Going live: graduate updates live trading software

I’ve recently rolled out my first big project as a technical service delivery manager, having moved over from a more technical role.

My company provides trading systems that allow the world’s brokers, asset managers, investment banks and other institutions to trade global financial markets.

The Deutsche Börse Group, which operates the Frankfurt, Vienna and Irish stock exchanges, recently released an upgrade to one of their electronic trading software packages, Xetra 11, which meant that we needed to upgrade our software in line with this. I was in charge of ensuring that this all happened smoothly.

Adapting our software and getting it tested

I first established with Deutsche Börse what changes the upgrade would entail and when the new software would be available to us. Our development team then made the necessary adaptations to our own software so it would still work in conjunction with the upgrade.

These were passed on to our testing team, who tested how these changes would impact upon different types of our customers. This information was then given to our delivery managers, who deal directly with individual clients, to inform them of the upgrade and flag up any potential issues for them.

The project timescale

I spent about three months on the project in total, setting up meetings to establish key facts, putting timelines in place to ensure that everyone had time to complete their tasks, and rolling the project out on a Saturday (when the German market is closed), assisted by several colleagues.

We then went live on the Monday morning: I was in at 7.00 am to provide support should any traders have difficulty with the upgraded system.

Learning project management skills

As my first project management role, the upgrade was a steep learning curve for me. There was a greater communication element than in my previous roles – I liaised with all the relevant parties internally as well as Deutsche Börse and to some extent with our clients. I had to establish who the most appropriate contacts were for my needs and adapt how I phrased things depending on who I was dealing with.

I was a bit nervous to start with about speaking to all these contacts on the phone but this lessened with experience.

I also had to establish which colleagues would be available to work on the project when I needed support (we have a matrix management system in which we all assist on each others’ projects as needed, rather than having fixed teams) and handle all the documentation required.

My favourite aspects of the project

I enjoyed learning to manage a project as a whole, rather than just working on one specific aspect, and meeting all the new people I worked with. I also liked finding out more about how traders operate and what their needs are.

I’ll be moving on to manage further exchange upgrades in future so I’ll be able to put my experience to good use.

Laura Fletcher is a technical service delivery manager (hosted exchanges team) for Fidessa. She graduated with a BSc in computer science with a year in industry from the University of Kent in 2006.