J.P. Morgan will fine-tune its data-base and Web systems with technology from International Business Machines Corp.
The New York banking company will install IBM's DB2 Universal Database and its VisualAge for Java to run on its existing mix of IBM, Sun, and Compaq servers. It also selected the Armonk, N.Y., company's WebSphere Application Server.
DB2 will help J.P. Morgan build "a flexible platform to create options," said Pierre-Jean Crouy, Morgan's vice president of application development. DB2 can handle high volumes of on-line transactions and data storage and will help the company "adapt to Internet speed," he said.
Steven Mills, general manager of IBM Software Solutions, said, "With DB2, customers will get a product that is feature-rich and can readily adopt transaction processing capabilities, datawaring, and business intelligence." It is "fully Web-enabled," he said.
Mr. Crouy stressed that J.P. Morgan is not replacing existing technology but will use the new software to add options, develop applications faster, and address new market opportunities better.
It used to be that firms like Morgan became "IBM shops," Mr. Crouy said. In today's economy, "integration is the best solution," he said.
J.P. Morgan said it expects to start implementing DB2 by the end of April, beginning with the asset management business. Because many of J.P. Morgan's core applications already run on IBM technology, the implementation should go smoothly, Mr. Crouy said.
The global markets and asset management services divisions of J.P. Morgan already have adopted IBM's VisualAge for Java to write, compile, and test the programming language. The company plans to make the software its standard tool for the development of Java applications.
IBM's WebSphere software has worked well in smaller applications at J.P. Morgan and will be implemented companywide.
The deal with IBM was announced Tuesday.
Besides J.P. Morgan, eight brokerage firms including Merrill Lynch and ADP Brokerage Services have installed DB2 in the past six months, IBM officials said.
