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IBM targets virtualized services at the financial services sector

Opinion
Nov 17, 20052 mins
Data CenterIBM

* IBM aims server consolidation message at financial services groups

IBM expanded its BladeCenter environment last week by offering systems specifically designed for financial services and banking organizations, with an emphasis on consolidated, centralized computing.

The System Solutions for Branch Banking use BladeCenter or xSeries servers and centralizes operations to the data center. The BladeCenter or xSeries servers are managed with IBM Director.

In addition, customers can use IBM’s Virtualized Hosted Client Infrastructure with ClearCube to consolidate the PC infrastructure and reduce support costs. With the Virtualized Hosted Client Infrastructure a BladeCenter blade or xSeries server is virtualized into as many as 12 to 15 virtual machines. ClearCube client access technology is used to access these virtualized servers.

IBM last month announced a Virtualized Hosted Client Infrastructure with Citrix, which uses Citrix’s Presentation server to access BladeCenter blades or Xeon-based xSeries servers.

Using IBM’s Branch Transformation software, customers can build fully managed desktops for their branch offices.

The Systems Solutions for Branch Banking include all the software, networking, servers and security needed to centralize operations.

IBM is offering its Virtualized Hosted Client Infrastructure and all its partnerships through IBM Global Services.

A Branch Banking Proof of Concept services which includes the hardware, software and services to build a limited branch test is available for under $100,000.

The IBM Virtualized Hosted Client Infrastructure is expected to be available in the first half of 2006.