Fixed income workflow demo

io.Connect Desktop
1

When explaining io.Connect, we often start with the platform: Channels, Intents, Interop methods, Workspaces, adapters, FDC3. They provide different capabilities and ways to set up integrations and are well covered in io.Connect Desktop Documentation - What Is io.Connect Desktop? > General Overview and io.Connect Desktop: Introduction

For a developer or PM it’s easy to set up the platform (Free Trial or licensed), connect a couple of apps, set up SSO or rebrand it completely. But you may feel lost to the question, why users need all the different data sharing options - App-to-App Communication in io.Connect: Practical Guidance

Traders don’t simply get a price tag and click Buy. Instead they may receive an order in an internal OMS, check liquidity and axes in another application, look up the instrument and live quotes in Bloomberg or Overbond, speak to a dealer in Symphony, route or book the trade through Fidessa or another OEMS, and then monitor its execution somewhere else. Based on context, additional actions and tools are invoked. Each application holds a piece - instrument, order, side, size, price, dealer, conversation and execution status. Often several orders are handled at once, under time pressure, with strict audit and regulatory requirements.

The video shows a sample buy-side fixed-income order from the moment it reaches the trader to the moment the execution appears in the blotter.

Workflow steps

  1. View Order takes the trader from a notification to the correct order.

    Actionable Notifications, commonly using an Interop action to launch or focus the app and pass the order ID. Without integration, an alert tells the user that something happened and leaves them to find the correct app, open it, search for the order. Here, the notification becomes the first step in the workflow.

  2. The ISIN synchronizes the axes and Bloomberg views on a colour Channel.

    User-controlled Channels, ideally carrying an FDC3 instrument context. The Bloomberg Adapter can map Bloomberg Groups to io.Connect Channels.

  3. View Quotes updates the quote and smart-order-routing views.

    An io.Connect/FDC3 Intent is a possible workflow handoff. Channel context is another possibility if the views are already linked.

  4. The trader compares dealers and execution options.

    Context sharing is combined with application-specific quote and routing logic. Live prices may use Interop Streams.

  5. A dealer chat opens with the selected quote in context.

    An Intent or Interop method may pass the dealer, instrument and quote context to the chat integration.

  6. The deal message opens a pre-populated trade ticket.

    An Intent can launch or activate a handler with context. An Interop method may suit a known, running target.

  7. The trader sends the reviewed ticket to the OEMS.

    Application-specific order logic uses an Interop handoff to the execution service.

  8. The order status and execution blotter update.

    This may use Interop Streams, Shared Contexts or backend events bridged into the desktop.

How this differs from an all-in-one monolith program

io.Connect is the connective layer between the applications. It helps each application remain focused on what it does best while still participating in the wider workflow.

The order blotter remains an order blotter. Bloomberg and the other market tools continue to provide market information. Symphony handles the conversation. The OEMS handles the order and execution lifecycle. io.Connect helps the user move between those capabilities with the right data and the right next action. This is why io.Connect provides different data-sharing options: sometimes applications need to follow the same instrument, sometimes one application needs to ask another to perform an action, sometimes a direct service call is required, and sometimes the desktop needs a continuous stream of updates.

You do not have to replace every existing application or rebuild the whole desktop as one large system before improving the workflow. Modern, legacy, in-house, and third-party applications can be connected incrementally.

Where does FDC3 fit?

The workflow is a good example of why FDC3 exists. A common instrument context gives financial applications a shared way to describe what the user is looking at. Channels distribute that context, while Intents describe what the user wants to do next. FDC3 provides the standard while io.Connect is the platform offering all capabilities: Interop, application and window management, notifications, layouts, Workspaces, and adapters.

If you are new to FDC3, start with FDC3 support in io.Connect Desktop.

Related articles:

Interop use cases for beginners
io.Connect Notifications