After six months of consolidating and strategizing following the acquisition of treasury management specialist Trema in 2006, Wall Street Systems has told the financial technology world where it is heading. And the key directions are toward "ASP" and "financial institutions."

Despite speculation that Trema would push the treasury technology leader away from banks and toward non-financial companies, WSS seems to still see its future with a reinforced emphasis on its financial services industry vertical, a strong but short list of products for corporate treasuries outside that vertical, and a push to make all of its products available on an outsourced or ASP-hosted basis by yearend. That includescomplex, high-end systems that historically have always operated as installed software.

In this respect, you cannot accuse WSS of mimicking its biggest rival, SunGard AvantGard, which does not emphasize industry verticals and covers the corporate treasury market with no less than six separate products. WSS, in contrast, will offer two. "Wallstreet Treasury will satisfy the needs of the middle market and many large treasuries, and Wallstreet Suite will satisfy the complex treasuries of large multinationals and companies with strong finance arms," explains Larry Ng, WSS managing director for product development and marketing. "These two products cover the corporate treasury spectrum. Our solutions are deep and scalable."