Servers, Failover and Scalability
ComplyPlus is available in two versions: desktop and server based.  In the desktop version, the software runs on a single desktop and doesn't require any other hardware.  This version is appropriate when ComplyPlus is used outside of a trading environment.  The server version is used to support large transaction volumes such as brokerage trading or where downtime is unacceptable.

ComplyPlus Server Edition is a combination of four different components.  The first, the ComplyPlus server component runs on a single server or can be installed across hundreds of servers.  If one server goes down, ComplyPlus will continue to run without interruption.  Trading can't stop because of a server failure.  ComplyPlus lets business go on as usual.  You could have trading servers in Tokyo, Chicago and Bermuda with each server processing thousands of rules across hundreds of accounts in split seconds.  That's scalability.  This component can be setup in a variety of configurations to support load-balancing, fail-over, redundancy, data segregation and transaction support.

The second component is a server component as well.  It's the master server which handles transactions across all servers.  It controls transacted updates to the databases and all servers sharing that data.  The server which is the master server is determined dynamically. So, if the master fails, a new server will be automatically chosen as master.  The master server tracks how and where data is stored in the server farm.  It also knows if data is replicated (for speed) across multiple servers, so it handles the job of making sure all servers and databases are kept up to date and in sync.

The third component is a desktop application that provides administration functionality.  When changing a compliance rule used by multiple servers; it makes sure (via the master server) the rule is updated on all those servers.  You as the end-user don't need to know how data is distributed inside your compliance server farm.

The fourth component is workflow. This component is available on a variety of platforms, from thin-client web-based, to thick-client client-server Windows desktop application.  There's even a Pocket PC version so users can do work from home or on the road.

Of course there's a lot more going on behind the scenes such as keep-alive monitoring, integrated security, distributed transactions, remoting, SOAP based web-services, XML and all sorts of other goodies that any first class state-of-art n-tier distributed client-server architecture should have.  And luckily, you don't have to understand it all, because we do!

Tools used to create ComplyPlus
ComplyPlus is written using Microsoft's C# and the Microsoft .NET framework.  The web-components are Microsoft .NET .ASPX based.  Compliance rules are Microsoft Visual Basic .NET based.  The rule builder uses XML and XSLT to generate Microsoft Visual Basic .NET code which is compiled on-the-fly into rule assemblies.  The server components in turn use these assemblies to run their compliance tests. 

Integrated into ComplyPlus is Microsoft Visual Studio for Applications (VSA), Microsoft's successor technology for Visual Basic for Applications (VBA).  VBA is found in Microsoft's office applications such as Word and Excel.  Should IT departments wish to alter the code generated by ComplyPlus, they have the option of either changing the rule builder XSLT or modifying the generated code in the integrated VSA editor. This editor supports syntax coloring, auto-complete, tool tips, and most of the features found in Microsoft's Visual Studio.

During normal use of ComplyPlus, no one ever sees the generated rule code, much like the way the average Microsoft Office user never sees the VBA code those products generate. However, it's useful to know that in any rule, your IT staff can make a call-out to any external third party application, component, or assembly.  In fact, at all major points inside ComplyPlus, events are generated that can be trapped with VSA allowing integration with your environment.  A simple example: when a work item is about to be created, an event is generated.  ComplyPlus' open architecture allows your IT staff to write just a few lines of Visual Basic code in order to send rule result information to your workflow system instead of ours.

Lastly, ComplyPlus defines Interfaces (which are supplied in source code and as an assembly) from which your IT staff can write its own rules in any language they choose.  And, more importantly, they can interface ComplyPlus with your existing systems to create rules normally outside of the scope of everyday compliance.  For example, ComplyPlus does not ship with portfolio attribution rules; however there are many vendors who provide this functionality.  Have your IT staff write a few lines of code to act as glue between your portfolio attribution system and ComplyPlus and you'll have a portfolio attribution library at your fingertips.

Internally, ComplyPlus supports the following database products: Microsoft SQL server, Sybase, Oracle, and IBM's DB2.  For rules, ComplyPlus can connect a variety of data sources such as XML, web-services, Microsoft Access and Excel, text files, ODBC databases, DB2 and even the most proprietary formats.  Input adapters exist for email, MSMQ/MQ Series, flat files, Web Services, Tibco/RV ( 1Q2004) and many others.