Italy's BPU Banca is to migrate from Sun Solaris to Red Hat Enterprise Linux across its desktops in an effort to reduce workstation costs by 50%.
The bank is migrating all of its 8000 UNIX workstation clients to Red Hat Desktop. Sun hardware will be replaced with Intel-based PCs in a project intended to achieve combined hardware and software cost savings of about 50%. The migration will enable the use of PCs in dual-boot mode to support Linux and Microsoft Windows without additional cost.
Roberto Semplici, account executive Red Hat Italy, says the project will act as a clear proof of concept for the open source system in the Italian banking sector, "opening the path to future Linux implementations in this market sector".
BPU Banca is aiming to complete the switch by the end of this year. Future plans include extending the scope of Linux to encompass the group's entire server infrastructure.