CME Group created a custom auditing solution called Castle using Visual Studio Team System and .NET Framework 3.5 to streamline audit processes and enable greater information sharing. Development time was cut by 20% and audits can now be completed up to 20% faster. Auditors have intuitive access to synchronized data on portable computers. Custom controls facilitate linking documents and automated tasks, boosting accuracy and collaboration across the organization.

1. Financial Exchange Speeds Development and
Audit Reviews by 20 Percent
Overview ―Using the tools in Visual Studio Team System, we
Country or Region: United States
Industry: Financial services
cut 20 percent off the time to develop the Castle
audit solution … and included capabilities that we
Customer Profile
CME Group, based in Chicago, Illinois,
couldn’t have added any other way.‖
offers futures and options based on Roman Benko, Associate Director, Systems Development, CME Group
interest rates, equity indexes, foreign
exchange, commodities, and alternative When CME and The Chicago Board of Trade merged to form
investment products. It has 2,000
employees. CME Group, one of the world’s largest and most diverse
exchanges, the company needed a faster, more streamlined way
Business Situation
As CME Group grew, so did the challenge to conduct audits of companies clearing transactions through it,
to speed audit processes and enable and to share that information among auditors and managers. Its
greater exchange of information among
auditors and managers. solution: Create a smart client Office Business Application called
Castle, based on Microsoft® Visual Studio® Team System 2008
Solution
CME Group created a smart client Office Team Suite and Microsoft .NET Framework version 3.5. The
Business Application using Microsoft® solution lets auditors work in the familiar interface of the 2007
Visual Studio® Team System and
Microsoft .NET Framework version 3.5. Microsoft Office system, to automate tasks like retrieving
supporting documentation, and to synchronize data more
Benefits
 Development time cut by 20 percent
quickly and easily between the field and headquarters. The
 Auditor processes streamlined solution was developed 20 percent faster than it would have
 Audit reviews completed up to 20
percent faster taken using earlier tools, speeds audit reviews up to 20 percent,
and boosts accuracy and collaboration.

2. ―For us to do what Situation to put the completed audit through a
In a world of increasing volatility, customers review, the reliance on printed copies
LINQ [Language around the globe rely on CME Group as contributed to delays between the field
Integrated Query] does their premier source for managing risk. and headquarters that could add up to a
Formed by the 2007 merger of Chicago week to the process.
for us would have Mercantile Exchange (CME) and The
taken up to a day per Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT), CME Group In 2006, the impending merger brought the
offers futures and options based on interest auditing issues to a turning point. The
table—that alone rates, equity indexes, foreign exchange, CBOT was using an off-the-shelf software
saved us a month.‖ commodities, and alternative investment package to handle the audit process. A
products such as weather and real estate. single solution would be needed for the
Frank Fieseler, Associate Director, Systems In 2006, the company’s volume exceeded combined organization—but management
Development, CME Group 2.2 billion contracts worth more than in the CME Audit Department were
U.S.$1,000 trillion. concerned that the off-the-shelf package
would need to be heavily customized, that
But with success comes challenges— users would need expensive training on the
particularly the challenges inherent in software, and that continuing licensing
ensuring speed and reliability amid costs would be high.
increasing volumes of business. CME
was facing those challenges even before What CME Group wanted was a fast, low-
the 2007 merger. The exchange guaranteed cost development project that would result
the creditworthiness of every transaction in a software application that was intuitive
that it cleared—which required it to audit to use and that would facilitate the rapid
the companies that were party to those exchange of data among auditors and
transactions. managers.
While CME had a custom software appli- Solution
cation to facilitate the audit process, it was That rapidly developed, low-cost, intuitive,
a simple, aging application that did little and collaborative solution is exactly what
more than organize the files—such as CME Group has in Castle, its custom solu-
Microsoft® Office Word documents and tion created internally using the Microsoft®
Office Excel® spreadsheets—that auditors Visual Studio® Team System 2008 Team
collected and created during their work. Suite development system and Microsoft
Paper copies were still used as final .NET Framework version 3.5. Castle is an
documentation. When follow-up audits Office Business Application that enables
were conducted, the auditors had to carry easy, intuitive use by presenting auditors
bulky binders containing the previous, with the same Microsoft Office Fluent™
paper-based audits into the field. user interface style—including the Ribbon
and Mini Toolbar—and file types with
In addition, there was no automated which they’re already familiar.
mechanism to synchronize electronic
documentation between the central Castle is also a Windows® Forms–based
database and the auditor’s portable smart client application that works in
computer, or to share documentation connected mode to upload and download
among the several auditors who might files, while working in disconnected mode
need it at the same time. They had to share on the auditor’s portable computer when
printed versions of files. When it came time the auditor is at the customer site.

