New York Ð Dow Jones Telerate, one of the leading information providers to the financial-services industry, signed deals in October with NeXT and an unnamed third-party developer to begin a NEXTSTEP pilot project to develop news-feed software.
The move was fueled by Dow Jones's interest in Hewlett-Packard technology and represents "the first Object·Enterprise success story," one source said. The companies in June signed contracts for HP servers, workstations, and infrastructure improvement reportedly worth $80 million.
The NEXTSTEP deal reportedly calls for a 50-seat development project that could expand to 500 users next year. Dow Jones has over 100,000 customers worldwide. In the initial phase, the third-party developer will build a prototype risk-analysis product that takes feeds and performs analyses, which are always different for each customer, a source explained.
"I think Dow Jones will try to organize global development teams. They will be one of the first companies to do distributed development, and if they have a common spec and an object repository, they should be able to put together solutions for clients in different locations," a source said.
The ultimate goal of the plan is a suite of applications that will make it easier for users to download and use Dow Jones Telerate data feeds, which include everything from stock and futures quotes to on-line copies of the Wall Street Journal.
"Dow Jones wants to add value for its clients. They're in the data business. What they're doing is giving away cameras to sell the film," another source said. Software developed under the project will be designed to increase demand for the company's data feeds.
"The time value of information is enormous. Professional money managers have millions riding on information, and they're willing to pay for services and information. You'll be seeing more subscription pricing for software," another source explained.