The impact of Coronavirus has arguably presented an unprecedented challenge to customers’ business continuity plans, and trader voice has not been immune.  Market volatility associated with the pandemic presents huge opportunities, but also huge risks for organisations.

The Corona virus pandemic has shown us that staff may need to be able to work anywhere and this poses some unique challenges to traders operating in a highly regulated industry. Wherever traders are working they need to do so seamlessly, securely and compliantly.

While the fundamental need to deliver better insights and efficiently serve more clients has not changed, the way in which traders communicate and collaborate using modern applications and devices has changed significantly, allowing them to generate greater revenue in an increasingly competitive environment.

The communications systems that your traders use need to evolve to reduce your total cost of ownership and to increase your agility in responding to unforeseen situations. They need to meet your internal security requirements and they need to remain compliant.

Standing still is no longer an option. The fallout of inaction could damage both your brand and reputation, result in regulatory fines and in the loss of shareholder confidence.

When we originally launched our ITS platform, it was an innovative solution. But now that it is reaching the end of its service life it has become difficult and expensive to maintain and no longer meets security and compliance needs. Recognising that it no longer meets the needs of a modern trader voice platform capable of delivering what Traders need today and, in the future, BT has invested in the development of the new BT Trading, platform that gives you the flexibility and agility you need.

This scalable software platform includes FlexPro client, available as a soft client or as a physical device that replicates the functionality of a physical turret. At its core the BT Trading platform security, resilience and automated monitoring come as standard.

Following input from our customers during lockdown, we’re accelerating our end of life policy for ITS to help them move quicker to the solution they need.  We’ve updated our EOL policy and the main changes are listed below. 

• Customers on Release 19.8 after 31 March 2022 will receive continued support, though there will be some changes to maintenance pricing and the software support provided.
• Customer on Release 19.0 to Release 19.7 will now be offered a modified SLA to 31 March 2022 and then an end of life SLA up to 31 March 2026.  there will be changes made to maintenance pricing, the support provided and the SLA’s associated with the support. 
• Customer on Releases below 19.0 will be offered a modified SLA to 31 March 2022 but will no longer be supported after 31 March 2022.

Now’s the ideal time to move to BT Trading. 

By moving to BT Trading, you can:

• give your traders the voice technology and collaborative ability to handle more clients with an improved level of insight, driving revenue growth
• unlock opportunities to cut costs and respond more flexibly to changing market conditions — all while staying compliant with financial regulations and your internal security requirements.

In short, with us, you can flex your business as needed to thrive through changing market conditions.

BT has updated the ITS to BT Trading Migration Incentive. Discounts are available for customers that contract with BT on or before 31st March 2022.

Customers who place migration incentive orders will have the annual maintenance waived for sites that are being migrated if they migrate to BT Trading within twelve (12) months.