Financial Information eXchange (FIX) is industry standard protocol for electronic trading. With the advance of electronic trading, most of the exchanges globally are fully electronic and the concept of a trading floor is taken over by computers.
FIX is open and free, but it is not software. Rather, FIX is a specification around which software developers can create commercial or open-source software. As the market’s leading trade-communications protocol, FIX is integral to many order management and trading systems. Yet, its power is unobtrusive, as users of these systems can benefit from FIX without knowing the language itself.
FIX has dominated the market and becomes a standard solution for any market or broker which is trying to develop connectivity with market within a short period of time because of the complexity of exchange APIs and lack of support from exchanges, FIX protocol comes handy.
While FIX specification is open and free, implementing FIX requires planning, software, and network services, as well as other goods and services. For some organisations obtaining and maintaining productive FIX connectivity can be a relatively inexpensive process, measured in a few thousand dollars of start-up expenses and a few hundred dollars of recurring charges.
On Budget and Time is a member of FIX protocol and actively utilizes FIX in ongoing projects for financial institutions and traders around the world.