#doFIXdifferently

In this week’s #doFIXdifferently, Chris Lees talks about process and why it’s so important to invest in your process ahead of time, even if you don’t have many new customers coming on board. How do you use the downtime to build for the future and make it easier for yourself?

Here at FixSpec we think of API documentation as a “contract” between two parties. It describes available messages, fields, and enumerations and workflows. It tells readers that if they send X in, they can expect Y in return. Customer-specific specs take this a step further by removing anything that a specific customer doesn’t use, and extends the documentation to capture bespoke customisations and transformations. This has a number of benefits to both the sender and receiver.

In this week’s #doFIXdifferently, we take a look at how firms currently use log files, and how they can be a gold mine of information about your API and your customers. Today logs are everywhere and easily accessible, and if you have a question about how your API is behaving, then logs are often the first port of call. Some firms are using tools like Elastic Search of Splunk to manage and understand logs. But what do you actually do with them?

Chris Lees explores what a more automated vision of a FIX pipeline might look like. A rapidly-emerging trend in software deployment is the idea of continuous integration and deployment. Done correctly, it can dramatically accelerate your software lifecycle without compromising testing. In this episode, Chris walks through how continual integration/deployment might apply to the #FIXProtocol world. And identify machine-readable documentation as THE critical lynchpin to making it work.

In this mini-series as part of #doFIXdifferently​, Chris Lees introduces FIX log parsers; what they are, how they can help you and your team, and takes a look at some examples of parsers currently available.

What does your FIX team look like in 2021? It’s safe to say that our working environments have changed somewhat since this time last year. But how have teams had to adapt to the current status quo, and how can FIX teams remain united when working remotely? In this episode of #doFIXdifferently, Chris Lees shares his top tips for managing a FIX connectivity team in a fragmented world.

Why are more firms merging their production support and FIX onboarding functions? What are the advantages of re-using niche skills and tools? We explore the reasons why this is happening and argue the importance of giving production support better tooling, to allow them to handle more first-line FIX support which – in turn – can free up your FIX onboarders to bring on more customers faster.