3. ―Without Visual Studio Developers used the ClickOnce application for each audit document, enabling
deployment technology in Visual Studio documents to be more easily stored,
2008 [tools], we would Team System to automate the deployment searched, and retrieved.
have had to program of Castle to auditors’ computers and to
enable updates to be pushed to them Auditors use custom controls implemented
the Ribbon feature automatically—an especially important with Visual Tools for Microsoft Office to
ourselves. With Visual ability as CME Group tested Castle and add links to supporting documentation to
issued frequent updates to address the any part of a file. For example, an auditor
Studio 2008, we just inevitable issues with early versions. may add a ―cross-reference‖ based on a
dragged and dropped custom control at the place in a document
Castle stores auditing information in two where a bank account is referenced. Click-
the controls and wrote places: ing the cross-reference opens a related
the events behind  In a central data repository based on document that shows how the auditor
Microsoft SQL Server® 2005 Enterprise tested or confirmed the bank account
them.‖ Edition database software and running information.
Roman Benko, Associate Director, Systems on the Windows Server® 2003 Enterprise
Development, CME Group Edition operating system Additionally auditors use custom task
 On the auditors’ computers, in a panes to document their tests of sample
database based on SQL Server 2005 documents in the related Word or Excel file.
Express Edition, a free, easy-to-use, When audit files are moved between the
lightweight, and embeddable version of central database and the auditor’s com-
SQL Server 2005 puter, all linked documents and testing
documentation move with them auto-
SQL Server Replication Services enables matically. To handle the frequent move-
fast synchronization between the databases ment of information between the SQL
whenever the auditor is connected to the Server Express Edition database and the
network, ensuring both that the auditor is Castle application, the developers used the
using the most current data and that other new Language Integrated Query (LINQ)
auditors and managers can share and use support in .NET Framework 3.5.
the auditor’s information. With complete
auditing information available on their CME Group developers needed a way to
portable computers, auditors no longer manage the development process among
need to carry bulky binders to customer themselves as well as to work with beta
sites. testers to refine prerelease versions of
Castle. They used Visual Studio 2005 Team
The developers used Microsoft Visual Foundation Server to create a portal based
Studio Tools for the Microsoft Office on Windows SharePoint® Services that
system (version 3.0)—which is included hosted all source code, work items, design
in Visual Studio Team System 2008 Team documents, and updates. The portal also
Suite—to create the Office Fluent-like user supported the developers’ weekly meetings
interface and to add custom properties and with beta users, enabling developers to
controls to files, which gives Castle much of organize and track user feedback.
its power. For example, developers easily
took advantage of Visual Tools for Benefits
Microsoft Office and the native XML CME Group met its goals to quickly and
support in Office Word 2007 to add XML cost-effectively create a solution that would
tags that identify the auditor and company simplify and speed the audit process, while

