We Help The Industry Connect
APIs are the fabric of modern financial services. Whether you talk FIX to brokers, use SWIFT to connect to clearinghouses, or send market data over ITCH, APIs make it possible.
No matter which protocol you use, we've all have the same headaches when integrating and maintaining them over time. The more APIs you have, the more bespoke logic you have, and the harder it becomes to manage your problems.
FixSpec is built on new ideas for our industry to manage integrations better. We can help you reduce pain and delays on both sides of the interface, letting you get back to building your business.
Solutions for the Sell Side
Managing the API landscape in a sell side firm can be hard work. Customer orders and market data feed into a myriad of internal systems, and these connect to other firms, trading venues and post-trade processes.
While FIX is generally the protocol of choice for trading, each interface has its own quirks and limitations. These challenges add up so quickly that we often meet teams who spend all day simply keeping the lights on.
But it doesn’t have to be like this. We can show you how to improve internal efficiency and reduce risk while improving the relationships you have with your customers.
Step 1 involves bringing the API documents you have scattered across regions, asset classes and services into a single platform. Once you’ve done this, you'll see the world more clearly and – thanks to improved quality – you’ll spend less time on support.
Step 2 focuses on putting the platform to work, removing manual tasks such as certifying connections. Customer customisation can be captured too, with machine-readable exports to give to vendors or use for internal testing.
Solutions for the Trading Venues
Managing the ongoing release cycle of an active trading venue often means juggling a great many things at the same time.
Each functional release comes with a set of API changes that need to be communicated and delivered in time for launch. You've got to get in the development queue of key vendors and members, make sure they deliver on time, and certify new functionality before launch.
When your exchange was small, perhaps you could manage this manually. But the bigger you grow, or the faster you innovate, the more you'll need automated, repeatable systems and processes.
This isn’t about defining a complex technical format, but about building easy-to-use tools that make it simple to make share and view your specification.
By improving the way API change is presented to your customers and automating how you certify it, FixSpec can help put routine upgrades on auto-pilot and allow you to spend more time working on your next big idea.
Solutions for Start-Ups
We love start-ups. You’ve got an awesome product, great tech and bundles of enthusiasm. You’re focused on using what works and discarding what doesn’t and you’re determined to get the fundamentals right today so you can attract customers and scale faster tomorrow.
Kick-starting the engine of growth means onboarding customers and vendors quickly. This requires solid API documentation and simplified, scalable onboarding – but without an inflated price tag.
Some of our most exciting partnerships are with pre-launch and early-stage start-ups. We take the time to learn about your business, your team and where you want to go, and we give you honest feedback and ideas on how to get there.
Since our team has experience in all aspects of APIs and market structure, we’re well-positioned to offer not only guidance and advice, but also to deliver technical solutions quickly.
We understand the importance of variable pricing and rapid, low-cost delivery, which is why we offer hosted solutions designed with start-ups in mind, alongside niche professional services that will set you up for success.
Solutions for Software Vendors
Software vendors solve a real problem for their customers, replacing the detail and complexity of many APIs with a simplified package or view.
But managing those APIs is now the responsibility of the vendor, who must prioritise and normalise a growing list. A common approach is to map an internal, normalised API out to each destination, but understanding the customer impact of a given API change can become a headache.
FixSpec's founders met while working together at a software vendor, dealing with exactly these problems. We understand the need to provide wide-market access balanced against the need for internal efficiency. This is why we work to help software vendors manage and grow their API libraries more efficiently by changing the way APIs are presented, managed and certified.