at Financial Technnology Year
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Features in Alternative Data Processing
for Data Management
Specialized systems for acquiring, cleaning, normalizing, and analyzing non-traditional data sources such as satellite imagery, web scraping, sentiment analysis, and other alternative datasets.
We ask vendors to mark their product against our feature list. It is not available for all products and in some cases we have derived data from publicly available sources. The list of features follows. Vendors can add a further 10 key features of their own.
Analytics & Insights
Systems for extracting actionable insights, predictive signals, or other analytics from processed alternative data.
- Backtesting Frameworks
- Ability to test investment strategies on historical alternative data.
- Customizable Dashboards
- Interactive dashboards for visualizing key metrics from alternative data.
- Event Detection Algorithms
- Automated identification of significant new events within alternative data feeds.
- Exploratory Data Analysis Tools
- Built-in visual and statistical analysis tools for alternative datasets.
- Multivariate Analysis Support
- Ability to analyze complex interdependencies between variables.
- Natural Language Processing Capabilities
- Built-in NLP tools for analyzing text-heavy alternative datasets.
- Predictive Model Integration
- Ability to build, deploy, and run predictive models on alternative data.
- Signal Latency
- Average time between data update and signal generation.
- Statistical Alert Triggers
- Set alerts when indicators from alternative data cross statistical thresholds.
- Visualization Export Options
- Export visualizations and charts in various formats (PDF, PNG, etc.).
Data Acquisition
Features focused on sourcing and collecting alternative datasets from various structured and unstructured data sources.
- API Integrations
- Availability of pre-built connectors to popular alternative data providers and APIs.
- Automated Data Ingestion
- Support for automated pipelines that regularly fetch and update alternative datasets.
- Data Licensing Management
- In-built tools to track and manage data usage rights and compliance for purchased datasets.
- Data Volume Limits
- Maximum volume of data that can be ingested in a defined period.
- Flexible File Formats
- Support for a broad set of data formats (CSV, JSON, XML, images, video, etc.).
- Geospatial Coverage
- Coverage for geospatial data collection across multiple global regions.
- Historical Data Access
- Ability to access and extract historical alternative data records.
- Real-time Acquisition
- Capability to collect and import data with minimal latency.
- Source Diversity
- Ability to acquire data from a wide range of non-traditional sources (e.g., satellite, social media, web scraping).
- User Access Controls on Data Sources
- Granular permissions to restrict which users can set up/acquire which type of sources.
Data Cleaning
Capabilities to ensure alternative datasets are complete, deduplicated, error-free, and ready for downstream analysis.
- Anomaly Alerts
- Automated notifications when significant data anomalies are detected.
- Automated Outlier Detection
- System automatically flags and corrects extreme or inconsistent values.
- Automated Quality Checks
- Regular, scheduled quality control routines to ensure cleaned data conforms to standards.
- Custom Data Cleaning Rules
- Ability to define and apply user-specified data validation and cleaning logic.
- Data Consistency Validation
- Checks to ensure data conforms to expected formats and relationships.
- Deduplication
- Elimination of duplicate or redundant data entries within or across sources.
- Error Logging and Reporting
- Detailed audit trails and error logs for each cleaning operation.
- Missing Value Imputation
- Ability to identify and fill in missing data using statistical algorithms.
- Scalability
- Capacity to handle cleaning tasks for large volumes of data.
- Version Control for Cleaned Data
- Tracking changes and access to previous versions of cleaned datasets.
Data Enrichment
Enhancement of alternative data with additional context or derived features for more valuable analysis.
- Audit Trails for Enrichment Processes
- Detailed logs of all enrichment actions taken.
- Derived Feature Generation
- Support for constructing custom indicators based on primary alternative data.
- Entity Resolution
- Automatically match and merge records referencing the same real-world entity.
- Event Tagging
- Automatic detection and labeling of significant economic, social, or physical events within the data.
- External Reference Data Access
- API or links to regulatory, financial, or public reference datasets.
- Geospatial Tagging
- Append latitude/longitude and geotags to alternative datasets for use in spatial analysis.
- Industry Classification Mapping
- Ability to map entities to industry standards (e.g., GICS, NAICS).
- Machine Learning-based Scoring
- Automated scoring of entities using trained machine learning models.
- Sentiment Analysis Integration
- Auto-generation of sentiment scores from textual/voice/image data.
- Third-Party Data Joins
- Capability to enrich alternative data by merging with third-party or proprietary datasets.
Data Normalization
Transformation of disparate alternative data sets into standardized, comparable formats.
- Batch Processing Support
- Capacity to normalize large batches of alternative data files.
- Cross-Source Consistency Checking
- Automated validation that normalized fields match across data providers.
- Custom Data Transformations
- Support for user-defined scripts and rules for bespoke normalization.
- Data Linking Across Sources
- Ability to join and merge related records from different alternative datasets.
- Metadata Management
- Tools for managing standardized metadata about normalized data.
- Normalization Performance
- Number of records normalized per minute.
- Ontology Management
- Tools to maintain and apply taxonomy/ontology for alternative datasets.
- Schema Mapping Tools
- GUI or code-based tools to map source fields to internal data schemas.
- Time Alignment
- Adjustment of data timestamps across sources to a common standard.
- Unit Standardization
- Automated conversion of data into consistent units (e.g., metric, currency).
Integration & Interoperability
How well the product connects with existing fund management, trading, research, or risk systems.