4. ―Auditors can get to boosting accuracy and collaboration. CME time testing it as we would have testing
Group met these goals by taking advantage code created by hand.‖
their work more quickly of capabilities enabled by Visual Studio
and they can focus on Team System 2008 Team Suite. For Benko and Fieseler, the productivity
enhancements in Visual Studio Team
that work more Development Time Cut by 20 System cut total development time from
thoroughly, minimizing Percent eight months to six, enabling them to meet
―By creating an Office Business Application the CME Group goal to get Castle into
the potential for error.‖ and using the tools in Visual Studio Team production as quickly as possible.
Roman Benko, Associate Director, Systems System, we cut 20 percent off the time to
Development, CME Group develop the Castle audit solution— Tedious Processes Eliminated,
compared with what it would have taken Boosting Accuracy
with Visual Studio 2005—and included The Castle developers weren’t the only
capabilities that we couldn’t have added ones to benefit from the use of Visual
any other way,‖ says Roman Benko, Studio Team System; the auditors and their
Associate Director, Systems Development, managers benefit as well. Feedback from
CME Group. ―For example, without Visual testers confirms the value of the user
Studio 2008 [tools], we would have had to interface and other enhancements over
program the Ribbon feature ourselves. the preceding application.
With Visual Studio 2008, we just dragged
and dropped the controls and wrote the ―Testers tell us that the audit process
events behind them.‖ should be both faster and more accurate
thanks to this tool,‖ says Benko. ―Tedious
Similarly, Frank Fieseler, Associate Director, tasks—such as uploading and downloading
Systems Development, CME Group, points all the information that they need, or
to the timesaving benefits of the Language searching for supporting data—have been
Integrated Query technology. ―We created eliminated thanks to the custom controls
something similar to LINQ for an earlier and other technologies that we were able
application, but LINQ was better, faster, to include by using Visual Studio Team
and easier to work with,‖ says Fieseler. System. Documentation is easier to work
―LINQ has more intelligence and object with because auditors use the same inter-
orientation than working with data sets, face and features that they know from 2007
which means we didn’t write any of the Microsoft Office system software. That
underlying code because we could rely on means that auditors can get to their work
the LINQ code generator to create the SQL more quickly and they can focus on that
statements for us. It was a very visual way work more thoroughly, minimizing the
to work, a more productive way for us to potential for error.‖
work.
CME Group also uses the custom controls
―Our application has 50 tables in SQL to create an audit trail—that is, to identify
Server. For us to do what LINQ does for us who has entered or changed information—
would have taken up to a day per table— further boosting accuracy and security by
that alone saved us a month. Not only did providing documentation against which to
LINQ automate the code development but, check for discrepancies or errors.
because we knew that the code was accu-
rate, we also didn’t have to spend as much

5. For More Information Audits Reviews Completed Up to 2008 Launch Wave
For more information about Microsoft 20 Percent Faster Windows Server 2008, SQL Server 2008,
products and services, call the Microsoft Because synchronization between the and Visual Studio 2008 provide a secure
Sales Information Center at (800) 426- auditor’s database and the central and trusted platform for creating and
9400. In Canada, call the Microsoft repository is faster and easier than before, running your most demanding applications.
Canada Information Centre at (877) 568- auditors synchronize their data more Combined, the products provide a solid
2495. Customers who are deaf or hard- frequently. That in turn makes up-to-date foundation for next-generation web
of-hearing can reach Microsoft text information more readily available to other applications, broad support for
telephone (TTY/TDD) services at (800) auditors or managers who may need it. virtualization technology, and access to
892-5234 in the United States or (905) relevant information. Advanced security
568-9641 in Canada. Outside the 50 The faster synchronization also cuts the technology, developer support for the
United States and Canada, please contact time that it takes for managers to review latest platforms, improved management
your local Microsoft subsidiary. To access and approve an audit, because the updated and web tools, flexible virtualization
information using the World Wide Web, audit document shows up in the manager’s solutions, and access to relevant
go to: Castle home screen for review as soon as information from throughout your
www.microsoft.com it’s uploaded to the central repository; organization enable a broad array of
formerly, managers relied on printed technology solutions.
For more information about CME Group version of files that had to be returned
products and services, call (312) 930- from the field. The review of the audits now
1000 or visit the Web site at: can be completed up to 20 percent faster.
www.cmegroup.com
Software and Services  Solutions
 Microsoft Visual Studio − Office Business Applications
− Microsoft Visual Studio Team System  Technologies
2008 Team Suite − ClickOnce application deployment
− Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 Team technology
Foundation Server − Language Integrated Query
 Microsoft Server Product Portfolio − Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5
− Windows Server 2003 Enterprise − Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Replication
Edition Services
− Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Enterprise − Microsoft Visual Studio Tools for the
Edition Microsoft Office system
− Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Express − Windows Forms
Edition − Windows SharePoint Services
 Microsoft Office
− Microsoft Office Excel 2007
− Microsoft Office Word 2007
Hardware
 HP ProLiant DL385 server computer
 Fujitsu LifeBook T4010 computers
This case study is for informational purposes only.
MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED,
IN THIS SUMMARY.
Document published November 2007