IBM's Grid computing focus on finance
IBM's Grid computing focus on finance
IBM has announced a series of Grid projects around the world as part of its Grid computing program, with a firm emphasis on the banking and finance markets.
Big Blue has teamed with business intelligence software provider SAS and other partners that will help the vendor address the compute-intensive needs of the banking and financial markets industry. The company has also signed agreements with new Grid middleware partners Avaki and United Devices.
According to IBM, these developments "further demonstrate the rapid emergence of Grid computing as a viable alternative for the most demanding and sophisticated commercial enterprises."
Grid computing – like email before it – first emerged in academia as a method of sharing computing equipment across organisations and regions, unifying disparate systems, lowering costs and increasing reliability.
Among the Grid projects currently being undertaken by IBM are the migration of analytical applications to run across a Grid of Intel processor servers at Morgan Stanley; a Grid, Linux and WebSphere solution for global outsourcing and HR consulting firm Hewitt Associates' pension modelling application; and a Grid Demostration Centre at Germany's Deutsche Telecom's T-Systems unit.
Additionally, IBM has introduced two new offerings for the financial services industry. IBM and SAS have introduced a new Grid offering for Customer Analytics in the banking industry. Using the offering in conjunction with its own network and IT resources, a bank can use its data to better understand its customers and their banking needs, reducing its cycle time for executing statistical models and providing more sophisticated and accurate customer analysis. One of its main aims is to help banks better identify, acquire and retain customers.
The other IBM Grid offering, for risk management and compliance in Capital Markets and Retail Banking, was developed in conjunction with DataSynapse. It is designed to help risk managers implement a Grid infrastructure to support real-time credit limit monitoring. Currently, many of those applications are run overnight.
Related Article: