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                                                                    EXHIBIT 10.3
                            SS&C TECHNOLOGIES, INC.

                        1996 DIRECTOR STOCK OPTION PLAN



1.   Purpose.
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     The purpose of this 1996 Director Stock Option Plan (the "Plan") of SS&C
Technologies, Inc. (the "Company") is to encourage ownership in the Company by
outside directors of the Company whose continued services are considered
essential to the Company's future progress and to provide them with a further
incentive to remain as directors of the Company.

2.   Administration.
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     The Board of Directors shall supervise and administer the Plan.  Grants of
stock options under the Plan and the amount and nature of the awards to be
granted shall be automatic in accordance with Section 5.  However, all questions
concerning interpretation of the Plan or any options granted under it shall be
resolved by the Board of Directors and such resolution shall be final and
binding upon all persons having an interest in the Plan.

3.   Participation in the Plan.
     -------------------------

     Directors of the Company who are not full-time employees of the Company or
any subsidiary of the Company ("outside directors") shall be eligible to receive
options under the Plan.

4.   Stock Subject to the Plan.
     -------------------------

     (a)  The maximum number of shares of the Company's Common Stock, par value
$.01 per share ("Common Stock"), which may be issued under the Plan shall be
150,000 shares, subject to adjustment as provided in Section 7.

     (b)  If any outstanding option under the Plan for any reason expires or is
terminated without having been exercised in full, the shares covered by the
unexercised portion of such option shall again become available for issuance
pursuant to the Plan.

     (c)  All options granted under the Plan shall be non-statutory options not
entitled to special tax treatment under Section 422 of the Internal Revenue Code
of 1986, as amended (the "Code").


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5.   Terms, Conditions and Form of Options.
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     Each option granted under the Plan shall be evidenced by a written
agreement in such form as the Board of Directors shall from time to time
approve, which agreements shall comply with and be subject to the following
terms and conditions:

     (a)  Option Grant Dates.  Options shall automatically be granted to all
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eligible outside directors as follows:

          (i)  each person who first becomes an eligible outside director after
the closing date (the "Closing Date") of the Company's initial public offering
of Common Stock pursuant to an effective registration statement under the
Securities Act of 1933, as amended, shall be granted an option to purchase 5,000
shares of Common Stock on the date of his or her initial election to the Board
of Directors, provided that such eligible director is elected on a date other
than the date of an Annual Meeting of Stockholders; and

          (ii) each eligible outside director shall be granted an additional
option to purchase 5,000 shares of Common Stock on the date of each Annual
Meeting of Stockholders of the Company commencing with the 1997 Annual Meeting
of Stockholders, provided that he or she continues to serve as a director
immediately following such Annual Meeting.

     (b)  Option Exercise Price.  The option exercise price per share for each
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option granted under the Plan shall equal (i) the last reported sales price per
share of the Company's Common Stock on the Nasdaq National Market (or, if the
Company is traded on a nationally recognized securities exchange on the date of
grant, the reported closing sales price per share of the Company's Common Stock
by such exchange) on the date of grant (or if no such price is reported on such
date such price as reported on the nearest preceding day) or (ii) if the Common
Stock is not traded on the Nasdaq National Market or an exchange, the fair
market value per share on the date of grant as most recently determined by the
Board of Directors.

     (c)  Options Non-Transferable.  To the extent required to qualify for the
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exemption provided by Rule 16b-3 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as
amended (the "Exchange Act"), any option granted under the Plan to an optionee
shall not be transferable by the optionee other than by will or the laws of
descent and distribution or pursuant to a qualified domestic relations order as
defined by the Code or Title I of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act,
or the rules thereunder, and shall be exercisable during the optionee's lifetime
only by the optionee or the optionee's guardian or legal representative.

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     (d)  Vesting Period.
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          (i)  General.  Each option granted under the Plan shall become
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exercisable on the first anniversary of the Option Grant Date; provided,
however, that the optionee continue to serve as a director on such date.

          (ii) Acceleration Upon Change in Control.  Notwithstanding the
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foregoing, each outstanding option granted under the Plan shall immediately
become exercisable in full in the event a Change in Control (as defined in
Section 8) of the Company occurs.

     (e)  Termination.  Each option shall terminate, and may no longer be
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exercised, on the earlier of the (i) the date 10 years after the Option Grant
Date or (ii) the date 60 days after the optionee ceases to serve as a director
of the Company; provided that, in the event an optionee ceases to serve as a
director due to his or her death or disability (within the meaning of Section
22(e)(3) of the Code or any successor provision), then the exercisable portion
of the option may be exercised, within the period of 180 days following the date
the optionee ceases to serve as a director (but in no event later than 10 years
after the Option Grant Date), by the optionee or by the person to whom the
option is transferred by will, by the laws of descent and distribution, or by
written notice pursuant to Section 5(h).

     (f)  Exercise Procedure.  An option may be exercised only by written notice
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to the Company at its principal office accompanied by payment in cash of the
full consideration for the shares as to which the option is exercised.

     (g)  Exercise by Representative Following Death of Director.  An optionee,
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by written notice to the Company, may designate one or more persons (and from
time to time change such designation), including his or her legal
representative, who, by reason of the optionee's death, shall acquire the right
to exercise all or a portion of the option. If the person or persons so
designated wish to exercise any portion of the option, they must do so within
the term of the option as provided herein. Any exercise by a representative
shall be subject to the provisions of the Plan.

6.   Limitation of Rights.
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     (a)  No Right to Continue as a Director.  Neither the Plan, nor the
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granting of an option nor any other action taken pursuant to the Plan, shall
constitute or be evidence of any agreement or understanding, express or implied,
that the Company will retain the optionee as a director for any period of time.

