the one you should align with if you want to grow quickly and sustainably.
#1 One-time purchase options
There’s nothing inherently wrong with one-off services. However, quite often, these tech providers aren’t eager to build long-term relationships with brokers, and they usually look for quantity over quality. There’s no incentive for them to be excellent at what they do, as they don’t expect the broker to stick with them for an extended period of time.
#2 You can’t get a demo or trial
Another standard practice in the industry, and the entire tech world for that matter, is to provide potential clients with demos, trials, webinars, videos, and other ways of learning more about the product before purchasing.
The technology that you choose for your brokerage, whether it’s a liquidity bridge, a PAMM solution, or anything else, will define the course of the business, and it’s crucial to understand what you’re getting into before locking yourself in. If you can’t see what the interface looks like, play with the software, or ask questions about it, then you don’t want it because something is likely fishy about it.
#3 The price is too low
There’s no such thing as a free lunch.
Software development is a high-resource, demanding process, especially in the fintech industry, where even a minute of downtime might cost millions of dollars.
Besides that, it requires a lot of resources to maintain and support. So you must be very careful when someone offers you a liquidity bridge or plugins at a price significantly below the market average. There is a very high likelihood that the quality and technical support of such a solution is the compromise for such a low price.
#4 Disrespect for details
The devil is in the details, and the tiniest nuances play a significant role in the broker world.
A technology provider that offers solutions that they can confidently recommend and be proud of will have no issues going into detail on how their technology performs. Someone who knows their software is underperforming, on the other hand, will do their best to hold back and hide details that might be important for brokers.
Brokers should always push to clarify important details and learn as much about the service providers’ solutions, process, tech support, and everything else that feels important to them. If obtaining this information proves to be a struggle, this is your first indication not to work with that partner.
#5 Bad reputation
Bad reviews from employees or clients are bad news. Usually, companies treat their customers the same way as they treat their own employees, so if you hear that this tech provider is notorious for their poor employment practices, it’s safe to assume that it’s treating their clients very similarly.
Trusted and well-known services like Glassdoor are great for finding reviews, and it only takes a few minutes.
#6 No 24/7 support
Most of the brokers on the market offer product trading 24/7, so what would they do if their technical provider is only available during business hours? Even if you don’t offer 24/7 services, the weekend is the best time for maintenance work and software updates. Ensure your tech provider is available to support you around the clock so you can provide your clients with a no-downtime trading experience.
