Augmenting traditional colocation

ASX Colo OnDemand offers a compelling alternative. Delivered as a managed infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) located within the ALC, it provides direct access to low-latency environments without owning or maintaining hardware.

At the recent launch event, ALC customers and other market participants joined ASX and our technology partner, Beeks Financial Cloud Group, to explore this next-generation solution. Jamie Crank, Group Executive Technology and Data at ASX, described it as a pivotal step forward.

“This is a really important milestone for ASX’s technology and data team in terms of our future growth strategy. And how we’re going to shape the future of infrastructure and connectivity for the Australian financial markets,” Jamie said.

By eliminating the need to rack servers, manage networks, and ensure 24/7 uptime, ASX Colo OnDemand aims to empower a broader group of market participants to quickly, securely, and cost-effectively deploy scalable infrastructure.

For firms in traditional colocation, this on-demand solution can offer a strategic alternative, especially as hardware reaches end of life or refresh cycles. Rather than reinvesting in physical infrastructure, firms are shifting to a service-based model. These solutions have the potential to deliver equal or better performance, greater agility, and lower operational burden.

Beeks’ Founder and CEO, Gordon McArthur, joined me at the launch to discuss what our partnership means for the local market.

“There’s a large and growing demand among financial markets firms to be more flexible and scalable in the way they access markets and deploy their trading environments. Our collaboration with ASX is fundamentally about offering these firms a new option that balances latency with cost, scalability and flexibility,” he said.

This was echoed by ASX Head of Product for Connectivity Services, Lianne Klintworth, describing Colo OnDemand to the audience as “a pre-provisioned, scalable platform that allows customers to go live faster and optimise their infrastructure for financial markets”.

Markets in transition

This shift goes beyond convenience; it’s a structural response to evolving market dynamics. As Jamie explained, for financial market participants, “speed, precision and resilience remain non-negotiable, particularly as algorithmic trading and data dependency continue to grow.”

Cost pressure is also prompting a review of technology investments, making the shift from capital to operational expenditure attractive. ASX Colo OnDemand intends to answer that call with a pricing model that scales with business needs.

For firms with fluctuating trading volumes or short-term capacity needs, flexibility is crucial. An on-demand model may provide more efficient and transparent ways to manage costs. Instead of over-provisioning or long-term lock-ins, firms can align infrastructure with real-time needs.

As Gordon said, ASX Colo OnDemand delivers “elastic, on-demand infrastructure that can literally happen in a day, ready for clients to scale up”. That spans “big institutions that really struggle to manage 40 or 50 colo sites globally”, through to smaller players.

The need for resilience and compliance also persists. Market volatility, cyber threats, and regulatory scrutiny exert pressure to deliver uninterrupted service with enterprise-grade controls. ASX Colo OnDemand offers robust SLAs, continuous monitoring, and security frameworks that cannot be easily replicated by other firms.

Lianne added that ASX Colo OnDemand gives customers a platform they can trust, supporting “confidence that infrastructure governance, continuity, and data protection meet the expected standards of the financial industry.”

The path to market diversity

ASX Colo OnDemand helps bridge a longstanding gap between innovation and execution. In traditional setups, even routine tasks like scaling compute for a market data surge can be delayed by procurement, cross-connects, and vendor coordination, turning quick fixes into weeks-long projects.

Traditional colocation will always serve its purpose, but ASX Colo OnDemand offers a compelling complement. By lowering barriers to entry, it can open access to top-tier infrastructure for more participants. This can drive greater liquidity and strengthens market structure, creating a reinforcing loop: accessibility attracts new players, fuels competition, tightens spreads and delivers better outcomes for all participants.

This shift is not just for the most advanced firms. Custodians, software vendors, and even traditional service providers are re-evaluating infrastructure strategies to take advantage of the speed, scale, and flexibility that on-demand models enable.

Ultimately, ASX Colo OnDemand simplifies infrastructure management, fosters participation in the exchange ecosystem, and reduces the time to market for deployment.

As markets become more interconnected, automated, and competitive, infrastructure will increasingly determine who leads and who lags. For many, embracing this model will be key to staying in the race.

To find out more about ASX Colo OnDemand , get in touch with our Connectivity Services team.