ear, Stearns & Co. a
nd Discover Brokerage Direct are rolling out Java-based applications to support key business processes. The two projects, disclosed at last week's Securities Industry Association conference in New York, underscore a trend on Wall Street toward moving trading activities and investment services to the Internet.
Bear Stearns has created browser-delivered applications to be used by its 450 correspondent broker-dealer firms. The New York securities firm started planning a move away from its "green screen" environment to client-server about 2-1/2 years ago, when "hot technology meant terminal emulation," says Bennett Egeth, a managing director for the firm's operations. But 10 months ago, as the client-server project began delivering applications using Powersoft's PowerBuilder, Bear Stearns switched gears to create a "Web shell" for its trading applications, Egeth says.
A browser-based framework was created to display icons for two applications developed in PowerBuilder, including the firm's retail broker w
orkstation, and 14 developed with Java, including an end-client toolkit. The end-client toolkit, accessed via a browser over Bear Stearns' private network using digital certificates, lets the broker-dealers' retail clients view their accounts, enter orders, and export data into spreadsheets on their desktops.
Bear Stearns plans to complete its suite of browser-delivered applications this summer for rollout this fall. A few broker-dealer firms are already working with early versions.
The support and management simplicity of a Web-based architecture make a lot of sense for correspondent trading firms that are supplied with most of their IT needs by larger firms such as Bear Stearns, says Jeffrey Nickerson, director of Coopers & Lybrand's national Internet practice. All those firms would need, he says, is a browser and a
high-bandwidth network. Bear Stearns will support both Netscape Navigator and Microsoft Internet Explorer browsers-and it's also providing a secure network, Egeth says.
Meanwhile, D
iscover Brokerage Direct, formerly Lombard Brokerage Inc., demonstrated a Web-based service at the Securities Industry Association conference. Based on Java components, the service looks up balances, evaluates portfolios, and performs analytics. The service will be made available to the 40 million Discover card holders by the fall, creating a single point of contact on the Net for investing and bill payment, says Discover Brokerage chief technology officer John MacIlwaine.
According to a survey by the Tower Group and the SIA, securities firms spend 3% of their IT budgets on Internet projects-but that spending is projected to rise to 17% by 2000. The securities industry's collective IT budget is forecast to grow to $14 billion by 2000 from $11.5 billion last year.
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ear, Stearns & Co. a
nd Discover Brokerage Direct are rolling out Java-based applications to support key business processes. The two projects, disclosed at last week's Securities Industry Association conference in New York, underscore a trend on Wall Street toward moving trading activities and investment services to the Internet.
