Reuters and IBM Collaborate to give financial markets customers better trading and integration

LONDON and NEW YORK – Reuters (LSE: RTR; NASDAQ: RTRSY) and IBM are collaborating to make it simpler for financial markets customers to integrate Reuters core software platform, the Reuters Market Data System (RMDS), with IBM WebSphere Software. Joint customers can now access and integrate the broadest array of market data with existing information to manage massive data volumes better and improve trading.

The move will allow the content and services on RMDS to completely integrate with applications that use IBM’s messaging software. It has been made possible by the introduction of three new products from Reuters which will extend the reach of RMDS into clients’ front, middle and back office applications.

• RMDS Multicast Distributor, to be released later this year, is powered by IBM’s new Reliable Multicast Messaging technology that enables ultra-fast distribution of any content from RMDS to client applications. The new technology can be embedded in RMDS with licensing and support by Reuters

• RMDS Enterprise Distributor (eDist) is a Java Messaging Service (JMS) gateway that connects RMDS to IBM WebSphere Software. It allows applications written with IBM WebSphere Software to access the 80 plus data sources from vendors available on RMDS - as well as internally published data. It can also distribute content over RMDS for consumption by other applications owned by the client

• RMDS Internet Finance Platform (iFP) will give internet access to all the data on RMDS and will integrate web services. It is designed to run on IBM WebSphere Software web servers

Steve Mills, senior vice president and group executive, IBM Software Group, said: “IBM WebSphere Software brings to RMDS the muscle to process hundreds of thousands of messages per second with sub-millisecond latency, and an underlying services orientated architecture (SOA) that offers greater flexibility, resiliency and ease of use over competing platforms.”

Peter Moss, Global Head of Enterprise Solutions, Reuters, said: “We are pleased to be able to extend the reach of RMDS through our partnership with IBM, giving our clients more choice and making Reuters systems more open than ever. For the first time developers will be able to build new applications using IBM messaging software to access content from RMDS and to distribute it into other parts of their organizations. This is another example of our key aim, to put customers first.”