1. Windows Azure
Customer Solution Case Study
Financial Risk-Analysis Firm
Enhances Capabilities with
Dynamic Computing Capacity
Overview “We’re using Windows Azure to meet the
Country or Region: United States
Industry: Financial analysis evolving needs of our clients. And with the
… reduced levels of new investment
Customer Profile
RiskMetrics provides risk required, we can consider solutions that
management analysis for
banks, investors, and asset might otherwise not have been possible.”
managers. Headquartered in RiskMetrics Group’s Risk Management Business
New York, RiskMetrics has
more than 1,100 employees
delivers risk management services to the world’s
operating in 13 countries. leading asset managers, banks, and institutions to
Business Situation
help them measure and model complex financial
To enhance scalability of its instruments. To meet increasing market demand
services, RiskMetrics needed to
support large bursts in
for risk analysis, RiskMetrics needed to
computing activity over short accommodate increasing peak loads on its
periods of time. It wanted to
empower innovative solutions
computing infrastructure for specific periods of
by reducing the required new time. The company used the Windows Azure™
investments in its physical
computing infrastructure.
platform—an Internet-scale services platform
hosted in Microsoft® data centers—to provide on-
Solution
RiskMetrics used the Windows
demand computing capacity for its analytics
Azure™ platform to provide on- applications. Now RiskMetrics can complement its
demand computing capacity for
its analytics applications.
on-premises capabilities with a flexible, reliable
solution that can support bursts in computing
Benefits
• Elastic scaling
activity over short periods of time, deliver
• Enhanced services, enhanced services for more customers, empower
empowered innovation
• High reliability
innovation, and provide the company with
• Improved agility increased business agility.

3. “Working with Situation thousands of physical CPUs, the
RiskMetrics provides risk company provides technology
the .NET management, governance services through a software-as-
services, and financial research a-service subscription business
Framework and and analysis for the world’s model. It hosts its risk
with tools provided leading investment banks, asset management applications in two
managers, hedge funds, pension large data centers in the United
by Microsoft for the funds, insurers, and central States and delivers them as
banks. Headquartered in New services to customers across the
Visual Studio York, RiskMetrics has more than world through the Internet.
development 1,100 employees operating in 13
countries. The company models As an early pioneer in financial
system, we can over 4 million global securities software-as-a-service,
daily, spanning 750,000 market RiskMetrics has the necessary
develop data time series. computing power, management
applications locally efficiency, and scalable
RiskMetrics delivers innovative multitenant architecture to deliver
and deploy them to technology solutions to help its highly reliable risk management
customers better analyze risk and products and services. But to
return. To estimate the risks retain its leadership position in an
associated with specific assets, increasingly complex market, the
financial engineers develop company maintains a heavy focus
complex Monte Carlo simulation on research and development of
models, a class of algorithms new products and services to
used to generate and evaluate a benefit its customers.
broad range of estimated future
values for each asset by Given currently projected
projecting the risk factors that economic conditions and
could influence the price of the anticipated demands from
asset over a range of time enhanced financial regulation,
horizons. market participants will require
increasingly comprehensive risk
Monte Carlo simulations require analyses delivered on demand.
high computing capacity, and to To process that level of service,
provide a complete view of the RiskMetrics will likely have to
risk factors influencing hundreds impose very high peak loads on
of customers’ financial its computing infrastructure for
portfolios, RiskMetrics may have short periods of time, often
to repeat the extremely complex demanding 10 times the
simulations thousands of times computing resources required
for every customer—and do it during other periods.
within a restricted time window of
a few hours. With a processing To provide even deeper, faster,
infrastructure that includes more responsive, and more

