IBM and Reuters turn to Linux for support of Reuters Market Data System

IBM eSERVER TO SUPPORT REUTERS MARKET DATA SYSTEM
 
SOMERS, N.Y. October 20, 2003 - IBM and Reuters today have agreed to support
Reuters Market Data System (RMDS) on IBM's eServer xSeries and eServer
BladeCenter systems running Linux.
 
RMDS is Reuters next-generation software platform for integration of
financial market data.  Reuters announced a Linux-based version of the RMDS
application earlier this year.  The planned support of RMDS on xSeries
servers and BladeCenter represents another milestone in the expansion of
Linux into the enterprise, and is an important example of how financial
services companies are deploying mission-critical applications on Linux to
benefit from its open, flexible and cost-effective nature.
 
RMDS provides customers with a scalable, cost-effective means to aggregate
and distribute market-related data throughout the financial enterprise, and
has been designed to meet the performance and reliability requirements of
today's marketplace.  Improved hardware selection and support for blade
systems gives customers the opportunity to reduce data latency and respond
faster to market movements, to cope with rapidly increasing market data
rates, and to lower their total cost of managing real time data. The xSeries
and IBM BladeCenter support allows Reuters customers to upgrade their
existing market data applications to RMDS on Linux and take advantage of the
power, density and performance advantages of IBM's technologies.
 
"Our customers have asked us to support IBM's BladeCenter hardware for the
market data infrastructure they have come to rely upon," said Peter
Lankford, Vice President, Reuters Enterprise Information Solutions.  "We are
very happy to partner with IBM, a leader in the Linux community.  IBM's
strength in Linux solutions, from hardware to software to services, means
they can provide offerings with the quality and selection that our customers
demand."
 
IBM's consulting capabilities and industry insight in Linux, financial
markets and trading room floors coupled with the eServer BladeCenter will be
a strong combination.  IBM eServer BladeCenter is designed to help
businesses reduce their total cost of ownership by offering the ability to
quickly and easily add individual thin servers as required.
 
"RMDS is the critical infrastructure for managing real time data on which
financial institutions depend. With no single point of failure,
BladeCenter's unmatched resilience is a key attribute when supporting
real-time market data feeds," said Jeff Benck, vice president eServer
BladeCenter. "Combined with IBM's significant investment in the integration
of Linux within eServer products such as BladeCenter, this solution will
greatly reduce a customers total cost of ownership."
 
About IBM
IBM is the world's largest information technology company, with 80 years of
leadership in helping businesses innovate. Drawing on resources from across
IBM and key Business Partners, IBM offers a wide range of services,
solutions and technologies that enable customers, large and small, to take
full advantage of the new era of e-business. For more information about IBM,
visit www.ibm.com <http://www.ibm.com/> 
 
About Reuters
Reuters (www.about.reuters.com), the global information company, provides
indispensable information tailored for professionals in the financial
services, media and corporate markets. Our information is trusted and drives
decision making across the globe based on our reputation for speed, accuracy
and independence. We have 16,000 staff in 94 countries, including some 2,400
editorial staff in 197 bureaux serving approximately 130 countries, making
Reuters the world's largest international multimedia news agency. In 2002,
the Reuters Group had revenues of £3.6 billion. 
Reuters and the sphere logo are the trademarks of the Reuters group of
companies.
 
# # #
 
IBM, BladeCenter, TotalStorage and the IBM e-business logo are trademarks or
registered trademarks of International Business Machines Corporation.
 
Intel and Xeon are trademarks or registered trademarks of Intel Corporation.
 
Reuters, Reuters Market Data System, TIB, Triarch and RMDS are trademarks or
registered trademarks of Reuters.
 
All other company/product names and service marks may be trademarks or
registered trademarks of their respective companies.