Private banking group Kredietbank Luxembourg has begun an implementation programme to migrate its IDMS databases to IBM's DB2 mainframe, in partnership with integration services firm ManTech Systems Solutions Corporation (MSSC). The move will represent the largest IT project the bank has ever deployed.
At the end of the two-year project, DB2 will be the primary mainframe database in the bank and the number of database management systems will be reduced. This will minimise the costs associated with developing new applications, as well as removing the constraints imposed by old systems, say the companies.
IDMS is a legacy network database which offered only limited scope for KBL's continued systems evolution, says the bank. The migration programme will build on existing infrastructures rather than simply converting the mainframe to a self-contained DB2 environment.
Jean-Luc Martino, head of KBL IT, comments: "We were aware that our existing applications were both robust and functionally rich, so we did not want to have to re-write them to work on DB2. It was therefore both logical and cost-effective to save the inherent value and convert them to DB2. Once converted, they can be developed further as business requirements evolve and change."