For large firms, this situation is creating a huge amount of administrative and licencing information to keep on top of, forcing firms to dedicate substantial resource to the task of validating and processing contracts and invoices. Smaller firms, meanwhile, often don’t have the resource or the internal expertise to deal with this complexity and volume. So what is the way forward?
Firms need to be able to:
- Take stock of their current data subscriptions and licensing agreements
- They need to ensure that only those personnel entitled to receive content and
data under these agreements are actually permissioned to access them - They need to be sure the invoices they receive from their suppliers accurately reflect
the latest iterations of their data licenses - And they need to ensure they can identify, categorize, account for and declare data
usage accurately to ensure compliance with licensing agreements and policies - In addition, there is the need to check actual usage against what’s allowed under
the current data license - Data administrators need to check their current invoices with their inventory of
contracts and licenses to identify possible changes and exceptions - They also need to ensure any credits they have earned have been applied to their
most recent invoices, and otherwise verify that they are accurate and up to date
Improve efficiency and vendor compliance
A managed services approach can help firms stay on top of their vendor relationships and adopt a more strategic approach to information services procurement. TRG Screen Managed Services can handle the complete workflow for clients seeking help with their subscriptions data invoicing, administration, management, reporting and strategy, including
- Taking over ownership of cost and license inventory management in the FITS and INFOmatch inventory platforms
- Overseeing the inflow of invoices and reconciles them against current inventory after which a normalized export is sent to the client’s accounting system in order to complete payments and update administration
- Declaring market data usage to vendors and exchanges
- And more..
These processes take care of a huge burden for firms that need to monitor vast amounts of data in order to stay on top of their current situation. Similarly, outsourcing for better expertise takes the pressure of smaller firms. This translates into cost savings derived from netting of services and identifying redundant or unused services.
Learn more about the challenges and pain points facing data managers and how TRG Screen's Managed Services can help in our free whitepaper, "Market Data Invoice and Inventory Managed Services".
