CCH Software Development has announced the release of Online Business Anywhere - Trader, the first offering in its stable of e-business software applications. Developed using the company`s component technology, the Online Business Anywhere (OBA) - Trader is aimed at the share trading community in general - and financial institutions and stockbrokers in particular. It facilitates a wide range of online trading applications, including share, unit trust, warrant and equity trading, portfolio management, and electronic payments.
"E-business is a reality in all walks of commercial life today," says Themi Themistocleous, director of CCH Software Development and head of the application development team that developed OBA Trader at CCH. "Many organisations have embarked on their own online trading initiatives, at great cost, with the added problem of expensive ongoing maintenance and enhancement costs to keep their application in line with newer technology and requirements, and duplicating the efforts of other organisations. OBA Trader has been developed to meet the demand for secure, robust trading in a way that fulfils all regulatory and technology requirements and offers all the features traders need. In effect, OBA Trader provides brokers with a single, customisable portal for all investment information."
OBA Trader has been designed to be scalable, so as to accommodate traders of all size; flexible, so as to accommodate change in technology and business and keep customers competitive; extensible and adaptable, so as to fit specific customers` needs; and rapidly deployable.
In addition, its architecture allows it to accommodate new and emerging technology standards, such as Wireless Access Protocol (WAP). "With WAP, it now becomes possible to conduct all share trading on your cellphone," says Themistocleous. "WAP is realtime and because of the nature of cellular technology, it is ubiquitous. This means using WAP and OBA Trader anybody can review and trade shares and move funds anywhere, at any time."
OBA Trader has been written in Java and developed using the Rational application development frameworks. It runs on Windows NT and Unix and against the Oracle or Microsoft SQL Server databases.
"Java is the standard language of e-commerce and we have the industry`s best skills in this domain," says Themistocleous. CCH Software Development is the only authorised Java centre in South Africa. "Our component approach to application development is a primary factor behind the scalability and flexibility of OBA Trader. It has also made for rapid application development: it took us just six months to develop OBA Trader."
OBA Trader is made up of an application framework running against a database; this connects through a secure Web server to the Internet or to a virtual private network. Once this connection has been established, any Internet-enabled user or device, including PDAs (personal digital assistants) and WAP-enabled cellphones, can begin conducting trade. OBA Trader has five core applications: daily portfolio management, trading, live price display, portfolio history and portfolio manager.
Through a middleware layer it connects to the JSE`s JET and BDA feeds, and the ACB and Swift payment settlement mechanisms. In addition, it provides continuous feedback through mail and SMS (short message service) gateways.
"These services can allow a user to be notified of pre-defined moves in shares, and of the status of trading undertaken on a user`s behalf," adds Themistocleous.
OBA Trader is up and running at its first site and as financial institutions and brokers have displayed strong interest in OBA Trader, Themistocleous expects to announce additional sales soon.
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