Bloomberg Tackles Remote Implementations in APAC with New Tech

Bloomberg’s investment in technology and the deployment of remote-working collaboration tools have helped it implement and manage projects during the Covid-19 lockdowns, according to the data giant.

The firm has remotely onboarded 10 Asia-Pacific asset management clients to its buy-side order management system (OMS), Bloomberg AIM, in recent months. The new clients include Hong Kong-based Fubon Fund Management HK and Shanxi Securities International Asset Management, Singapore-based Haitong International Securities, Mumbai-based DSP Investment Managers Private, and Brunei-based Bank Islam Brunei Darussalam Berhad. 

Bloomberg has also invested in video conferencing to foster collaboration. The company already has its own communications platform, Nexi, which leverages software from video conferencing service provider Vidyo. But it has now added several more video conferencing platforms in response to Covid-19, as well as to better support clients in the future, Philippa Thompson, head of Bloomberg’s buy-side OMS division for Asia-Pacific, tells WatersTechnology.

“We’ve invested over the years in some very good screen-sharing capabilities. So, when we are troubleshooting or training with users, we can do that very easily over the Bloomberg network through screen sharing. Some of those investments we’ve made through this Covid situation allowed us to stay on track and deliver some of those projects remotely,” Thompson says.

She adds that face-to-face engagement is still the preferred model for customer communication, especially during project implementations. However, there is value in connecting with clients over a video link instead of a telephone. 

“Imagine you’re a portfolio manager—this is quite a big shift in their workflow. We need to invest time in screen configuration, understanding how they work, what does their start of the day look like? What’s important to them? And so being able to establish a relationship, making the user feel comfortable around the new technology and training, that’s going to involve a slightly different skill set, for example, [than with] your weekly project governance meeting that you might have where you’re usually in the room together. But in this instance, everyone is now connected remotely, and you’re trying to address and share information with 10 people, all of whom are in different locations sitting in their living room,” Thompson says.

“I think people have really had to adapt and think about how they share information appropriately, and what level of information needs to be shared to keep people comfortable that this project is moving forward and is on track,” she says.

Under normal circumstances, for its recently onboarded Asia-Pacific clients, Bloomberg would have deployed three or four subject matter experts on site. But the firm has worked closely with those clients to re-evaluate client-owned tasks and set realistic and reasonable expectations for delivery. 

One example is ensuring that technologies on the client side are ready. This includes delving into any dependencies on third-party providers. “Certainly in an order management implementation, there are prime brokers, fund administrators, custodians, or even just work-from-home access [issues that need to be addressed]. However, they’re connecting remotely into their own server network; how is that going to support them? And what are some of those needs during the project?” Thompson says.

“It was about getting all the parties together on the same call to make sure we were all aligned on project delivery. And that probably involved a lot more deliberate communication than it ordinarily would to make sure that those third parties also were in a position to continue to support the project and keep it on track,” she says.