- BI Tool Integration
- Built-in adapters for business intelligence/data visualization platforms.
- Batch Data Download Scheduling
- Automate the extraction of new data in regular intervals.
- Cloud Storage Integrations
- Support for uploading or syncing data with major cloud providers (AWS, GCP, Azure).
- Custom API Support
- Provision of a customizable API for bespoke use cases.
- Custom Field Mapping
- Easily map alternative data fields to the internal structures of downstream systems.
- Data Lineage Visualization
- Visual trace of data flow and transformations for downstream users.
- Pre-built Connectors to OMS/PMS
- Out-of-the-box integration with order and portfolio management systems.
- Python/R SDKs
- Official software libraries for interacting with the system programmatically.
- Standardized Data Export
- Ability to export alternative data in standard formats (e.g., FIX, CSV, Parquet, JSON).
- Webhooks and Event Streaming
- Push updates and events to downstream systems via webhooks.
Monitoring & Operations
Capabilities for operational oversight, troubleshooting, and ensuring reliability of alternative data processing.
- API Latency Monitoring
- Tracks response times of API endpoints.
- Automated Failure Recovery
- Automatic restart or rerouting in case of pipeline errors.
- Capacity Planning Tools
- Forecast future system demands using historical trends.
- Data Pipeline Health Monitoring
- Real-time status views and alerts for all active data flows.
- Job Scheduling and Queuing
- Manage concurrent tasks and prioritize urgent processes.
- Manual Job Restart/Intervention
- Allow operators to manually intervene in processing jobs.
- Operational Audit Logs
- Detailed records of all operational activities and interventions.
- Real-time Error Notifications
- Immediate alerts to relevant teams upon failures.
- Resource Usage Analytics
- Metrics and trends on compute, memory, and storage usage.
- System Uptime SLA
- Percentage of time the system is contractually guaranteed to be available.
Scalability & Performance
Characteristics ensuring the solution can efficiently process very large alternative datasets.
- Batch and Real-Time Processing Modes
- Support for both scheduled/batch and continuous real-time data pipelines.
- Data Archival
- Automated, cost-effective archiving of old alternative datasets.
- Disaster Recovery/Rollback
- Systems for rapid restore from backup or rollback points.
- Elastic Compute Integration
- Integration with cloud resources to scale up/down compute usage.
- Load Balancing
- Automatic distribution of processing workloads for optimal utilization.
- Maximum Supported Data Volume
- The largest single dataset size supported for import and processing.
- Parallel Processing Capability
- Ability to process multiple data streams or files concurrently.
- Processing Error Handling
- Automated management of processing failures and retries.
- Processing Throughput
- Speed of data throughput during processing operations.
- Scalable Storage Support
- Expandable data storage to accommodate increasing data volumes.
Security & Compliance
Functionalities for protecting sensitive data, ensuring regulatory compliance, and maintaining auditability.
- Audit Logging
- Immutable logs of user activity and data changes.
- Automated Regulatory Reporting
- Automated generation of reports required by financial regulators.
- Data Encryption at Rest
- Encryption of alternative data stored in all databases and filesystems.
- Data Encryption in Transit
- Encryption for alternative data while in transit between systems.
- Data Masking/Tokenization
- Obfuscation of sensitive fields to protect personal information.
- GDPR Compliance Tools
- Support for compliance with EU GDPR and related privacy regulations.
- Integrated Consent Management
- Tools to track legal consents for data use across sources.
- Role-Based Access Control
- Fine-grained permission management for users and groups.
- User Authentication Protocols
- Supports modern authentication standards (e.g., SSO, MFA).
- Vendor Due Diligence
- Framework to vet and approve external data providers for compliance.
Support & Vendor Services
Services and assistance provided by the software vendor to facilitate adoption and ongoing success.
- 24/7 Technical Support
- Technical helpdesk is available around the clock.
- Custom Feature Development
- Vendor is willing to build bespoke features upon request.
- Dedicated Account Management
- Assigned representative familiar with your implementation and needs.
- Implementation Services
- Availability of vendor-led onboarding and integration projects.
- Knowledge Base and Training Materials
- Comprehensive documentation and self-paced training content.
- Onsite Training
- Vendor offers onsite workshops or training as part of onboarding.
- Regular Product Updates
- Scheduled enhancement releases and security patching.
- Service Level Agreement (SLA) Terms
- Contractually specified guarantees on support response and issue resolution times.
- Third-Party Certification Support
- Vendor compliance with recognized security, privacy, or quality standards.
- User Community and Forums
- Active user groups and forums for community support.
Usability & User Experience
User interface design and features that make the system easy and intuitive to use.
- API Documentation Quality Score
- A rating or score for the completeness and usability of the provided API docs.
- Accessibility Compliance
- Follows accessibility standards for inclusive UI design.
- Customizable User Dashboards
- Users can assemble dashboards tailored to their needs.
- Global Search
- Search across datasets, metadata, and processing logs.
- In-Platform Documentation & Help
- Contextual help and API documentation available within the system.
- Language Localization
- Support for multiple languages in the UI.
- Personalized Notifications
- Users receive alerts for errors or data arrivals relevant to them.
- Point-and-Click Data Pipeline Design
- Visual editors for creating data processing and transformation workflows.
- Process Monitoring UI
- Graphical overview of all ongoing and completed processes.
- Self-Service Data Discovery
- Non-technical users can search and preview available alternative datasets.