Today's news that the London Stock Exchange has decided to replace Tradelect with MillenniumIT probably comes as no surprise. However the decision to actually buy the whole company (for a reported £18m) was unexpected - by me anyway. From a business and a governance perspective this appears to be a good decision. As the LSE CEO states 'this transaction enables the group to implement a new, more agile, innovative and efficient IT capability for our future business needs.....'. LSE is now in a position to determine the future strategy for its key IT platform enabling direct alignment with any future business needs without having to rely on external outsourcing partners or suppliers.
It is interesting also that all announcements on the trading platform change have come from the Chief Executive and not from IT leadership. This again reflects the business centric focus of the selection process and the almost certain direct Board involvement in this key business decision. It looks like a good financial decision as well. Tradelect took four years and £40 million to design, build and implement. Whilst significant costs are still to come, the £18 million paid for the company looks like a sound investment - with the possibility of further sales (outside Europe) of the software being a potential additional revenue generator for the future. The value to risk ratio looks heavily in favour of value. Today is a good day for the business governance of IT.
It is interesting also that all announcements on the trading platform change have come from the Chief Executive and not from IT leadership. This again reflects the business centric focus of the selection process and the almost certain direct Board involvement in this key business decision. It looks like a good financial decision as well. Tradelect took four years and £40 million to design, build and implement. Whilst significant costs are still to come, the £18 million paid for the company looks like a sound investment - with the possibility of further sales (outside Europe) of the software being a potential additional revenue generator for the future. The value to risk ratio looks heavily in favour of value. Today is a good day for the business governance of IT.
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