Survey Finds Financial Firms Set to Increase 2015 Technology Spending Amid Focus on Core Competencies

JERSEY CITY, N.J., Jan. 21, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Preceded by a year focused on innovation, 2015 is set to become a year of self-improvement in the financial services industry, based on the results from a recent survey of financial firms that highlights increased investment in technology for 2014 amidst a drive to increase efficiency and improve cost-effectiveness.  The annual survey, IPC 2015 Capital Markets Technology Trends Survey, conducted by IPC Systems, Inc., a global provider of mission-critical network services and trading communication technology to the financial markets, released today, shows that traders and IT decision makers are increasing their reliance on cloud computing and managed services in order to streamline their processes and improve their bottom line.

In a clear continuation of an ongoing trend, according to the surveys from 2014 and 2015, network infrastructure and services were the top spending focus for the second year in a row, with 40% of respondents indicating this category as a priority. In combination with the priority on technology for traders, the trading desk and trading floor, this suggests that after dedicating 2014 to enhancing their capabilities via innovation, firms are now focused on tapping the full potential of their infrastructure. The increased deployment of cloud computing (31%) and managed services (45%) strongly suggests that firms are taking a "shortcut" to this goal by tapping the expertise of dedicated external professionals, thereby enabling firms to focus on their core competencies.

"Market participants increasingly require sophisticated network technology to adapt to changes in the regulatory environment, market structure and business models," said David Brown, Senior Vice President and Managing Director, Financial Markets Network, IPC. "A managed network-as-a-service solution allows trading firms to rapidly access a ready-made ecosystem of counterparties and cost- effectively execute complex strategies."

Additional key findings of this year's survey include:

• 46 percent of participants said their primary driver for technology investments were improve efficiency and cost effectiveness.
• 64 percent of respondents are implementing or plan to implement cloud computing technology in the coming year.
• 63 percent of respondents are currently using or have plans to use managed services to support their technology infrastructure.

The research covered a broad range of roles for staff supporting the full trading lifecycle from order initiation and execution to clearing and settlement. Respondents came from the front, middle, and back office and included people involved in both the business and technology side of trading support.

About IPC
IPC is a global provider of mission-critical network services and trading communication technology to the financial markets community. With complete focus on this sector and over 40 years of expertise, IPC provides customers with integrated solutions that support traders and participants across the entire trade lifecycle including sell-side and buy-side financial institutions, inter-dealer brokers, liquidity venues, clearing and settlement firms, independent software vendors, corporate finance departments, financial information exchange providers and market data providers. IPC's offerings include a unified communications/application platform, award-winning trading positions, managed voice and data connectivity solutions, compliance technologies, infrastructure management and a suite of enhanced service offerings. IPC's global reach extends to more than 60 countries – including a network of 5,000 customer sites over 700 cities and an installed base of approximately 120,000 trading positions deployed worldwide. Headquartered in Jersey City, New Jersey, IPC has over 900 employees located throughout the Americas and the EMEA and Asia-Pacific regions. IPC's mission is to continually innovate to support collaboration across the global financial community and address our clients' needs in an ever-changing landscape. For more information, visit www.ipc.com.

Certain statements contained in this press release may be forward-looking statements. These statements may be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "anticipate," "believe," "continue," "could," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "may," "might," "plan," "potential," "predict," "should" or "will" or similar terminology.  Any forward-looking statements are based on current expectations, assumptions, estimates and projections. Such forward looking statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond our control. Actual results may differ materially from any future results expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements.

SOURCE IPC Systems, Inc.

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