Path To Alignment
Data infrastructure improvement requires carefully attaching meaning to data
Following on the last column, which raised the question of whether large funds can pursue innovations in data management in the same way hedge funds are, this past week, EDM Council managing director Mike Atkin, speaking in a webcast hosted by Tech Mahindra, cautioned that the industry is indeed far behind on improving data infrastructure.
Aligning data properly with its true meaning is the approach firms ought to take to best address data management and get the flexibility that otherwise might not be possible due to long-term investments in legacy systems, as Atkin counsels.
Identification of instruments, entities and deal terms has progressed, to better support analytics—but inconsistencies in those identifications and the need to do reconciliations still abound, says Atkin. The issue isn't so much bad data as it is the need to harmonize data, he adds.
"We have lots of proprietary interfaces and disparate data all over the place, and lots of repositories," says Atkin. "The first goal is to simplify—unraveling lineage, understanding critical data elements. We're all in the midst of doing this. Much of the industry is now putting all its energy into unraveling the complexity of processes."
Only when harmonization and consistency is achieved can firms take the bigger step of aligning data to meaning, which is the bigger aspiration that Atkin puts forward. He cites glossaries, ontologies [the EDM Council, with the Object Management Group, has developed its own ontology, FIBO], transformation processes, and also the identifiers themselves, as the pieces necessary to align data and meaning.
Combining all of those into metadata and applying it to data quality objectives is difficult, Atkin acknowledges, but doing so—effectively creating a set of business rules for the data to inspire trust and confidence in data consumers.
If this is completed, the resulting data management infrastructure could have the flexibility and effectiveness that its hedge fund counterpart already boasts.
Only users who have a paid subscription or are part of a corporate subscription are able to print or copy content.
To access these options, along with all other subscription benefits, please contact info@waterstechnology.com or view our subscription options here: http://subscriptions.waterstechnology.com/subscribe
You are currently unable to print this content. Please contact info@waterstechnology.com to find out more.
You are currently unable to copy this content. Please contact info@waterstechnology.com to find out more.
Copyright Infopro Digital Limited. All rights reserved.
As outlined in our terms and conditions, https://www.infopro-digital.com/terms-and-conditions/subscriptions/ (point 2.4), printing is limited to a single copy.
If you would like to purchase additional rights please email info@waterstechnology.com
Copyright Infopro Digital Limited. All rights reserved.
You may share this content using our article tools. As outlined in our terms and conditions, https://www.infopro-digital.com/terms-and-conditions/subscriptions/ (clause 2.4), an Authorised User may only make one copy of the materials for their own personal use. You must also comply with the restrictions in clause 2.5.
If you would like to purchase additional rights please email info@waterstechnology.com
More on Data Management
Fidelity’s quantum exploration unites theory and proof
The asset manager and Amazon have teamed to put a quantum twist on machine learning.
Interop after acquisitions remains daunting for buyers
Executives from a variety of vendors speaking at WFIC explained why desktop interoperability is important and why progress has been slow.
GenAI could connect ‘constellation’ of vital information technologies
At WFIC, Six Group’s Marion Leslie highlighted the opportunities and risks that the technology holds.
TRG Screen cuts 20 jobs following review and restructure
The review follows an eight-year period of acquisitions and buy-in from a new private equity owner last year.
Why don’t you write a book? Several notable data professionals are doing just that
The IMD Wrap: Max talks to some data architects-turned-authors who are literally sharing volumes of knowledge.
American Bankers Assoc. asks SEC: Do you know what you’re doing?
The industry group disagrees severely with regulators’ interpretation of the Financial Data Transparency Act, hinting at possible legal action in a recently published comment letter.
South Africa’s equity markets court HFTs with tech upgrades
Competition for flow has driven innovation in connectivity, risk, and data provision.
OneTick taps HFT start-up Lo:Tech for crypto market data
Lo:Tech’s founders come from the quant and high-frequency trading space.