Dec 13, 2005

Reuters Broadens Financial IM Coverage

Alexa Jaworski, Markets Reporter

Reuters Group has launched Reuters Messaging (RM) 5.0, calling it the first professional instant messaging (IM) hosted service to connect the financial community in real time to both the Microsoft MSN Messenger and America Online Instant Messenger services. The network now enables users to exchange information in a secure environment with any financial professionals around the world who use these popular public IM services. The service is specifically designed for financial services firms that need to meet strict requirements for security and compliance, the company said.

Making the formal announcement on Nov. 21, Reuters CEO Tom Glocer termed 5.0 "an important new release." He boasted that Reuters was "the first to introduce professional instant messaging to the financial services industry in 2002." RM 5.0 better serves both Reuters end users as well as technology partners deploying these applications, said David Gurle, EVP of collaboration services. "It gives control to IT professionals while giving the most valuable network to our end users in a secure and compliant framework," he explained. RM 5.0 enables them to "be more productive, for example, to do more deals in less time." In addition, RM 5.0 offers hosted chat rooms to support interactive teamwork. Through these chat rooms, users can connect to their internal and external communities, allowing them to create proprietary content and share market information to make faster and better-informed decisions. Organizations can create and market their own chat rooms and invite counterparties to share the latest market developments or research, in a secure, access-controlled and compliant environment. The system's benefits differ depending on where the user sits. On the buy side, Gurle explained, most of Reuters' U.S. customers have been using AOL IM to communicate with counterparties. "From their perspective, especially that of their IT department, this poses a potential security and compliance exposure," he said. "RM 5.0 enables them to replace AOL IM while still allowing those users to communicate with people on the AOL network, addressing their risk around security and compliance exposures." On the sell side, he continued, a lot of customers face the same problems as those on the buy side; in addition, there are customers who want chat rooms for both internal and external use. "RM 5.0 chat room capability helps our customers replace their legacy chat applications and use RM to reach out to their own customers," he said. Anshu Jain, head of global markets at Deutsche Bank, said RM "has the potential to introduce innovative ways of working with colleagues and customers." While Reuters touts its connectivity to an MSN and AOL population that adds up to 200 million, competitors contend that Reuters isn't doing anything particularly groundbreaking. Furqan Nazeeri, CEO of Boston-based Pivot Solutions, a 2004 Eze Castle Integration spin-off that developed the IMTRADER solution for electronic trading and research distribution in the institutional community, does give Reuters credit for underscoring that IM has become a major priority in the securities industry's management of communications.

"We're happy that they view this as an important initiative, because it validates what we've known for quite a while," said Nazeeri. "We think that what's key to making a valuable solution for a client is not only connecting to a public IM network--AOL and other networks--but also integrating it with the applications on the desktop. We think the integration of the public IM networks is simply the first step in terms of delivering a valuable product, and we're happy to see that others believe that too."

A Pivot spokesperson added that the company was the first to offer certified AOL connectivity for trading, communications and research. Pivot doesn't offer access to MSN because research indicates that most traders use AOL. Pivot, which said 28 million businesspeople globally use IM, announced Nov. 28 that it had recently added ten brokerages to the IMTRADER network, doubling its user base to above 1,000 on the buy and sell sides. , White Plains, N.Y.-based Communicator, which specializes in online compliance and identity management services, announced it has joined AOL's Enterprise Federation Partner program to provide a complete messaging, compliance and identity management solution for Wall Street. quot;I see [Reuters' announcement] as more of a catch-up if anything," said Steve Lefler, CIO and product manager for Communicator's Hub Connex IM service, which was launched in 2001. "Reuters is just now adding features into their product that we've had in ours from the beginning." Reuters also noted that in 2006, Reuters Messaging, built on Microsoft Office Live Communications Server (LCS) technology, will be upgraded to enable LCS enterprise users to link seamlessly in real time to the financial network built around RM. Jeff Raikes, president of Microsoft's business division, said in a statement: "We are delighted that Reuters has chosen Live Communications Server for its messaging solution for the financial markets. Reuters' upgrade to LCS 2005 next year will give enterprises using LCS an exciting opportunity to connect to a larger global trading community federating with Reuters Messaging." Added Jon Miller, chairman and CEO of AOL, "We are extremely pleased to have Reuters as a flagship member of the AOL Enterprise Federation Program, which helps communities of at-work instant messaging users connect and communicate in real time."