What we do · Operating-model design
The people-and-process layer.
Designed once, stood up, documented.
Who does the work, in what sequence, with which decision rights, on which system. Roles, responsibilities, escalation paths, and the systems of record that back each decision. The org and its plumbing, designed for the firm as it is, not the brochure.
The ownership problem
Why the function drifts.
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Nobody owns it
Market data is a Top 4 firm-wide expense at most institutional firms, and at most of them it has no dedicated leadership. The work lands on IT, operations, procurement, or trading, and each holds part of it.
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Grown, not designed
The function accreted around vendors, mergers, and people who have since left. Processes exist because someone once did them, not because anyone decided they should.
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Decisions without rights
Who can approve a new feed, retire a seat, sign a renewal, or answer an auditor is rarely written down. Decisions get made by whoever is asked, and unmade the same way.
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Three continents, three functions
After a merger or across regions, the same work is done three different ways on three different systems. The vendor sees one firm; the firm sees three inventories.
The methodology
Four steps from current state to stood up.
- 01
Current-state map
How the work is actually done today, by whom, on what, across procurement, operations, compliance, and risk.
- Function mapping across every team that touches market data
- Systems of record identified, and where they disagree
- Decision points and who actually makes them
- Pain points ranked by cost and audit exposure
- 02
Target operating model
The function as it should run: roles, responsibilities, decision rights, escalation paths, and the systems each decision is made on.
- Roles defined with named accountability
- Decision-rights matrix across procurement, operations, compliance, and finance
- Escalation paths for renewals, audits, and remediation events
- Tool and system selection where the current stack cannot carry the model
- 03
Transition plan
The path from current to target, phased so trading and investment workflow are never interrupted.
- Phased roadmap with owners and dates
- Stakeholder communication and change management
- Quick wins sequenced ahead of structural change
- Interim controls while the model is stood up
- 04
Stand-up and handover
The model running, documented, and owned by the firm. The Paraxis role ends when the function no longer needs it.
- Process documentation the team can execute against
- Reporting cadence for the market data committee
- Handover to the governance framework
- Post-stand-up review after the first renewal cycle
What the work produces
A function with an owner.
- End-to-end
Designed, documented, stood up
Operating models delivered across buy-side and sell-side firms, single-office and multi-region.
- Named
Accountability
Every recurring decision has an owner, a right, and an escalation path.
- One
Way of working
After a merger or across regions: one inventory, one process, one set of decision rights.
- Survives
Staff turnover
The model is documented so it outlives the people who stood it up.
Who we work with
Three situations that call for a redesign.
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Post-merger and post-acquisition firms
Two market data functions that need to become one, with overlapping vendor stacks and inconsistent entitlements.
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Multi-region investment banks and asset managers
Functions that grew organically across offices and now need one operating model that satisfies business, technology, and regulatory demand.
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Firms standing up a function for the first time
Private equity, family offices, and new verticals that need a market data function sized for the work.
Questions we get asked
Six questions, answered before the org chart changes.
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What is a market data operating model?
The defined set of roles, processes, decision rights, escalation paths, and systems of record through which a firm procures, entitles, governs, and pays for market data. It is the people-and-process layer; the governance framework is the rules layer that sits above it.
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How is this different from a governance framework?
The operating model is who does what, on which system, in what order. The governance framework is the policies, controls, and committee structure the operating model executes against. Most firms need both; they are designed together and documented separately.
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Will this add headcount?
Not necessarily. Most firms already have the people; what is missing is defined ownership and decision rights. Where the model does need a role that does not exist, we say so and size it for the work.
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How long does an operating-model engagement take?
The current-state map and target model are typically a matter of weeks; the transition depends on how much structural change is involved and is phased around the renewal calendar. A post-merger integration is the longest form of the work.
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Does the model cover AI and machine consumers?
Yes. Entitlement, approval, and audit-response processes are extended to applications, models, and agent tools that consume market data, because vendors now audit for them and most existing processes were written for people.
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What do we get at the end?
A documented target operating model with roles, decision rights, and escalation paths; the systems of record named for each decision; a transition plan with owners and dates; and a reporting cadence for the market data committee.