Banks look for grid expertise

Investment banks are on the lookout for people with grid computing skills as they increasingly implement software packages to enhance the performance of their derivatives operations.

In the past year, banks such as Toronto Dominion, BNP Paribas and RBS have been using the technology in their derivatives departments. Last September, BNP installed DataSynapse GridServer, one the most popular solutions on the market, in its London derivative operations. The French bank also plans to roll out the technology in its New York and Tokyo offices.

The attraction of grid computing is obvious. It enables banks to divert spare computing capacity from unused desktop machines to support labour intensive, number crunching applications elsewhere. This enables them to bring the more complex products to market in a more timely fashion and to trade larger volumes.

Brett Marsh, a senior consultant in the financial markets division at McGregor Boyall, says, "There has been a significant demand for people with grid or distributed computing skills as an increasing number of banks are utilising grid computing as a way of effectively speeding up the delivery time of complex derivative calculations."

Investment banks tend to recruit people right into their front office derivative or qualitative groups to help implement and tailor packages to their specific requirements. They generally prefer people with strong C++ multithreading/distributed computing skills with 3-4 years experience and solid educational backgrounds. Experienced analyst programmers can expect salaries of 50,000 to 65,000 base with good bonus prospects.