Transformation Solutions

Front Office Market Systems Transformation

Challenge

A US-based global asset manager sought to modernize and unify its front office market systems — spanning trading, data, and analytics functions — to improve speed, transparency, and alignment between trading strategy and technology delivery.

Over time, the firm’s technology stack had evolved organically, resulting in fragmented tools and overlapping responsibilities across trading, quant research, and data engineering teams. This created inefficiencies, latency issues, and governance blind spots in how trading models, risk calculations, and analytics were deployed across asset classes.

The core challenge was to design a cross-functional transformation model that:

• Integrated traders, quants, and technologists under one delivery structure.

• Established a governance and execution model for multi-stream transformation programs.

• Aligned agile sprints and project delivery to trading strategy cycles and market-readiness KPIs.

Solution

Harmonic Strategy acted as Transformation Strategy Lead Consultant, partnering with senior trading, quant, and technology teams to design an integrated governance and delivery oversight framework — combining strategy alignment, platform optimization, and data integration.

1. Integrated Governance Design

• Established a cross-disciplinary delivery council that aligned trading desks, data science, and technology functions.

• Defined RACI governance structures for transformation streams spanning data management, analytics, and trading systems.

• Introduced agile delivery controls — ensuring sprint goals were tied to both technical milestones and market impact metrics.

• Embedded escalation, approval, and oversight pathways to streamline decision-making and reduce release friction across teams.

2. Market Systems & Technology Architecture Alignment

• Led the integration of Kx Systems (kdb+) for real-time, in-memory time-series analytics supporting tick-level trade and market data.

• Oversaw deployment of FIS Front Arena as the unified cross-asset trading and position management platform.

• Implemented OneTick for enterprise-grade tick data management and historical replay — enabling enhanced testing and risk modelling.

• Defined architectural interfaces and data lineage documentation to support full trade-to-analytics transparency across front and middle office workflows.

3. Agile Transformation Execution

• Aligned Agile technology sprints with front-office trading strategy change cycles, ensuring technology delivery was synchronized with business need and market conditions.

• Introduced delivery KPIs such as sprint velocity, defect density, and release-to-market ratio, integrated into executive dashboards.

• Enabled a continuous improvement feedback loop where traders and quants could iterate on models using real-time production data within regulatory boundaries.

4. Performance Measurement & Executive Reporting

• Developed executive dashboards visualizing delivery progress, sprint health, and market-readiness metrics.

• Embedded KPI-driven delivery scorecards to monitor system performance, trading model deployment rates, and latency improvements.

• Created a central program cockpit using Tableau and Power BI integrations, allowing leadership to monitor transformation health in real time.

Key Deliverables

• Integrated Front Office Transformation Governance Framework

• RACI and Escalation Model for Cross-Functional Delivery

• Kx (kdb+), FIS Front Arena, and OneTick Integration Blueprint

• Agile Sprint Alignment & KPI Dashboard for Executive Oversight

• Architecture & Data Lineage Documentation

• Market-Readiness and Performance Dashboard (Tableau/Power BI)

Client Benefits

• Unified front office functions under a single governance and delivery model, eliminating duplication and misaligned priorities.

• Improved cross-asset transparency and reduced data latency through real-time analytics using Kx and OneTick.

• Increased delivery predictability and reduced time-to-market for new trading features and strategies.

• Enhanced executive visibility into transformation progress and business performance alignment.

• Fostered a collaborative culture between trading, research, and technology teams — bridging the historical divide between quant model development and system delivery.