Marketcetera Taps Former MySQL Executive For Its Advisory Board
The financial services market is still a largely uncharted region for open source software. Sure, there are several Exchanges around the globe that use Linux to power their operations, but the minds, the people, and the currency that bring life to the trading floors don't operate solely on a patch of real estate in New York, London or Hong Kong. Marketcetera is one of the first open source software vendors to blaze a trail in this industry, with its open source trading platform catering to buy side and algorithmic trading.
Tackling a new market often necessitates a new way of thinking and looking at problems, but having experienced advisors onboard is still crucial to successfully navigate the unfamiliar territory -- for the insight they give, and the assurance their presence can instill in potential customers. This is only one of the reasons Marketcetera is welcoming Larry Stefonic to its advisory board. Stefonic is no stranger to the software industry, having co-founded the yaSSL project, an open source internet security suite, holding management positions at Centure Software, Raima Corporation and recently serving as the executive vice president of sales at MySQL AB.
Marketcetera released the first full production version of its open trading platform earlier this year. Traditional trading platforms fall victim to the same sorts of issues proprietary software does in other industries -- development tends to be slower, less customizable on a per customer basis, and integrating systems is often difficult. Marketcetera CEO, Graham Miller, acknowledges that in a "slow-to innovate industry" having someone with experience selling, promoting, and using open source software giving insight and advice on Marketcetera's development plans and overall business strategy is an opportunity and a real advantage.
Stefonic thinks that Marketcetera's commitment to open source will propel its trading platform forward in the industry, in much the same way the open source approach brought MySQL center stage. It's certainly plausible, and while the financial services industry doesn't consist of legions of early adopters, once it sees how open source lends itself to faster development, individual customization, and reliability, open source may creep from the Exchanges and into far distant brokerage firms.