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Mainframe Modernization: Maximizing The Potential Of A Mixed Environment |
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 Today’s customers expect 24/7/365 service, and systems must be able to support STP and fast product development cycles. Old legacy systems that run on mainframes cannot keep up with these demands, and financial institutions are well aware that it will be increasingly difficult to compete when their core systems are not up to scratch. In addition, most commercial software is being developed in modern languages for a server environment, not for mainframes.
These issues are driving financial institutions to sunset their legacy systems and modernize their mainframes with the objective of lowering operating costs, gaining greater flexibility, accelerating new product development and creating competitive advantage. Modular, componentized approaches are a flexible and cost-effective way to accomplish this goal. Moreover, service-oriented architecture, Web services and EAI software are making it much easier for platforms to work well together.
To this end, firms no longer have to think in terms of being a Unix shop, a Linux shop, or a mainframe shop. They can operate a more complex environment without having a much greater support burden.
Ultimately skill set, scalability and cost are the major factors financial institutions will consider when they choose a solution. Here, six major players in mainframe modernization share their thoughts and talk about their offerings, all of which have had a significant impact on the financial services industry in the US and around the world.
Sherree DeCovny, Contributing Editor
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Major Exchanges Make the Migration from the Mainframe to Microsoft |
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 Coping with continual growth in market data volumes and keeping pace
with the speed to today’s markets are among the driving forces
propelling exchanges to continually invest in technology that will
deliver the flexibility, scalability, security, performance and
availability that exchanges demand. To meet these needs some of the
world’s largest exchanges are beginning to migrate away from their
mainframe environments and move onto Microsoft platforms. From South
America, to Europe, to the US, exchanges such as Bovespa, The Pacific
Exchange, now part of NYSE Arca, the London Stock Exchange and EuroNext
have selected the Microsoft platform for mission-critical processes.
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Freedom of Choice: The Realities of Mainframe Modernization in 2007 |
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 What do Richie Havens and Devo have to do with mainframe migration? No, it’s not a stretch.
Havens will be forever remembered for his opening-act performance of the song “Freedom” at the Woodstock music festival in 1969, the “coming out” party of the rock ‘n roll gener-ation. And “Freedom of Choice” was the third album by New Wave musicians Devo, released in 1980, which contains their most well known song, “Whip It.”
During the late 60s and into the 80s, hundreds of financial industry firms bought and have since relied on mainframe computers main-tained now by a graying workforce, some of whom probably were among the tens of thousands on the grass at Woodstock or, in the 80s, danced indoors to Devo’s tunes.
Today, Richie Havens still performs. Devo? It’s rumored they’ve recorded a new version of “Whip It” for a Swifter TV commercial, which they’ve said they regret. Just like so many main- frame owners who wished they had moved away from their mainframes years ago.
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The Bank of Hawaii Engineers an ATM Mainframe Migration to Windows |
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 The Bank of Hawaii depends on its ATM network to provide cash to
tourists, serve the customers of the credit unions that have service
agreements with the banks, and to support local businesses by providing
currency and rolls of coins through its Super ATMs. The $10.2 billion
bank, which operates 500 ATMs throughout Hawaii, Guam, American Samoa,
Palau and Saipan, processes about three million transactions a month.
So
when the bank’s ATM software contract with ACI was coming up for
renewal, it began looking for alternatives to the Tandem – now HP
Nonstop – system that was at the core of its ATM operations.
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CyberTrader Helps Schwab Help the Active Strategic Investor |
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 When The Charles Schwab Corporation bought CyberTrader, the direct access, high-tech trading brokerage, in March 2000, it acquired much more than a broker-dealer for very active traders. Schwab obtained a leading-edge technology firm that was profitable in its own business of supporting sophisticated strategic traders. CyberTrader was also fully capable of providing Schwab with cutting-edge, money saving Microsoft-based technology that transformed its brokerage business.
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Former Pacific Exchange Migrates to Improve Processing Power |
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 Two years ago, the Pacific Exchange realized that it was beginning to run out of processing power in its data center. It had a contract for 85 MIPS on an outsourced mainframe for its clearing and billing system, and the fast-growing options business was pretty close to using up all that capacity.
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