April 9, 2025 — Buy-side portfolio managers and traders are having trouble keeping up with the rapid transformation of front-office trading technology systems and need to be aware of the differences between solutions and how to best future-proof their businesses. 

A new report from Crisil Coalition Greenwich, OMS benchmarking: providers, market sizing and what’s next, identifies top OMS providers and presents an overview of different systems based on the “DNA” of offerings, client segments, primary geography, product coverage, and other important features buy-side users must consider before investing in a solution.

As professionals at buy-side firms gravitate toward multi-asset class solutions, the management of workflows, including books of record, compliance checks, audit trails, and other downstream capabilities, are changing the look and feel of vendor OMS solutions.

OMS providers are adding capabilities like portfolio modeling tools, compliance and third-party connections. They are also enhancing workflow capabilities such as real-time compliance checks and other supportive capabilities, as well as product or function-specific features like hedging, trading tools and portfolio management functionality.

“OMS solutions are increasingly modular, open and customizable and while the ultimate goal of many buy-side firms is to have a single front-to-back solution, many firms are taking an incremental approach initially,” says Audrey Costabile, Senior Analyst for Coalition Greenwich Market Structure & Technology and author of OMS benchmarking: providers, market sizing and what’s next.

Accelerating Change Ahead
Crisil Coalition Greenwich data suggests the pace of change in this area is unlikely to slow and will accelerate. Systems vendors are investing 20% or more of product revenue in R&D associated with their platforms. While some of this investment targets advanced technologies such as AI/ML, the majority is going to less exciting but more mission-critical system enhancements.

OMS vendors are working to add open APIs, automation and cloud-native offerings to enable version-less updates and faster data crunching and output. Mobile capabilities and web-based apps are also on the horizon. In addition, some vendors are also adding data management capabilities and new analytics like pre-trade TCA and liquidity tools.