Nasdaq takes stock of integration

Lamonica, Martin. "Nasdaq takes stock of integration.." InfoWorld 2314 May 2001 56. 10 Sept 2007 .


My article discusses the growing significance of the use of IT within the electronic financial marketplace, known as Nasdaq. Specifically, this article interviewed the CIO, CTO and CEO of Nasdaq in an attempt to explain the general process that is taken to invest in new technologies for this company. These three men each offered input as to how IT benefits this emerging company. This New York company has been actively expanding internationally along with full intentions of going public in the near future, which are reasons in themselves as to why its important to invest carefully in new technologies. Nasdaq allocates more than half of its expenditures into IT.
CIO, Gregor Bailar identified that nearly IT expenses are attached to a product line and a business division. Essentially, this gives Nasdaq as a whole to efficiently measure IT’s return on investment. In turn this means that Nasdaq is able to clearly see the effects of investment in IT has on the general revenue of the company.
Steven Randich, CTO of Nasdaq stressed the importance of a strong relationship between business and IT. "I've specifically initiated a number of efforts to bring technology people out to see customers - traders and build relationships with traders in order rooms on Wall Street so that they can see traders using Nasdaq workstations and other systems,"
While some business executives see IT and business two separate entities, Wick Simmons, CEO of Nasdaq disagrees with the norm. Simmons stated, “I think most everybody's now come to the point where IT literacy on behalf of anybody running a business is an absolute must."
The most interesting thing from this entire article was Nasdaq’s process towards approving new IT projects. This process first begins with an proposal or innovative idea, which can derive from any facet of the business. The idea is then taken to a business manager for further approval, once he/she considers the idea it is weighed on its return on investment determination. This means that managers and IT mangers determine the ROI and then submit these new ideas into a product portfolio. In order for these projects to succeed, these ROI measurements must fit into the company’s operating margins. Nasdaq then follows up with a quarterly business review, which examines key functions that the company needs to improve on. This review is followed up with a technology review, where IT managers take the time to examine its already existent infrastructure. This process gives Nasdaq an opportunity to consistently stay up to date with their technologies, which they intergrate into their daily business functions.
Considering that Nasdaq has future plans to go public, one can see why this company is so careful with introducing new technologies within their company. The chance that a new investment’s opportunity cost would not pay off beyond their initial investment could be discouraging to its potential future investors, but more importantly to its already established service. This means that Nasdaq’s leadership is going to continue to embrace business and IT in the same hand; however, they will be measuring every proposal so that they can continue to offer exceptional service for future investors.