MaxTrade Case study 
M04_SMIT6319_01_SE_C04.QXD
12/26/07
1:58 AM
Page 51
MINI CASE
IT Leadership at MaxTrade
Richard Fanning surveyed his home office gloomily as he pondered the disaster before him.
He’d just completed a month’s worth of factfinding on the state of IT at his newest client,
MaxTrade, and he was beginning to realize just how deep the company’s IT problems were. As an IT turnaround specialist, Richard was often asked to take on difficult CIO positions on a temporary basis, and he was used to facing management challenges, but MaxTrade (if he took the job, and he wasn’t sure yet if he would) would be the toughest of his career. “How could this have happened?” he asked himself. “Money certainly isn’t the issue.” The company was spending lots . . . but on what? There was no IT plan.
Backup and recovery planning was minimal.
System outages were increasing. The internal auditors’ reports were highly critical of the rapidly escalating operational risks.
MaxTrade is a brokerage firm set up to make extensive use of IT. It was founded by a career entrepreneur who provided the initial inspiration but is no longer involved in daily operations. CEO Bruce Robinson, who holds the next-largest share, developed the company and oversaw its impressive growth. The firm now has six divisions: besides research and analysis, institutional trading, and investment banking, it has other business units that are responsible for different types of trading accounts. Online trading allows clients to make their own trades; discount trading fills buy and sell orders but offers no investment advice; wealth management provides full service. Clients may also view their accounts online without making any trades.
The company is highly profitable; the bottom line is the first consideration in every decision. As Robinson explained to Richard in their first interview, “The one thing that people in this industry are clear about is that they’re all in business to make money.” And short-term thinking is the
12/26/07
1:58 AM
Page 51
MINI CASE
IT Leadership at MaxTrade
Richard Fanning surveyed his home office gloomily as he pondered the disaster before him.
He’d just completed a month’s worth of factfinding on the state of IT at his newest client,
MaxTrade, and he was beginning to realize just how deep the company’s IT problems were. As an IT turnaround specialist, Richard was often asked to take on difficult CIO positions on a temporary basis, and he was used to facing management challenges, but MaxTrade (if he took the job, and he wasn’t sure yet if he would) would be the toughest of his career. “How could this have happened?” he asked himself. “Money certainly isn’t the issue.” The company was spending lots . . . but on what? There was no IT plan.
Backup and recovery planning was minimal.
System outages were increasing. The internal auditors’ reports were highly critical of the rapidly escalating operational risks.
MaxTrade is a brokerage firm set up to make extensive use of IT. It was founded by a career entrepreneur who provided the initial inspiration but is no longer involved in daily operations. CEO Bruce Robinson, who holds the next-largest share, developed the company and oversaw its impressive growth. The firm now has six divisions: besides research and analysis, institutional trading, and investment banking, it has other business units that are responsible for different types of trading accounts. Online trading allows clients to make their own trades; discount trading fills buy and sell orders but offers no investment advice; wealth management provides full service. Clients may also view their accounts online without making any trades.
The company is highly profitable; the bottom line is the first consideration in every decision. As Robinson explained to Richard in their first interview, “The one thing that people in this industry are clear about is that they’re all in business to make money.” And short-term thinking is the