4. “We can take interactive risk analyses for its
customers, RiskMetrics needed a “The technologies we were
calculations we way to support increasingly large already using are very compatible
bursts in computing activity. It with Windows Azure,” says
would normally do wanted a computing solution that Richard Bower, Developer at
locally, process would enhance its business agility RiskMetrics. “Working with the
with reduced levels of new .NET Framework and with tools
them on Windows investment. At the same time, the provided by Microsoft for the
company needed a solution that Visual Studio® development
Azure, and could meet critical standards for system, we can develop
integrate the availability and reliability. applications locally and deploy
them to Windows Azure very
results with our quickly.”
Solution
local analytics RiskMetrics decided to develop a Using Windows Azure,
architecture. We solution that would host the RiskMetrics developed a solution
processing of complex pricing rapidly over the course of several
call the solution calculations on the Internet months. To complement its on-
through an external data center, premises infrastructure,
RiskBurst: bursts of a system often referred to as RiskMetrics uses the Windows
processing onto “cloud computing.” The Azure cloud services operating
company participated in a system—the development,
the cloud from our Microsoft® Technology Adoption service hosting, and service
Program for the Windows Azure™ management environment for the
risk platform, an Internet-scale cloud Windows Azure platform—to
infrastructure.” services platform that is hosted in provide on-demand computing
Microsoft data centers. The capacity for its analytics
Windows Azure platform provides applications. During periods of
an operating system and a set of high demand for specific kinds of
developer services that can be complex analysis, the company
used individually or together. can extend the capacity of its
Also, Windows Azure affordably risk-analysis applications by
fits the needs of customers by deploying large numbers of
offering a scalable infrastructure Windows Azure resources to
with a pay-as-you-go model. process the calculations. When
RiskMetrics already used the the demand declines, RiskMetrics
Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5.1 can scale down from the
and the Microsoft Visual C++® Windows Azure instances until
2008 development system to they need the capacity again.
develop its existing applications.
The company used those “We can take calculations we
technologies to easily integrate would normally do locally,
its applications with the Windows process them on Windows Azure,
Azure platform. and integrate the results with our

5. “We require local analytics architecture,” dynamically provision Windows
says Rob Fraser, Head of Cloud Azure instances as needed.
binding SLA Computing at RiskMetrics. “We Eventually, RiskMetrics expects
call the solution RiskBurst: bursts to provision up to 30,000
agreements from of processing onto the cloud from Windows Azure instances per
all providers we our risk infrastructure.” day.
engage in our RiskMetrics runs Worker role The RiskBurst solution already
instances of Windows Azure to relies on the communication
service delivery. By take messages from Queue between the RiskMetrics high-
participating in the Services and from the Blob performance computing (HPC)
Storage feature in Windows architecture and Windows Azure,
Technology Azure. The worker roles pass on but the company anticipates
the messages to an external 32- developing increasingly seamless
Adoption Program bit calculation engine, which and scalable applications that
for Windows Azure communicates with Windows span Windows Azure and
Azure using Windows Windows® HPC Server 2008,
we gained insight Communication Foundation. The which is built on the Windows
company uses the Service Bus, Server® 2008 operating
and built trust in part of Windows Azure, to system, to deliver both on-
the people and monitor the messaging and the premises and cloud computing
performance of the worker roles, capacity as needed. “Potentially,
engineering behind measuring parameters such as we can use the right level of
CPU utilization, the number of integration between Windows
the SLA.” messages in the queues and Blob Azure and Windows HPC Server
Rob Fraser, Head of Cloud Storage containers, and the to provide seamless elasticity
Computing, RiskMetrics number of transactions between local software and
processed by the calculation cloud-based services,” says
engine. Fraser. “It’s a very exciting
combination of technologies.”
With the Service Bus, RiskMetrics
monitors the demand for Benefits
processing power and adjusts the With Windows Azure, RiskMetrics
number of Windows Azure has extended its risk-analysis
resources it uses to provide the solutions to dynamically scale to
processing capacity it needs. meet processing demand. The
System administrators can company can now provide
provision additional Windows enhanced services for more
Azure instances in approximately customers, while reducing the
30 minutes. The company will fully amount of new investment
integrate the solution into its required. It can innovate with
existing operational infrastructure more agility, bring new products
to allow monitoring of the to market that would not have
messaging queues and

