BNP Paribas Arbitrage is implementing Grid technology from Platform Computing to harness the spare computing capacity from 2000 desktop PCs for running calculations at its equity and derivatives division.
Platform says the bank will use its Symphony technology to re-use the unutilised capacity of 2000 desktops PC. The system will also be used with 500 dedicated servers to further boost BNP Paribas' processing capacity.
The vendor says the bank's existing IT model wasn't able to support the growing market demand for the bank's risk, pricing and value at risk (VAR) calculations. Platform says previouly only 10% of the bank's desktop capacity was being used, but its Symphony product can increase resource utilisation by 80%, without the need to invest in any additional hardware.
Platform's system is currently being deployed across the 2000 desktops which continue to be used to process normal work during the day, but are used to run equity calculations at night. Platforms says the system may eventually be used to extend the capacity of an additional 5000+ desktop PCs in the future.
Bernard Gavgani, COO at BNP Paribas, comments: "Working with Platform to adopt an enterprise grid computing model is fundamental to our growth strategy for the future. Already with Platform Symphony we will be able to maximise the return from our existing IT investments, reducing further spending while simplifying the management of our infrastructure and systems."
BNP Paribas said last month that it had deployed DataSynapse GridServer at its London derivatives operations, and plans to roll the technology out to additional sites in New York and Tokyo, to improve performance of its collateralised debt obligation (CDO) business.