Merrill Lynch is to use VMware 's virtualisation software in a
massive desktop upgrade and server consolidation project.
It is migrating its desktop environment from Microsoft's Windows NT
to XP. As part of the project, Merrill Lynch will deploy 27,000
licences of VMware's Workstation product on traders' desktops to
enable access to legacy NT applications while running XP
simultaneously.
The move will ensure backward compatibility with Merrill Lynch's
legacy desktop environment while allowing the company to move to a
newer technology.
Merrill Lynch will use VMware's server product to consolidate
multiple physical servers onto larger systems, including some
within the company's application development group.
Merrill Lynch, which tested the software extensively before
committing to using it, will save millions of dollars from the
move, according to a company spokesman who did not elaborate or
further quantify the savings.
VMware sells software-based partitioning products that allow users
to carve an Intel-based server into multiple virtual slices, each
of which can run a separate Windows or Linux application.
The company's workstation product has shipped since 1999. VMware
entered the server market last year.
The Merrill Lynch deal illustrates the growing attention the
technology is getting from large companies.
"The numbers [of licences] at Merrill speak for themselves," said
Illuminata analyst Gordon Haff. "We are beginning to see VMware in
some large environments."
A key driver is the software's ability to allow users to control
Wintel server proliferation and exploit underused systems.