AFTAs 2016: Best Third-Party Technology Vendor IT Team—Vela Trading Technologies

But after the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) bought NYSE in 2013, SR Labs came in and snatched the Wombat team in order to move beyond being a market data specialist into a more well-rounded trading technologies provider.

To better represent its broader focus, SR Labs rebranded itself in June 2016 as Vela Trading Technologies, bringing together the SR and Wombat teams and products under one roof. While the name is new, the vendor has decades of experience and was named as having the best third-party technology vendor IT team at the AFTAs.

As an example of the expertise that Vela brings to the table, the vendor has worked closely with TMX Group to deploy its fully-managed, low-latency market data platform on the TMX Information Processor (TMX IP). Vela helped TMX to launch new data sources that exclude data from non-protected markets to facilitate best execution. Thus, TMX IP serves as a central source of consolidated Canadian equity market data.

Through the partnership, TMX was able to reduce latencies, boost capacity and shrink its hardware footprint. “If we can help reduce our footprint, that means we can help reduce our clients’ footprints,” says Brendan O’Sullivan, global head of managed services for Vela. “That’s a massive benefit for TMX and for companies looking to control costs and manage resources.”

Vela’s managed market data platform offers end-to-end operational support for its low-latency feed handlers and products to consolidate quotes and trades from different market centers, according to the vendor. Vela’s team monitors the implementation using a 24/7, follow-the-sun approach.

While the name is new, the vendor has decades of experience and was named as having the best third-party technology vendor IT team at this year’s AFTAs.

To help spread the word, last year Vela made a number of splashy hires, including the additions of Rupesh Patel and Neil Wheatley to the global sales team based in London and Chicago, respectively; Michael Goettsch, senior pre-sales engineer; Wendy Chan, global head of marketing; account managers Lauren Trapanotto and Roman Rangelov responsible for North America and EMEA respectively; Kirsty Marsh, global sales operations; and Brian Cassin and Ollie Cadman, joint heads of product and strategy.

“We pride ourselves on doing things correctly by providing products and services that help our clients comply with new regulations,” O’Sullivan says.