Celent Communications offers indispensable guide to firms selecting an order management system

In a new report entitled , Celent Communications provides analysis and advice for financial institutions looking to implement an order management system (OMS) space. The report studies the top vendors in this space and compares the systems according to several different criteria.

Order management systems (OMS) have grown to become a central component of most brokerage operations. For broker/dealers, these systems have expanded to cover not only traditional trade creation and management workflow, but also have begun to include some aspects of other functions such as: execution, smart order routing, confirmation, accounting, allocation and network connectivity.

In addition to these extended duties, the OMS is being seen as the new pivot point for internal and external straight through processing (STP). "The move towards STP in the US and elsewhere is gaining momentum, and the realization that a great deal of re-engineering will be necessary to reach STP goals is spurring vendors to think about how their systems can facilitate this impending change," according to Fritz McCormick, author of the report.

"While SunGard remains at the top of the pile in terms of functionality, both S1 and GL Trade have developed very robust networks for order flow, both in the US and abroad," according to Mr. McCormick.

Celent believes that while the vendors above are producing systems of high quality, the rest of the pack is close behind. Firms looking to implement an OMS should look for an ever-expanding network of execution venues as well as increasing integration, both internally and with the buy-side.

A Table of Contents is available online.

of Celent Communication's Institutional Securities & Investments research services can download the report electronically by clicking on the icon to the left.