Zing Meets Cheetah - The Low Latency Solution by Azul Systems and Rapid Addition

Azul Systems has partnered with Rapid Addition to enhance its elastic Java Virtual Machines (JVMs) to offer financial services firms low latency and jitter-free Java trading engines. The alliance comes on the back of client demand for increased transaction rates and consistent response times.

Both technology providers operate to optimize banks and brokers trading experience, they remove jitter and garbage that affect trade Execution . Azul’s JVM will collaborate with Rapid Addition’s Cheetah FIX engine; results have shown that the combination of Zing and Cheetah had a significant reduction in latency and an increase in performance.

Kevin Houstoun, Chairman at Rapid Addition, spoke about the advantages the partnership entails in a statement to the media, saying: “Azul Systems has demonstrated the strength of Zing though extensive testing and we believe this high-caliber product provides a perfectly complementary set of capabilities for organizations using RA-Cheetah.”

The rapid price movements of financial instruments have highlighted the role of speed. In 2010’s unforgettable flash crash, the markets dropped over 600 points in a 5 minute period. Access to reliable low latency trading solutions is paramount for firms on both sides of the spectrum whether they are buy-side firms looking for trade opportunities or sell-side firms providing price discovery and Liquidity .

“Both latency and jitter are significant and expensive obstacles in today’s trading environments. The combination of Zing and RA-Cheetah offers a pioneering solution that will give clients better predictability, control, and performance” adds Scott Sellers, Azul Systems CEO in the company's statement.

Both Rapid Addition and Azul Systems have been providing solutions to brokers and exchanges in the margin FX business. Saxo Bank, one of the world’s leading multi-asset brokerage firms was using the Cheetah FIX engine to enhance its performance (March 2012). London based LMAX Exchange announced in April 2013, that it was using Azul’s Zing to strengthen its technological base and seamlessly manage increasing transaction volumes. Zing eliminates operational interruptions, response time outliers and the scalability limits of Java-based trading.

In the technology arms race, firms need to ensure that their systems and solutions are in line with new developments that are affecting the industry to remain competitive.