Iain Dey - 6 January 2013
BARCLAYS will slash billions of pounds from its annual bill for computer systems in a move that could upset technology giants such as Microsoft, Google, Oracle and SAP.
The bank has built its own “internal cloud” — a network of computer servers that can support the development of cutting-edge software. It is also starting to run large parts of its business using Linux, the free internet-based system hailed by experts as superior to offerings from market leaders such as Microsoft.
Combined, the two moves will slash the cost of developing computer systems by as much as 90%, Barclays claims.
Over time, the decision to build everything in-house will also slash annual licence payments made to tech giants for the use of their software.
The likes of Oracle have built their empires by making most of the worlds multinational reliant on their technology
http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/business/Finance/article1188867.eceand from techweekeurope
According to the newspaper, COO for retail and business banking Shaygan Kheradpir is rolling out the new system, which shuns traditional vendors in favour of open source solutions, across various departments of the bank, and he expects to save Barclays billions.
Mind on the money
According to paper, Barclays saved 90 percent of its IT budget by avoiding products from Microsoft, Google, Oracle and SAP. The non-traditional infrastructure has also helped the bank cut down mobile app development time dramatically, and release its PingIt mobile service in seven months instead of two years.
“Both Microsoft and Oracle have long made money from arcane charging models on their operating systems,” commented Tristan Rogers, CEO of collaboration software company ConcretePlatform.
“In modern browser based web development, the use of Windows on your server, for example, is pretty redundant, yet many companies still pay substantial royalties to Microsoft for the privilege. Then there are the SQL and Oracle database costs.
“This move to purpose built cloud ditches MS and Oracle operating systems, and I believe this is where Barclay’s saves its money. This money can then be re-purposed for application development.”
http://www.techweekeurope.co.uk/news/barclays-cloud-open-source-103349?ModPagespeed=noscript
