Thomson upgrades Datastream service

Thomson Financial has invested significantly in Thomson Datastream's infrastructure with the installation of IBM's leading Z990 mainframe. This has increased capacity by 35%, providing improved client query response times and ensuring that Thomson Datastream is positioned to meet anticipated service levels for the foreseeable future as Thomson targets its services at the data feed requirements of client performance and risk functions.

In addition, users can now access Thomson Datastream via the Internet through the industry standard PPTP (Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol) connectivity without the need for a fixed Internet Protocol (IP) address, at no extra cost. This represents an ideal solution for users wishing to access Thomson Datastream from home via their broadband connections or while traveling.

The remote access is an attractive proposition for smaller clients that are either unable to obtain a fixed IP addresses or do not wish to pay a premium charge for the connectivity, and for clients needing a high level of security.

Thomson Financial has already signed contracts with government organizations in the UK and US using PPTP connectivity as well Nassauische Sparkasse, the German retail banking group.

Thomson Datastream is the world's largest and most respected historical financial numerical database covering an unparalleled breadth of financial instruments, equity and fixed income securities, and indicators for over 175 countries and 60 markets worldwide. Datastream Advance 4.0 seamlessly integrates Datastream's unrivalled financial databases in a single interface on the clients' desktop. It offers sophisticated yet flexible analysis and charting facilities, and a powerful set of add-ins that enable the data and charts to be dynamically retrieved and manipulated within the user's Microsoft Office applications. Datastream Advance 4.0 deploys a centrally based and browser delivered series navigation component that facilitates identification of the correct time series from over 25 million available on the Datastream system.

Thomas Aubrey, Head of Datastream, Research and Economics, Thomson Financial commented: "We are pleased to be able to announce these improvements to Thomson Datastream as part of our ongoing commitment to this market leading solution set. Together with its ongoing integration into the Thomson ONE open application framework, we will be able to target specific markets such as performance and risk management functions, which require timely bulk data feeds for business critical functions and niche investment companies including hedge funds."