Losing legacy systems

Competitive and legislative pressures are prompting investment banks to rip out any remaining legacy IT systems. There are plenty of jobs as a result.

"From the recruitment perspective, we've been seeing opportunities in many more greenfield projects over the last few years and that's down to replacement of legacy systems," says Richard Grant, senior client manager in the investment banking division of IT recruitment firm JM People.

Ripping out legacy systems is feeding demand for staff. Someone with two years' experience on a graduate scheme in an investment bank can expect to earn north of 50k, according to recruiters. Experienced project managers with demonstrable delivery skills backed up by the people skills to negotiate with clients are also highly sought after to manage these projects.

"A lot of people claim to be project managers, but we are looking to see individuals that have proven project delivery. We want to see people who can say: 'I've delivered a project, managed a 1.5m budget, led a team of four to 10 people'. They need to be able to talk about a genuine project management process," says Grant.

Such experienced project managers can expect salaries of 75k to 80k - or higher than 90k for exceptional candidates.

MiFID, competitive peer pressure and market stability are all behind this surge of investment. "In many cases, systems put in place in maybe in the early 2000s can't handle the complexity of products," adds Nii Barnor, a senior analyst at market analyst firm Datamonitor. Firms are looking to replace these systems with solutions that can easily be adapted as new regulations come in.

Paul Thoma, managing director at investment banking IT search firm Garthorne Associates, says relying on legacy systems can hold firms back. But he points out that just because a system has been around a long time doesn't mean it's obsolete. JPMorgan's long established Pyramid trading system, for example, is still alive and well.