By Medan Gabbay, Co-CEO, Quod Financial
“Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” – A. Einstein (allegedly)
In most areas of life, we recognize that a variety of tools and approaches are required to solve complex problems, and relying on a single, outdated tool is rarely enough to keep up with our ever-changing environment. Imagine trying to drive across a busy city today using a paper map from 2002 — no real-time traffic updates, no GPS rerouting, no integration with live data. You’d probably get lost, delayed, and frustrated.
Yet, this is exactly how many trading desks operate. They remain chained to a single legacy vendor, relying on core technology built 10 or 20 years ago, hoping that it will somehow adapt to the complexity and speed of modern markets.
In our everyday lives, we expect our technology to be dynamic, connected, and data-driven. So why can’t traders demand the same — a trading ecosystem where data flows freely, workflows are integrated, and infrastructure evolves with the market?
Why Can’t Trading Desks Embrace This Flexibility?
Often, the challenge lies in the foundations. Many firms still rely on legacy systems that were built to support business needs from decades ago — systems that were never designed to evolve at the speed of today’s markets. Over time, to fill the gaps, firms have tacked on third-party solutions to solve specific problems. But this patchwork approach rarely addresses the root issue. Instead, it creates fragmented workflows, operational complexity, and limits a firm’s ability to adapt. The result is that real business agility is pushed even further away.
True agility requires a different approach. It starts with modernising the core infrastructure — building a modular, scalable architecture that can easily integrate third-party tools and enable seamless workflows across the organisation. This isn’t just a technology upgrade; it’s a strategic shift that empowers trading teams to respond faster, innovate more freely, and remain competitive in an increasingly dynamic market.
Architecting for Change
Markets evolve at a relentless pace. Consider Fixed Income ETFs, for example: once a passive investment vehicle, they now actively shape the prices of the very bonds they track, thanks to their liquidity and market presence. The boundaries between asset classes are blurring, and trading desks need the flexibility to respond — whether in equities, crypto, or beyond.
But too often, firms rely on monolithic platforms that attempt to do everything, a “one-stop-shop” OMS — and end up excelling at nothing. Today, success doesn’t come from a single, static solution. It comes from creating an ecosystem based on an architecture that seamlessly integrate bests-in-class tools, enable different trading styles, and allow desks to launch new business lines quickly.
This isn’t just a technology challenge; it’s a mindset shift too. Trading success is no longer defined by order processing alone. It’s about empowering traders to adjust their approach in real time — whether through high-touch consulting, low-touch execution, algos, or other fully automated flows.
Legacy systems were built for stability and repetition. But the market no longer rewards repetition; it rewards agility. To stay ahead, firms need infrastructure that can evolve as quickly as the markets they serve — open, modular, and built for change.
What Flexible Architecture Looks Like
This kind of adaptability requires more than surface-level solutions. It means building a technology foundation designed for flexibility — a micro-services based, open architecture where new capabilities can be added or replaced without disrupting the entire system.
In practice, this involves using APIs and shared data sources so that all tools and workflows operate off a single source of truth. Contemporary vendors, for example, provide a centralized data dictionary or real-time data feeds that can be shared across desks, removing the silos that legacy systems have long created.
The goal isn’t to replace every tool — but to create an environment where the best tools can work together, seamlessly.
As Einstein famously did say, “We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.” So, it looks like the future will belong to those who rethink what’s possible.
