For market data management professionals, it’s the Holy Grail: buy the data you want, when you want it, and pay for what you use, rather than paying a fortune for always-on, voluminous datafeeds – or bundled services of which a firm uses a fraction.

While pay-as-you-go pricing is not yet a reality, some data providers – notably, among brokers and exchanges – are laying the foundation by providing “self-service” portals, where clients can subscribe to content and services without having to