Rodney King is exactly correct.
From the time we get an underlying update we can reprice an entire option chain in 2ms, and send out new quotes in another 2 ms. If you want to add safety rules, and inventory adjustments it takes another 2 to 3 ms.
However, if you are using Opra/Siac data you will be behind a company that pulls directly from an exchange. This is especially true if you are waiting on stock data from NY, and quoting options in Chicago.
The OP mentioned doing futures AQ'ing so perhaps you are getting underlying updates from the same exchange to which you are quoting options. This should help immensely.
However, there are a slew of other issues involved. For instance, most exchanges limit the number of quote changes you can send in a second, while also requiring minimum width and minimum chain % rules. This forces the MM firm to use their quote changes efficiently, which is not easy. Also, most exchanges will have some kind of quote packet cue which you must deal with. This means that when an underlying change occurs and every company sends new quotes, the exchange will update the quotes in the order they were recieved. If the exchange is currently bombarded with quote packets, it can take them up to a second to change your quotes, despite you sending these quotes to them in 8 ms. Therefore, you will need a ton of safety measures, and must learn to use the various quote canceling mechanisms properly.
Here's the real rub: no one will teach this stuff to you. The Api people at the exchange typically don't know as much about their own systems as the trading companies. The trading companies only learn what works by losing money. Therefore, they will not give you their knowledge that cost them millions to learn. If you are a service providing company that doesn't trade you will have zero chance of creating an efficient AQ system--at least compared to those companies that have their money on the line every day.
Conclusion: building a successful AQ system is one of the most difficult technical problems to tackle. I would say it takes a minimum of 4 senior level guys working for 2 to 3 years, at a cost of $5 million (including trading fees, losses, etc.) to build successfully. Most companies (even large investment banks) that begin this process will vastly underestimate the costs and difficulty, and in the end don't successfully complete an AQ system.