6. otherwise been commercially RiskMetrics has to meet binding
viable. service level agreements (SLA) to
provide its services, and many of
Elastic Scaling its customers cannot do business
Using the vast computing and without receiving RiskMetrics
storage capacity in Windows analyses every day. The
Azure, RiskMetrics can enhance availability and reliability
the scalability of its risk commitments provided with the
management applications, Windows Azure platform are very
deploying large numbers of important to RiskMetrics.
processing instances only when
necessary. It can respond to “We require binding SLA
demand as it comes, provisioning agreements from all providers we
more instances of Windows engage in our service delivery,”
Azure as required and reducing says Fraser. “By participating in
the number of instances as the Technology Adoption
demand declines. Program for Windows Azure we
gained insight and built trust in
“That is not something we could the people and engineering
have done in the past with just a behind the SLA.”
fixed processing capacity,” says
Philip Jacob, Head of Quantitative Improved Agility
Development at RiskMetrics. While deploying large scale
dynamic computing capacity
Enhanced Service, Empowered Innovation provides elasticity for the
With Windows Azure, RiskMetrics company’s RiskBurst analytics,
can now enhance the analyses of RiskMetrics is also enhancing its
its customers’ complex financial business agility and empowering
assets. Using the vast computing innovative services for its
resources of Windows Azure, the customers. By turning elements
company can scale its solutions of its peak load infrastructure
however it needs, empowering from a fixed cost to a variable
innovative new solutions. cost, RiskMetrics can consider
bringing new services and
“We’re using Windows Azure to products to market that
meet the evolving needs of our otherwise would not have been
clients,” says Fraser. “And with viable.
the significantly reduced levels of
new investment required, we can With the pay-per-use payment
consider solutions that might structure of Windows Azure, the
otherwise not have been company only pays for what it
possible.” needs as it needs it, without
having to make significant capital
High Reliability investments in fixed capacity,

7. For More Information enabling RiskMetrics to be more Windows Azure
For more information about reactive to market demands. Platform
Microsoft products and The Windows Azure platform
services, call the Microsoft provides an excellent foundation
Sales Information Center at for expanding online product and
(800) 426-9400. In Canada, call service offerings. The main
the Microsoft Canada components include:
Information Centre at (877) • Windows Azure. Windows Azure
568-2495. Customers in the is the development, service
United States and Canada who hosting, and service
are deaf or hard-of-hearing can management environment for
reach Microsoft text telephone the Windows Azure platform.
(TTY/TDD) services at (800) Windows Azure provides
892-5234. Outside the 50 developers with on-demand
United States and Canada, compute and storage to host,
please contact your local scale, and manage Web
Microsoft subsidiary. To access applications on the Internet
information using the World through Microsoft data
Wide Web, go to: centers. In addition, Windows
www.microsoft.com Azure serves developers’
connectivity needs through
For more information about the following services.
RiskMetrics products and 〉 The Service Bus connects
services, visit the Web site at:
services and applications
www.riskmetrics.com
across network
boundaries to help
Additional Resources:
Download: Windows Azure developers build
Tools and SDK distributed applications.
View: Architecting and 〉 The Access Control Service
Developing for Windows Azure
provides federated,
claims-based access
control for REST Web
services.
Software and Services
• Windows Azure Platform
• Windows Azure
• Blob Storage
• Service Bus
• Microsoft Visual Studio
• Microsoft Visual C++ 2008
• Technologies
• Microsoft .NET Framework
3.5
This case study is for informational
purposes only. MICROSOFT MAKES NO
WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, IN
THIS SUMMARY.
Document published November 2009

8. • Microsoft SQL Azure™. Microsoft
SQL Azure offers the first
cloud-based relational and
self-managed database
service built on Microsoft SQL
Server 2008 technologies.
To learn more about the Windows
Azure platform, visit:
www.windowsazure.com