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Leading Financial-Services Firms Migrate to Microsoft Windows NT for Mission-Critical Needs

Strategic Insights

— 2 min read

The nation's largest securities firms and banks are rapidly migrating their mission-critical applications to the Microsoft Windows NT operating system. Companies like Merrill Lynch, Charles Schwab, and Citicorp are adopting the platform to improve customer service, increase efficiency, and reduce costs. The accelerated momentum in the financial-services industry for Windows NT-based systems is helping to make the operating system the fastest-growing platform for distributed computing.

Key Takeaways:

  • Merrill Lynch will implement Windows NT on all 700 branch-office servers and 25,000 desktops, making it the world's largest securities firm to adopt the platform.
  • Charles Schwab rejected a Sun- and UNIX-based desktop platform in favor of a Windows NT Workstation-based solution, citing lower costs and improved client service.
  • Sanford C. Bernstein & Company Inc. has chosen Windows NT-based solutions due to lower costs and the ability to provide better client service, migrating 25 servers and 400 workstations to Microsoft BackOffice.
  • Interstate/Johnson Lane replaced its mainframe-based solution with a wide-area network based on Windows NT Server and Microsoft SQL Server to give brokers better access to information.
  • Citicorp is developing its next-generation automated teller machines and in-branch kiosks on Windows NT Workstation, planning to introduce over 10,000 Windows NT Workstation-based ATM kiosks and staff workstations over the next three years.
  • Key Corp. is upgrading its entire branch network to a Windows NT-based system using Olivetti Corp.'s Mosaic OA branch-management software, providing a foundation for database-driven targeted selling, interactive video banking, and smart cards.
  • Microsoft BackOffice, a set of strategic server applications, provides a platform for new-generation business applications, including Microsoft Windows NT Server, Microsoft SQL Server, Microsoft SNA Server, Microsoft Systems Management Server, and Microsoft Mail Server.
  • The company's clients are adopting Microsoft Windows NT and BackOffice to improve customer service, increase efficiency, decrease training and support costs, and deploy new solutions more quickly to meet new opportunities.

Statistics:

  • Shipments of Windows NT Server increased 70 percent between the first and second quarters of 1995, substantially outshipping NetWare 4.x, according to figures from International Data Corp. (IDC).
  • Seven of the top 10 securities firms and 11 of the top 15 banks are actively deploying applications based on Windows NT and the BackOffice integrated family of server software.
  • Merrill Lynch is implementing Windows NT on all 700 branch-office servers and 25,000 desktops, marking a significant deployment of the platform.

Sources:

  • "PR Newswire" - October 10, 1995
  • International Data Corp. (IDC) - Figures on Windows NT Server shipments
  • Microsoft Corporation - Press Release, October 10, 1995
  • Microsoft Corporation - Microsoft BackOffice and Windows NT information
  • Novell Inc. - NetWare 4.x information
  • Sun Microsystems Inc. - Sun information
  • Intel Corporation - Intel information
  • X/Open Company Ltd. - UNIX information
  • Digital Equipment Corporation - VMS information

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