Wilco launches data repository

Based on the London firm's Gloss securities settlement system, the product provides a centralised repository for the distribution and co-ordination of company-wide business data, such as securities, currencies, and names and addresses. Its aim is to eliminate duplicated effort in the maintenance of static or reference data and to minimise the risk from inconsistent data across a firm's business.

BIX can be modelled to receive data updates from other systems for distribution to subscribing systems, or to act as the single point of data entry and control, or to perform both roles within a firm's IT environment, says Wilco.

In the former instance, validation is performed on all data received, and any incomplete or invalid data is treated as an exception. Data exceptions are automatically monitored and routed directly to selected users' desktops for online investigation and resolution using Wilco's STP Explorer exception and workflow management system.

For operations that use BIX as the prime point for data entry, browser-based screens are provided for manual input, including the option for input via the Internet or a firm's intranet. Standard validation of the data entered can be supplemented by user-defined rules.

Using Wilco's Enterprise Broker middleware system, BIX may be integrated as the single repository of business-critical data into an existing IT infrastructure which includes any new and/or legacy components.

Erlend Linklater, product manager for data management services at Wilco, says: "Having a centralised environment makes it much easier to implement firm-wide initiatives. Moreover, BIX enables firms to deal with data exceptions at the outset so that systems downstream receive only high quality data. As such, it is a powerful tool for tackling one of the major sources of exceptions in securities operations; a vital task for any operation striving for genuine STP."