The Enterprise Console is a centralized interface that gives in-house technology and operations teams visibility into every connected system — including Bloomberg, proprietary and third-party offerings. Users can configure new processes, modify and enrich them with data, and track the health of highly integrated workflows, as well as create alerts for these processes. With the Enterprise Console, firms gain the “single pane of glass” that consolidates information about all critical systems, enabling both enterprise transparency and efficient self-service.
Bloomberg L.P. is a privately held financial, software, data, and media company headquartered in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It was founded by Michael Bloomberg in 1981, with the help of Thomas Secunda, Duncan MacMillan, Charles Zegar, and a 30% ownership investment by Merrill Lynch.
Bloomberg aimed to provide one source of truth for internal technology and operations teams as well as external clients. This single source of truth provides users with transparency into their workflows and data streams, allowing them to more efficiently monitor their enterprise data.
Additionally, the team undertaking this initiative needed a team built from the ground up in order to deliver on the vision.
After a few months, I assumed the role of Lead UX Designer. The increased demand for our services, at the direction of the Global Head of Product for the Console, allowed me to request additional headcount. This led to hiring a few full-time roles, including developers, an additional UX designer, a UI designer, a project manager, and an additional QA resource for automated testing.
As our team expanded, we worked on enhancing communication and workflow efficiency. Key developments included:
Although my official role was Product Lead, a significant portion of my time was devoted to navigating internal politics, building relationships, and acting as a bridge between sales and the design head back at Dom & Tom, the agency hired for the Bloomberg project.
I advocated for additional headcount both within Bloomberg and at the agency, ensuring that hiring and processes aligned with both sides' needs. Consequently, my days and weeks involved not only the tasks mentioned above but also the responsibility of presenting a clear vision to gain buy-in from both Bloomberg and Dom & Tom, fostering progress from people, processes, and product perspectives.
The Enterprise Console, a centralized interface, provides in-house technology and operations teams with visibility into all connected systems, including Bloomberg, proprietary, and third-party offerings. This creates a seamless, uniform experience whether using the Bloomberg Terminal or an intuitive web interface remotely.
Through the Enterprise Console, users can configure new processes, modify and enrich data, and track the health of highly integrated workflows. Teams can create alerts for these processes and visually examine and resolve issues directly through the Console when alerts are triggered.
The "single pane of glass" offered by the Enterprise Console consolidates information about critical systems, promoting enterprise transparency and efficient self-service. Additionally, the Console is designed to support complex processes in capital markets and is backed by a global practice with expertise in managing Bloomberg solutions to the firm's advantage.
To ensure an efficient and user-friendly experience, the Enterprise Console features a streamlined visual design that requires no coding expertise. Workflows are displayed visually with "traffic light" colors indicating the health of enterprise systems and processes at a glance. Configuring processes is made simple with familiar drag-and-drop functionality. Enriching workflows involves searching by criteria, selecting desired information, and specifying organization and formatting.
The self-service capability of the Enterprise Console extends to security, enabling firms to retain control over connectivity to Bloomberg technology. Users receive unique user IDs, and access requires biometric authentication using the B-Unit, a state-of-the-art portable fingerprint scanner. Authorized administrators can create new users, modify credentials, determine access to specific services, set passwords, and update public keys and certificates for encryption. Localized security management empowers the firm and reduces overall support costs.
The Bloomberg Connectivity & Integration global practice combines technology products, solution architects, and professional services to manage integrated systems, design and analyze capital markets workflows, and implement changes at scale. This approach helps firms reduce total cost of ownership, achieve faster time to market, and improve transparency, with the assurance of a provider experienced in delivering hosted solutions for financial firms worldwide.
