The world of Capital Markets has faced rapid evolution in recent years as firms adapt to changes in technology, working habits and workflows. The impact of the global pandemic and remote working needs has accelerated the demand for more innovative and efficient digital solutions, encouraging many businesses to embrace trading cloud communications tools to maintain deal velocity.
This is a significant shift in a world where 40% of firms had no remote-working provisions to speak of before the outbreak of Covid-19. As businesses look to a future likely to be a hybrid environment, combining remote and in-office working, cloud communications will play a key role in connecting disparate teams.
We explore the trends that have encouraged so many firms and their traders to move to the cloud and the benefits cloud-based trading solutions offer.
The evolving capital markets workspace
Trading has always thrived on rapid communication, collaboration and visibility among teams. The fast pace of the markets requires the ability to make quick decisions and verify them with confidence, often involving multiple stakeholders.
While the shift to remote working was largely successful, with 69% of executives in Financial Services firms surveyed by PWC reporting that their employees were as productive at home as before the global pandemic, the hybrid future of markets will require a strategic approach to enable high-frequency, low latency trading while also balancing regulatory obligations.
The challenges include:
- Managing a remote workforce effectively
- Maintaining strong relationships
- Enabling essential collaboration, such as between brokers and underwriters
- Implementing robust cyber security
- Maintaining access to remote systems.
While many industries have now adopted cloud communications as the norm, with tools such as Slack, Zoom or Teams, facilitating trading cloud communications in a multichannel environment requires a specialised approach.
Why are trading firms embracing critical cloud communications?
Trading cloud communications tools are becoming essential for maintaining velocity and efficiency. By using the latest cloud solutions, financial firms can balance workforce flexibility while still optimising performance. Below we’ve outlined the key reasons for traders to embrace cloud communications.
Ensuring robust compliance
Increased regulatory scrutiny and obligations have added pressure on financial firms to maintain robust compliance. For example, in the UK, FCA guidelines require firms to take all reasonable steps to record and report trading communications. So, firms need to simplify and consolidate their systems and processes to ensure compliance requirements are met.
By replacing private wires, intercom calls and traditional phone calls with a single cloud communications solution, traders can close their compliance gaps and reduce the risks of breaches while simplifying workflows.
Enjoying the cost efficiencies cloud communications solutions offer
Relying on a mix of collaboration solutions to deliver blended services leads to unwieldy tech stacks full of single-use solutions that lack connectivity and scalability. This leaves firms paying for unnecessary technology and teams operating inefficient processes. By moving to a single, integrated solution for trader voice communications and remote trading, firms can consolidate their costs and tools without compromising on performance.
Increasing team flexibility
With 86% of financial markets employees supporting the idea of working from home at least one day a week, firms need flexible tools that can enable a hybrid working environment. Trading cloud communications tools centralise trader activity in a single solution that can be used in the office or from home, enabling teams to perform at their best from anywhere.
Achieving reliable trader voice data collection
While data modelling, Machine Learning and AI are now commonplace in financial markets, firms are only starting to realise the potential of leveraging unstructured voice data. As more firms start to investigate the utility of trader voice data for updating and maintaining real-time financial modelling, the ability to capture trader voice data is a key capability. This starts with digitising, aggregating and normalising available data in the cloud through a single, reliable source.
The cloud communications advantage for traders
While there is a range of solutions available, for firms to leverage these tools to their full potential, you should prioritise finding the most suitable solutions for the specific needs of your trading teams and target markets.
Trader-optimised cloud communications solutions, like Speakerbus’ Cadence, include targeted functionality such as:
- Flexible capacity for the demands of real-time trading communications workloads, ensuring consistent quality and clarity
- Reliable enterprise and cloud security capabilities
- Compliant and analysable call recording
- Resilient architecture and high-availability design
Firms that can successfully implement these solutions have the chance to improve team satisfaction and engagement while also reducing costs and gaining a competitive advantage.
Summary
As you plan for the future of work, in which cloud communications will play an essential part, it’s critical to understand the full range of benefits traders can enjoy from moving to the cloud. To ensure your firm’s future success, finding the right cloud-based trading communications tools and partners to support implementation and optimise usage is vital to stay ahead of the competition. You need to build secure, efficient and flexible networks and solutions that can align teams, enable successful collaboration, streamline processes and maintain compliance.
Speakerbus creates critical cloud communications software and devices for traders, working with world-leading technology providers to connect teams, systems and channels while ensuring end-to-end compliance. To find out more about how we’re shaping the future of trading, explore our trading communications solutions or get in touch with our team for a consultation or demo.
