Nationwide upgrades mainframes and storage

Nationwide building society has upgraded its IT infrastructure to a new Unisys mainframe that promises to boost processing power by 25 per cent.

The building society has overhauled its ClearPath Dorado mainframes at its Swindon technology centre and Wellingborough development and disaster recovery centre. It has also implemented a high-performance EMC disk storage system to support database-intensive applications and customer service requirements.

"Nationwide anticipates that the upgraded ClearPath systems, enhanced storage and extended support Unisys provides will enable us to continue growing and accommodating an expanding customer base more effectively while lowering our IT costs over the long-term," said Michael Humphreys, IT director at Nationwide Building Society.

The company has deployed Unisys ClearPath Dorado mainframes using pay-for-use features to increase processing capacity by a minimum of 25 per cent, giving customers faster access to online services. The deployment has been important in establishing a real-time infrastructure, where information technology quickly serves strategic business processes.

A key part of Nationwide Building Society's expansion strategy is a planned merger with the UK's Portman Building Society, which is expected to become effective by the end of August 2007, subject to confirmation by the Financial Services Authority.

Rene Millman

Rene Millman is a freelance writer and broadcaster who covers cybersecurity, AI, IoT, and the cloud. He also works as a contributing analyst at GigaOm and has previously worked as an analyst for Gartner covering the infrastructure market. He has made numerous television appearances to give his views and expertise on technology trends and companies that affect and shape our lives. You can follow Rene Millman on Twitter.