An integrated development environment (IDE) included in the solution allows for complete customization and extension of FX Inside Professional.

Users can alter FX Inside Professional and write their own algorithms in standard Microsoft development environments. To have this depth and breadth of features bundled in one easy-to-use solution is a first for the foreign exchange industry.

"The trading and technology infrastructure required to make algorithmic trading work can be daunting. We are making it easy by offering a complete solution set in the form of on demand services. This includes servers, the network, an execution management system, back testing, liquidity and live trading support," said Harpal Sandhu, CEO, Integral Development Corporation. "FX Inside Alpha is designed to lower the barrier of entry to FX algorithmic trading and jumpstart the next round of innovation in this booming segment of the market."

Integral's solutions are delivered On Demand, enabling FX businesses to flexibly enter new markets quickly and scale efficiently without owning and operating any IT infrastructure of their own. A user essentially is renting required resources.

On Demand Services Address All Needs

The principal elements of FX inside Alpha are:

* Recorded data from the same trading system that is offered for back testing and live trading
* A fully functional back testing environment, co-located in Integral's data centers
* A fully functional live trading environment that is supported 24/7, co-located in Integral's data centers
* Multiple hardware configurations options from hands-on (fully supplied, hosted and managed by Integral) to hands-off (users supply their own hardware)
* Multiple software configurations options from all Integral software to a mixed-source deployment
* Access to deep, resilient liquidity streams
* Standard Microsoft development environment pre-integrated with FX Inside as a powerful customization toolset that is easy to use

Users can choose to subscribe to the entire offer or pick what they need to complement what they already have in place. "In signing up with Integral, we quickly gained access to an entire datacenter infrastructure, connections to liquidity providers, a clean data set and a high-quality algorithm development environment," said Vikas Srivastava, CEO, Cogence Capital. "The depth and breadth of these on demand services combined with the implicit cost savings and the gains in terms of time-to-market make this the best solution for FX algo traders."

Multiple Flexible Hardware and Software Options

FX Inside Alpha offers for hardware to be co-located in Integral's data centers and to run in enclosures managed by Integral. A user can choose from a hands-on configuration, a hosted solution that includes the leasing of Integral's managed blade servers; or hands-off, where users provide their own hardware to be placed in Integral's data centers.

Similarly with respect to software, the options range from a configuration built entirely with Integral software solutions to a variety of mixed environments. For the first time, users can write their own programs ('Add-ins') in any Microsoft-compatible programming language such as Visual Basic.NET and C#. These add-ins allow a user to extend the existing functionality and change the behavior of FX Inside to meet one's very specific trading strategy goals. Add-ins consume real-time market updates as and when they are received, or as per specific instructions. One can also create add-ins to use the Object Model to submit orders, consume order and trade notifications, and receive position and P/L updates.