End users have confirmed that after testing the software, it was more responsive and reliable than other market data vendors' solutions. When comparing the latency of data feed triggered price updates to Excel from rival applications, Gissing RealtimeXL demonstrated a 30-40% increase in direct cell inputs under conditions of high market activity. As of today, anyone in a trading firm interested in assessing the advantages seen by existing users of the add-in, can do so by applying online*.

Independent consultant John Best, Director and Principal Consultant, Kendale Systems and Services has been testing the system to evaluate it for a client. He stated: "In testing, and in comparison with a number of other Excel add-ins, Gissing RealtimeXL was found to significantly outperform the standard tools provided by the market data vendors for updating data in large and complex spreadsheets." He went on to say: "The application enabled us to publish many more updates to Excel and behaved more reliably than other vendors' add-ins in highly active market conditions."

The diversity of the application's uses is demonstrated by its deployment within German bank WestLB which, since January 2007 has used the system to contribute FX deposit rates to internal audiences via the bank's intranet.

Alexandra Balloff, Global Head of Market Data, WestLB, said: "Integrating Gissing RealtimeXL with our existing Gissing ConteX MCS contributions architecture allows us to extend the ability to make contributions to a specific community of users on our money markets desks around the world. Gissing was able to offer a cost-effective and practical solution to meet our needs."

Nick Braybrooke, product manager for Gissing RealtimeXL said: "Since the release of Gissing RealtimeXL version 3.0 we have been delighted with the positive feedback from those trialling and using the system. We have now made these benefits available to a wider audience, to demonstrate the flexibility and businessness benefits of using the software. At a time when market transparency is paramount and spreads are ever tightening, users see the potential of Gissing RealtimeXL to trigger faster calculations and publish more prices to market, helping them to maximise trading opportunities."

Since its launch in January 2007, there has been significant interest in the improved usability, flexibility and performance of the updated version of the software from both the sell-side and the buy-side. Around 50% of the users that have piloted Gissing RealtimeXL so far have been investment banks with the remaining half split evenly between buy-side institutions and other financial services professionals.

The application enables users to benefit from the flexibility of subscribing to information from all the main market data vendors through a single add-in. Users do not have to rely on multiple, vendor specific interfaces, reducing latency and centralising updates to Excel. "Having a single as opposed to multiple add-ins resulted in a more stable spreadsheet solution," adds Best.

* Terms and conditions apply, these are available for inspection on the website