Best Enterprise Data Management Initiative: Xenomorph

Xenomorph has been awarded Best Enterprise Data Management Initiative for its upgraded TimeScape EDM+ platform, recently deployed by Mizuho Americas, the US-based subsidiary of Mizuho Financial Group. The platform helps firms increase operational efficiency, improve risk management and adapt to new regulatory requirements. It manages the complete life cycle of data across integration, derivation, storage, cleansing, validation, audit, analysis and distribution. Clients can deploy TimeScape EDM+ on-premise or consume it as a cloud-based data management service.

Mizuho America had been a long-standing client of Xenomorph and used its enterprise data management (EDM)platform to normalize, enrich, validate and cleanse data that supported its trading and risk operations. Upgrading to the latest version of the platform running on Microsoft Azure has also armed the bank with a configurable workflow engine to help it respond quicker to new business requirements and evolving global regulatory standards.

“Xenomorph was traditionally strong at managing time-series data and analytics, with a flexible data model that enabled the system to manage any over-the-counter instrument, no matter how complex. We then added EDM workflow for data integration, normalization, validation, exception management, gold-copy creation and distribution, process audit and data lineage,” says Naj Alavi, Xenomorph’s managing director, Americas. “These capabilities are now being used to offer preconfigured solutions to specific business challenges, such as risk factor management, securities mastering, and trading and portfolio analytics.”

TimeScape EDM+ includes a Data Validation Portal, which offers data validation and cleansing application functionality straight out of the box. TimeScape EDM+ also ensures that all data changes as well as process actions are fully audited so data provenance is guaranteed for both raw and calculated derived data. In addition, it tracks all dependencies of interlinked data, ensuring it is only promoted to gold status when the full dependency tree is satisfied. This means no dependencies are missed and everything is calculated in the correct order. Integrated analytics and in-built data and system connectors round out the TimeScape EDM+ feature set.

Looking ahead, Steve Tucker, Xenomorph’s chief commercial officer, says the company is working on developing services for emerging regulatory-driven challenges. “One key driver lies in the new market risk framework being brought about as part of Basel III. Although the Fundamental Review of the Trading Book is not set for implementation until 2022, it will have significant implications for the way firms manage risk data. One example is the risk factor eligibility test. This rule really elevates the importance of data management because it impacts key business decisions and could make the difference to the viability and profitability of a trade.” 

Read more about the Inside Market Data & Inside Reference Data Awards 2019 winners