Giorgio Ippoliti, Technologist at Sandisk
In today’s global financial markets, speed is paramount. When transactions are measured in milliseconds, and decisions are made in real-time, the ability to gain access to, and process data as quickly as possible is critical. In fact, data is now key to almost every aspect of financial trading; from performing high-frequency transactions to conducting risk assessments, all the way through to ensuring compliance to strict regulatory reporting requirements.
The size of the task cannot be underestimated – The Bank of England recently revealed that it receives over 35 million rows of data on derivatives and securities financing operations every single day. This figure is just the tip of the iceberg when considering the size and scope of financial trading globally and the data ecosystem financial firms are grappling with. From market data to customer information and historic transactional data, the volume continues to increase.
However, while it’s critical that organisations process, analyse, and act upon their data, none of this can occur if they don’t have a reliable, fast and robust way to manage and store it first. Traditional storage methods may not be enough to keep up with evolving data demands and we’re increasingly seeing the industry move towards flash storage as the preferred solution.
The Need for Speed: Low Latency and High Throughput
Whether it’s handling thousands of trades every second or checking risk across global markets, financial firms need data storage that can match their fast-processing systems. Flash storage is becoming increasingly popular because it provides the speed needed in these high-performance environments. Built with no moving parts, its robust design ensures longevity and high performance, while capacity can be scaled up on demand as needed.
This is especially important in the context of high-frequency trading (HFT), where even a 1-millisecond delay can have a sizeable impact on an opportunity. Flash storage reduces latency, which can help to store and analyse HFT faster enabling traders to stay ahead in markets that are predominantly driven by speed.
Beyond trading itself, financial institutions use real-time data analytics for a variety of functions, from detecting fraud to analysing risk and credit, to creating personalised experiences for customers. None of this, however, is possible without quick access to current and historical data. e Organisations that can access this insight in real-time are given the edge over their competitors
This real-time decision making is only made possible by having the right technology in place. Flash storage helps to enable the parallel processing of large and complex datasets, accelerating the ability to make data informed decisions. But the benefits don’t end there. Compliance teams need to analyse massive datasets quickly to meet reporting obligations and avoid penalties, while also detecting and responding to market abuse or systemic risks as they emerge. The speed of flash can support in compliance with regulatory requirements where reporting speed is time sensitive.
Scaling with Data Growth
The volume of financial data crossing our networks isn’t just large, it’s growing exponentially, and as trading becomes increasingly digital and the number of touchpoints increases, the need to scale storage becomes key.
One of the great benefits of flash technology is that capacity can be scaled on demand as data increases and as organisations look to leverage more insight to drive business operations. The ability to scale by adding more capacity enables financial institutions to flex their capacity up, as and when required. Whether they are archiving years of transaction data for compliance purposes or expanding their real-time analytics capabilities, this is a critical requirement in our new data-intensive world.
Tapping Into AI and Automation
In today’s data intensive environment, financial institutions simply can’t stand still, and the power of AI is only further accelerating the way financial and regulatory decisions are made. From even quicker transactions to predictive analysis and automation across the board, AI is reshaping the financial environment.
But AI applications depend heavily on the availability of large volumes of structured and unstructured data — and on the ability to access and process this data with minimal delay. They also create vast volumes of data themselves further adding to volume pool of insight.
Fortunately, flash is suited to meet these demands, enabling organisations to store the data they have access to and flex their capacity requirements up as new AI and automation tools are onboarded. All while enabling near real-time access and analysis of AI generated insight to help improve business decision making.
The Flash-Forward Future of Finance
Traditionally, the financial sector has always been an early adopter of cutting-edge technology. And as the industry embraces AI and evolves to become real-time first, whether that be trading, analytics, or regulation, flash has emerged as an enabler of these capabilities.
By delivering high performance, scalability and reliability in a robust design, flash storage is not only meeting the needs of today’s financial systems but shaping the future of the industry too. In an environment where milliseconds matter, flash has become the infrastructure of choice; not just for staying competitive, but for maintaining operational excellence.
As financial institutions continue to innovate and expand their digital services, the volume of data traversing global networks will only increase. It will be those able to trade, regulate and innovate in the milliseconds that capitalise on this opportunity. And for that they will need the right data storage solution in place.
