The latest update to last week’s Barclays Bank Plc story (CI No 1,965) is that five of Digital Equipment Corp’s Alpha-ready VAX 7000/610 machines are replacing 20 VAX 8000 and 6000 boxes at three Barclay’s datacentres. According to Barclays Computer Operations, Barclay’s services arm which manages the data centres, the old kit was installed over a period of one to four years. The reason for the upgrade, claims Computer Operations, is to manage the data centres better. They are accessed by 3,000 UK and 6,000 international users including Barclays Network Services. The new machines will run electronic mail, time management and office software. As for its Alpha plans, the bank hinted that the new kit could be upgraded to Alpha in a year’s time but it will not commit to any definite Alpha policy. As for its tie with IBM Corp, Barclays says it only has nine RS/6000s, which it has used for evaluation as part of its open systems strategy.
