Waters Rankings 2020: Best Cloud Infrastructure Provider—IPC Systems

The second win for IPC Systems is in the best cloud infrastructure provider category. Connexus Cloud is a private, secure cloud that has over 6,000 customer end points connected to it, over 70 exchanges, and more than 120 different content and application providers. COO David Brown says that over the last year, IPC has “made a lot of advances with respect to its cloud infrastructure.”

Brown also says IPC has had to evolve the way it operates to be more open and encourage new partnerships. This year, IPC partnered with Cloud9, a voice communication and analytics platform provider. “Their positioning in the marketplace is complementary to ours and this combination augments new possibilities for the customer,” he says.

Connexus Cloud and IPC’s trading communication system, Unigy, have merged into Connexus Unigy, and can now be used as a single product for the first time. Similar to the strategy for Unigy, IPC has made the decision to work to make the platform more open to third-party partners and integration. Brown says the firm’s traditional markets are mostly inter-dealer brokers on the sell side, but that by having a broader range of services that can be rolled out on more of a subscription basis, like Connexus Unigy, they may be able to tap into the buy side more.  

IPC is looking to continue growing operations in the fast-growing Asia-Pacific region, as well as some emerging markets. In terms of IPC’s 12-month outlook and roadmap, the firm is placing a “huge emphasis” on continuing to develop its software trading platforms and making enhancements to its cloud infrastructure—learning from the Covid-19 pandemic—and enhancing access capabilities for remote working.