Allied Irish Banks (AIB) has signed a deal with Sun to
switch its 7,500 branches' desktops from Windows to the Linux-based
Java Desktop System (JDS).
The bank deal will be JDS' largest financial services deployment
since the software was introduced in December, according to Sun
vice-president of desktop solutions Curtis Sasaki.
JDS is based on the open-source Linux operating system but
future versions will also run with Sun's own Solaris OS and on thin
clients.
"This deal signifies that the momentum of Java Desktop is moving
it into the mainstream market as an alternative to Microsoft on the
desktop, which until this point hasn't really been around," said
Arlene Adams, Sun's director of software for the UK.
Sun's Irish partner, Horizon Open Systems, a division of Horizon
Technology Group, will bring the systems online next year as part
of AIB's New Branch Banking Platform.
The bank is shifting branch staff across the Republic of
Ireland, Northern Ireland and the UK to the new desktops. The
software will be staff members' interface with all of the branch's
applications, Sun said.
"This is not just the back-office operations, it's the
customer-facing part of the organisation in a type of business that
is paranoid about security and service levels," said Adams. Sun
will provide AIB with direct support and training during the
move.
Sun claimed growing demand for JDS in the financial, education
and government markets. Industry analysts also argued that Linux,
with fewer available applications than Windows, is best suited to
organisations such as banks and call centres which only need a
limited range of software.
JDS' main advantages are freedom from Windows' security concerns
and an adherence to open standards, which gives IT managers more
flexibility in what they choose to deploy across back-end systems,
Sun said.
"In previous years, ironically, you had a desktop that cost a
couple of hundred dollars per seat dictating the IT strategy of a
large bank or telco," Adams said. "Proprietary software on the
desktop limited what you could buy in the datacentre."
Standards adherence also allows organisations to roll out new
applications across websites, branches and other customer access
points more quickly, claimed Sun.
AIB will be using JDS Release 2, introduced last month to
compete directly with Windows and Office. It includes simpler
desktop management tools, is based on Novell's SuSE Linux and
includes Sun's StarOffice with the Mozilla web browser.
Earlier this month Bergen, Norway's second-largest city,
announced it will consolidate older Windows and Unix servers on
Novell's Suse Linux Enterprise Server 8. That deal came shortly
after Munich finished a year-long decision-making process that will
see 14,000 desktops switched from Windows to Linux.
In December, the UK government signed a five-year agreement with
Sun to potentially offer JDS and Java Enterprise System (JES)
software to public sector agencies as part of an overall
open-source push.
Sun also announced the China Standard Software Company will
install JDS on hundreds of millions of computers in the People's
Republic of China, starting with some 500,000 to one million
desktops this year, as part of a Chinese government programme.
IDC has predicted that Linux will be the fastest growing
operating environment over the next five years, while Windows has
hit a plateau with some 98% of the desktop operating system market.
Backed with support from major suppliers Linux will thrive, said
IDC.
However, the analyst firm also noted that Microsoft will be
expected to compete vigorously, even using its huge installed base
as a competitive tool to deflect Linux's ability to penetrate the
industry.
Matthew Broersma writes for Techworld.com