The hype of fully integrated Forex broker solutions: What lies beneath
Valentine Piotrovich, Head of Sales at MT4 technologies provider Takeprofit Technology, takes a look at the pros and cons of fully integrated forex broker platform solutions.
Takeprofit’s products include A and B-book risk management solutions, the Klondike liquidity bridge, and the Ashira automated dealer anti-cheating defense. Takeprofit’s clients have included Forex brokerages and white-label solution providers such as Darwinex, FXPIG, FXSTAT, BTFX, FinFX.
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For the last couple of years, there’s been a turmoil on the retail FX market. As the big names are consolidating in Europe and US, new brokers emerge from Middle East and Asia. Following the shifts in the market landscape, technology providers also change their offering. Many of them promote new large scale products which are designed to fulfill multiple purposes at once or provide control over several parts of broker’s platform: STP bridge, dealing engine, back office, website, CRM and others. Such products are also known as ‘fully integrated solutions’. The idea is great and the features are appealing, but are these products as good as they look on paper?
How it all began
The concept of deep integration through various components has been around for a while, but it skyrocketed with the boom of smartphones and gadgets. Having access to everyday functions of personal computers in your pocket made them invaluable in everyday life. As the software behind gadgets got more advanced, it also allowed interconnection between different applications so you could get benefits of using them at the same time.
Since then the technology giants, Apple and Google delivered alternative visions of the whole software environment, also known as ecosystem. While Apple thinks about everything from A to Z, Android has a slower, do-it-yourself approach. If you’re using Apple then the developers have already chosen an application which carries a certain goal. On the contrast, Android users can choose from a plenty of options and rely that it would fit their setup.
Inspired by the accomplishments of the industry leaders, brokerage software providers decided to replicate the concepts in their own products.