The ASX website has recently started advertising its new offering to corporate Australia, ‘Colo on Demand’. What’s the Scam?
Back in the day, when this writer worked at Ozemail, and the internet was still fresh and exciting, ‘colo’ – short for colocation – meant a server under someone’s desk used by a customer at the other end of an ISDN line. From there, it has progressed to today’s massive server farms operated by tech giants and ‘hosting’ companies, linked to an endless network of fibre-optic cable.
To be fair, we don’t think ASX’s Colo offering is a scam, but we doubt that any self-respecting corporate IT executive would be game to find out. Who would want to commit their sensitive financial data and transaction processing to what must be one of the most er … controversial operators of IT systems in corporate Australia?
Over the last five years, the ASX IT leadership, such as it is, has presided over a botched upgrade of CHESS, the system at the centre of share trade processing. The project was delayed seven times in five years and eventually ditched, at a cost of $250m in 2022. CHESS was first launched in 1994; the ‘new’ system is now due for completion in 2029. In December last year, the ASX again suffered a major outage, which led to both ASIC and the Reserve Bank voicing concerns over ASX management and governance.
In this context, the 2022 ASX website ‘upgrade,’ which was more like a downgrade, is a minor concern. The website remains reminiscent of the clunky bulletin boards that preceded the internet, but less fun.
Meanwhile, the board of the ASX remains defiant but may soon face a class action ($) for their lack of oversight. But hey, let’s do some colo…
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Kim Wingerei is a businessman turned writer and commentator. He is passionate about free speech, human rights, democracy and the politics of change. Originally from Norway, Kim has lived in Australia for 30 years. Author of ‘Why Democracy is Broken – A Blueprint for Change’.