Financial markets are highly complex adaptive systems. This paper deals with the application of simulators in software architectures for back-testing and automating financial market trading strategies. It characterizes traits and problems of algorithmic trading and describes the established use of simulators in back-testing and automated trading. A new approach in the form of a hierarchical software architecture is introduced, containing simulators as integral parts in all layers, using them both during back-testing and automated trading. In addition to the software architecture the opening objects of investigation are outlined. Finally, the potential of generalizing the application domains of our approach beyond financial market trading strategies is pointed out.

This review paper focusses on DESMO-J, a comprehensive and stable Java-based open-source simulation library. DESMO-J is recommended in numerous academic publications for implementing discrete event simulation models for various applications. The library was integrated into several commercial software products. DESMO-J's functional range and usability is continuously improved by the Department of Informatics of the University of Hamburg (Germany). The paper summarizes DESMO-J's core functionality and important design decisions. It also compares DESMO-J to other discrete event simulation frameworks. Furthermore, latest developments and new opportunities are addressed in more detail. These include a) improvements relating to the quality and applicability of the software itself, e.g. a port to .NET, b) optional extension packages like visualization libraries and c) new components facilitating a more powerful and flexible simulation logic, like adaption to real time or a compact representation of production chains and similar queuing systems. Finally, the paper exemplarily describes how to apply DESMO-J to harbor logistics and business process modeling, thus providing insights into DESMO-J practice.

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The interaction approach introduced in this paper is aiming at coupling a full-fledged discrete event simulator and an operational ERP system in a fully integrated manner. Here, the simulator is representing the complete operative environment of the ERP system, substituting its daily business input. For this, the company-specific utilisation of the ERP system has to be modelled in the simulator. In order to execute its model and process concrete ERP functionality, the simulator is accessing the ERP system via software interfaces, using it like a large subject-specific software library. Thus, the simulator is effectively carrying out a complete remote control of the ERP system, in the sense of software automation. Amongst others, the simulator is inducing arrival and booking events in the ERP system, is continuously triggering internal ERP system processes and is processing the results of revised ERP planning by arranging future events in the ERP system. Altogether, the simulator and the ERP system are interacting mutually with each other in a cyclic process. In this paper, we introduce the core idea of the interaction approach and delineate its potentials. We discuss arising challenges in practical application and describe the current state of implementation.