For institutional investors, managing orders with a Fidessa OMS isn’t just about the system itself, it’s also about the broad range of complementary parts that can enhance performance.

“We’re not just offering an OMS,” said Megan Costello, president of Fidessa’s North American buy-side business. “We also offer connectivity, global data centers, and market-data ticker plants, as well as relationships with the buy side and sell side.”

London-based Fidessa offers technology, software and services across the buy side and sell side, and the company says about $10 trillion of transactions cross its global network in any given year. In the crowded Order Management System space, that breadth can be a differentiating factor versus a competitor whose OMS may be comparable but without the support behind it.

“A lot of what we hear from clients is that as a vendor we have such a strong footprint in the buy side and the sell side,” Costello said. “This puts us in a different light in clients’ eyes—they see from a long-term perspective the opportunity to add value in a number of different directions. It’s not just about the platform.”

Fidessa’s buy-side OMS is built to support multiple asset classes including equities, futures, options, fixed income and OTC derivatives. The broker-neutral platform provides ‘24×7’ trading from a single operational hub and can be tailored to an organization’s specific structure and operational processes; automated allocations processing and commission management are meant to improve efficiency, and a central audit trail supports best-execution analysis and audit requirements.

The Order Management System can directly access Fidessa’s hosted services and can be combined with trading services to create an Order and Execution Management System (OEMS). According to the company, the OMS’s integrated FIX connectivity to major brokers, dark pools and liquidity platforms can be hosted, removing the need for on-site FIX expertise.

“One of biggest selling points is its flexibility,” Costello said. “Looking at what has taken place in the industry recently, flexibility is more valuable to clients who are diversifying into multiple asset classes such as foreign exchange and futures. Our platform is very robust and extremely flexible, as it allows clients to establish unique workflows within it.”

“We’re not just offering an OMS, we also offer connectivity, global data centers, and market-data ticker plants, as well as relationships with the buy side and sell side.” Megan Costello, president of Fidessa’s North American buy-side business

“Another unique part of our approach is how we really partner with large clients,” Costello continued. “In 2011 and 2012 we strengthened some valuable strategic partnerships, and with such tight relationships, clients feel like they have a strong voice as far as driving functionality. So we have a strong touch point as far as those partnerships—for example, in 2012 we did a lot with State Street Global Advisors.”

In a constantly evolving marketplace, Fidessa plans to continue to improve the value proposition of its OMS. “In 2013 we will continue to focus within the OMS, looking at streamlining and driving more efficiency within workflows,” Costello said. “We will continue to go deeper with our multi-asset coverage.”

Added Costello, “with the market changing so quickly, you need a dynamic way to deliver change to clients. Hosted services will allow us to provide new functionality at a much faster pace than traditional enterprise.