     (b)  No Stockholders' Rights for Options.  An optionee shall have no rights
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as a stockholder with respect to the shares covered by his or her option until
the date

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of the issuance to him or her of a stock certificate therefor, and no adjustment
will be made for dividends or other rights (except as provided in Section 7) for
which the record date is prior to the date such certificate is issued.

7.   Adjustment Provisions for Mergers, Recapitalizations and Related
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     Transactions.
     ------------

     If, through or as a result of any merger, consolidation, reorganization,
recapitalization, reclassification, stock dividend, stock split, reverse stock
split, or other similar transaction, (i) the outstanding shares of Common Stock
are exchanged for a different number or kind of securities of the Company or of
another entity, or (ii) additional shares or new or different shares or other
securities of the Company or of another entity are distributed with respect to
such shares of Common Stock, the Board of Directors shall make an appropriate
and proportionate adjustment in (x) the maximum number and kind of shares
reserved for issuance under the Plan, (y) the number and kind of shares or other
securities subject to then outstanding options under the Plan, and/or (z) the
price for each share subject to any then outstanding options under the Plan
(without changing the aggregate purchase price for such options), to the end
that each option shall be exercisable, for the same aggregate exercise price,
for such securities as such optionholder would have held immediately following
such event if he had exercised such option immediately prior to such event. No
fractional shares will be issued under the Plan on account of any such
adjustments.

8.   Change in Control.
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     For purposes of the Plan, a "Change in Control" shall be deemed to have
occurred only if any of the following events occurs:  (i) any "person", as such
term is used in Sections 13(d) and 14(d) of the Exchange Act (other than the
Company, any trustee or other fiduciary holding securities under an employee
benefit plan of the Company, or any corporation owned directly or indirectly by
the stockholders of the Company in substantially the same proportion as their
ownership of stock of the Company), is or becomes the "beneficial owner" (as
defined in Rule 13d-3 under the Exchange Act), directly or indirectly, of
securities of the Company representing 50% or more of the combined voting power
of the Company's then outstanding securities; (ii) the stockholders of the
Company approve a merger or consolidation of the Company with any other
corporation, other than a merger or consolidation which would result in the
voting securities of the Company outstanding immediately prior thereto
continuing to represent (either by remaining outstanding or by being converted
into voting securities of the surviving entity) more than 50% of the combined
voting power of the voting securities of the Company or such surviving entity
outstanding immediately after such merger or consolidation; (iii) the
stockholders of the Company approve a plan of complete liquidation of the
Company or an agreement for the sale or disposition by the Company of all or
substantially all of the Company's assets; or (iv) individuals who, on the date
on which the Plan was

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adopted by the Board of Directors, constituted the Board of Directors of the
Company, together with any new director whose election by the Board of Directors
or nomination for election by the Company's stockholders was approved by a vote
of at least a majority of the directors then still in office who were directors
on the date on which the Plan was adopted by the Board of Directors or whose
election or nomination was previously so approved, cease for any reason to
constitute at least a majority of the Board of Directors.

9.   Modification, Extension and Renewal of Options.
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     The Board of Directors shall have the power to modify or amend outstanding
options; provided, however, that no modification or amendment may (i) have the
effect of altering or impairing any rights or obligations of any option
previously granted without the consent of the optionee, or (ii) modify the
number of shares of Common Stock subject to the option (except as provided in
Section 7).

10.  Termination and Amendment of the Plan.
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     The Board of Directors may suspend, terminate or discontinue the Plan or
amend it in any respect whatsoever; provided, however, that without approval of
the stockholders of the Company, no amendment may (i) increase the number of
shares subject to the Plan (except as provided in Section 7), (ii) materially
modify the requirements as to eligibility to receive options under the Plan, or
(iii) materially increase the benefits accruing to participants in the Plan; and
provided further that the Board of Directors may not amend the provisions of
Sections 3, 5(a), 5(b) or 5(c) more frequently than once every six months, other
than to comply with changes in the Code or the rules thereunder.

11.  Notice.
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     Any written notice to the Company required by any of the provisions of the
Plan shall be addressed to the Treasurer of the Company and shall become
effective when it is received.

12.  Governing Law.
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     The Plan and all determinations made and actions taken pursuant hereto
shall be governed by the laws of the State of Delaware.

13.  Stockholder Approval.
     --------------------

     The Plan is conditional upon stockholder approval of the Plan within one
year from its date of adoption by the Board of Directors.  No option under the
Plan may

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be exercised until such stockholder approval is obtained, and the Plan and all
options granted under the Plan shall be null and void if the Plan is not so
approved by the Company's stockholders.

                             Adopted by the Board of Directors on April 1, 1996

                             Approved by the stockholders on April 1, 1996

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            AMENDMENT NO. 1 TO THE 1996 DIRECTOR STOCK OPTION PLAN
                                       OF
                            SS&C TECHNOLOGIES, INC.

                                October 30, 1996


     The 1996 Director Stock Option Plan (the "Plan") of SS&C Technologies, Inc.
is hereby amended as follows (capitalized terms used herein and not defined
herein shall have the respective meaning ascribed to such terms in the Plan):


1.   The reference to Section 5(h) at the end of Section 5(e) of the Plan shall
be amended to refer to Section 5(f).


2.   Section 10 of the Plan shall be deleted in its entirety and replaced with
the following:

     "10. Termination and Amendment of the Plan.  The Board of Directors may
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suspend, terminate or discontinue the Plan or amend it in any respect
whatsoever."


Except as aforesaid, the Plan shall remain in full force and effect.