8allocate/Case Study/24/7/365 Technical Support for a Trading Platform

24/7/365 Technical Support for a Trading Platform

Solution:

Technical support services

Business domain:

FinTech

Technology and tools:

Linux, docker, PostgreSQL, AWS, bash, elastic, Python, VMWare, VNC, Jenkins, OpenVPN, Active Directory, Amon

qSpark is a leading provider of ultra low latency trading platforms for high-frequency algorithmic trading. The qSpark’s intellectual products help traders across the world win the best deals no matter what they sell or buy.

Executive Summary

Today, information means everything, especially if received on time or earlier than others. It is especially true for the trading domain, in particular – stock exchanges or trading platforms. And that is where qSpark comes into the game, with their trading algorithms platform that allows no latency in data exchanges during trading deals initiation and closure. 8allocate had an opportunity to make the qSpark platform even more reliable, robust, and fast.

Challenge and Objectives

Due to the extreme importance of 100% availability of operation of qSpark low latency trading algorithms, all bugs and issues that might occur with them must be resolved as soon as possible. At 8allocate, we use not ‘’resolved’’ but a special word for it – “prefixed”.

To make all the problems vanish, qSpark needed to find a reliable technical support partner which people are not only masters of coding but also know the domain and understand how important the timings are.

That was the biggest challenge for the Client that prevented them from meeting the core objectives:

100% availability of the product
100% retention of existing customers
100% successful trading deals
New customers attraction and retention

qSpark challenge - 24/7/365 Technical Support for a Trading Platform

How Product/Service Helped

8allocate joined this project as a Technical Support Partner specifically to help qSpark prefix all the problems that might occur in the operation of their platform. Our dedicated and highly professional team consisting of true professionals – software engineers, quality assurance engineers, managers – did their best to achieve the goals set by the Client.

In the course of our engagement, our team has been fulfilling the following tasks:

24/7 troubleshooting and maintenance of all qSpark’s system endpoints
Processing, analysis, and quality assurance of data arrays exchanged by the qSpark system
Testing and quality assurance of new releases of the system and its components
Co-developing and quality assurance of new features and functions
Direct participation in the bug fixing procedures according to the original pipeline

The timely completion of all tasks and the 8allocate team’s big heart for even the most minor deviations in the source code functioning enabled qSpark to:

Mitigate all the reasonable latency risks, in order to avoid delays in algorithms operation
Ensure 100% automation of all trading algorithms, in order to enable customers to bring in and successfully use their own trading tools
Provide fully dedicated colocation infrastructure to help customers get straight to the exchanges
Reduce the issue response time by a third, in order to prevent customers’ loss of profits
Update and streamline the emergency actions plan, in order to proactively respond to any possible issues
Avoid customers’ complaints and withdrawals; and at the same time
Receive a professional and reliable technical support provider for years ahead

Wrap-Up

8allocate’s Technical Support Team served as a friendly shoulder for qSpark in locating, identifying, and resolving all possible issues in the Client’s software products, and helped the Client to move forward on the way to meeting their business goals.