MDSL News

The world’s leading OnDemand cost management company generates more than its share of news. The latest stories are below, but if you’d like to know more about us, get in touch.

SocGen, Barclays Migrate to MDSL ASP

Société Générale and Barclays are moving from in-house installations of Market Data Services Ltd’s Market Data Manager data usage and invoicing system to outsourced versions that will be hosted by MDSL.

Sources cite the ability to reduce the administrative burden on the banks’ in-house staff as the key reason for the switch.

Rather than accessing an on-site MDM database via dedicated MDM front ends, market data administration staff at the banks will now monitor data usage and produce reports for contract and invoice management via a Citrix thin client. The thin client connects to ring-fenced MDM installations hosted by MDSL in a Globix data center in London, which runs each "installation" on a separate database. MDSL also accesses and administers the systems remotely from its offices in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, says Carl Jones, European sales manager at MDSL.

"The biggest advantage for us and the customer is support—we can log into their services. If there’s a problem, we don’t have to dispatch someone to the client site. We can respond to customers faster, and if we do find a bug in the software, we can change it for all our ASP customers," Jones says.

Jones says the switch-overs will be seamless. "We just take a back-up dump of data of their current database and set it up on the ASP database," he says. Then users simply log in to the new Citrix front end.

SG is currently testing the system in its European offices before switching to the ASP version. "Within a quarter we will have switched to the full ASP globally," says David Berry, global head of market data services commercial.

He says the system will be used by all SG’s subsidiaries, including Fimat and SGAM (Société Générale Asset Management), at nine locations worldwide.

Berry says the complex corporate and geographical structure makes the process more suited to an ASP model. "It is more interesting to use an ASP because of the structure of our group, which is made up of numerous businesses and locations around the world. MDSL is hosting the database… and I mainly use it for global reporting purposes."

He says the reasons for the switch are performance and more efficient use of administration resources.

Under the previous arrangement, SG had installations of MDM at each of its locations feeding a central database in Paris, meaning that any software upgrades or bug-fixes had to be replicated on each installation. With a hosted version, these changes would be made centrally and would immediately apply to all locations.

SG will also use MDSL’s Telecoms Expense Manager product for the first time as an ASP for contract management of all its telephony traffic, including private wires, PBX extensions and dealerboards. "This will take place in a more staggered phase because it is a new product. We have tested it on-site in London, and tests at other locations are ongoing," Berry says.

Jones says a major UK investment bank has also signed up to use the ASP version of MDM, replacing its existing MDM installation. Jones says this client went live with the ASP last week following a month of running the ASP parallel to its own installation. He declines to identify the second client, but several sources tell IMD that it is Barclays. A Barclays official declines to comment.

Max Bowie