About a-team Marketing Services
The knowledge platform for the financial technology industry
The knowledge platform for the financial technology industry

A-Team Insight Blogs

Low Latency – It’s All About Big Fast Data

Subscribe to our newsletter

When one hears the term ‘Big Data’ one is drawn to thinking about batch analysis of vast datasets, such as web logs, click streams and, apparently, phone records. Technologies like Hadoop and NoSQL are mentioned, already in the context of their lack of performance, and murky ROI. But in the financial markets, the world of big data is different: it’s real-time, it’s high velocity, and it packs enormous value. Which is why we’re continuing to focus on how low-latency technologies are converging with the big data world to move beyond simple – and increasingly obsolete – ‘fastest execution’ trading models.

Indeed, October 8 in London (and November 12 in New York City) will see our Low-Latency Summit focus on “Big Fast Data for Automated Trading” … and already we have defined a set of morning ‘big picture’ plenary panels to explore different facets of the emerging convergence:

Low-Latency: No Longer a Strategy. So What Is?

Outright speed is no longer enough, even if one can afford it. Intelligent trading, aka smart trading, is the new focus. It means making better trading decisions through data-driven analytics, and executing with competitive latency, at an affordable cost. What are the best approaches to participating in the intelligent trading marketplace?

News and Social Media for Trading – Analytics over Latency?

Trading strategies driven at least in part by news and social media updates are being increasingly adopted, and generating investment returns that many are taking note of. What sources of information are suitable for what trading strategies, and what approaches are available for connecting to and processing this potentially lucrative Big Data world?

In-Memory in The Real World – Your Competitors are Already There

RAM is up to 100,000 times faster than disk, so its use to minimize I/O latency for storage is well understood. Recent hardware/software advances have made in-memory computing more usable for large amounts of data, making it an approach that is relevant to both low-latency and big data processing. How is in-memory playing out for trading applications?

And that’s just the morning. In the afternoon, specific technologies and approaches will be explored in a number of ‘drill down’ workshops.  More to come on those.

Check out the in-progress London event information here, and register in advance, as space is limited. If you work for a financial institution, then we might invite you for free – email ron@a-teamgroup.com to see whether you qualify and get the free code.

Subscribe to our newsletter

Related content

WEBINAR

Recorded Webinar: Unlocking Competitive Edge with Outsourcing and Managed Services in Trading Technology

Outsourcing has emerged as a strategic solution for capital markets firms as trading technology infrastructures become more complex, data volumes grow exponentially, and regulatory pressures intensify. .By leveraging third-party expertise, firms can optimise operations, reduce costs, and focus on innovation in their trading technology stack. Outsourcing potentially enables firms to scale seamlessly, meet regulatory reporting...

BLOG

South Africa High on the List for Global HFT Firms

By Merlin Rajah, Head: Equities Electronic Product at Absa CIB. Infrastructure Evolution: JSE’s Leap Forward For exchanges, High-Frequency Trading (HFT) firms are a significant revenue driver – generating income through execution, clearing, settlement, colocation, and market data services. Sell-side firms benefit as well, gaining a steady revenue stream and an increased market share. A major...

EVENT

TradingTech Summit London

Now in its 14th year the TradingTech Summit London brings together the European trading technology capital markets industry and examines the latest changes and innovations in trading technology and explores how technology is being deployed to create an edge in sell side and buy side capital markets financial institutions.

GUIDE

AI in Capital Markets: Practical Insight for a Transforming Industry – Free Handbook

AI is no longer on the horizon – it’s embedded in the infrastructure of modern capital markets. But separating real impact from inflated promises requires a grounded, practical understanding. The AI in Capital Markets Handbook 2025 provides exactly that. Designed for data-driven professionals across the trade life-cycle, compliance, infrastructure, and strategy, this handbook goes beyond...