With banks in the Seoul metropolitan area expected to wind up their own state-of-the-art IT systems late this year, banks in the provinces will begin developing similar IT systems in the second half of the year. The project worth 100 billion won (US$80.8 million) is expected to breathe new life into the country's IT market for provincial financial institutions.
Of the three major provincial banks, Daegu, Jeonbuk and Busan banks, Daegu Bank still uses IBM mainframes. It will launch its own project of developing next-generation IT systems worth 50 billion won (US$40.4 million) either late this year or early next year. It will first send out a request for information (RFI) to the IT industry in July or August. The bank will also review whether to downsize its mainframe operating systems.
Jeonbuk Bank has a current deployment of HP Unix server systems and has also decided to focus on developing its own server infrastructure and database management systems while maintaining core banking solutions. After its management innovation committee finishes a review late in May, the bank will launch the project with the goal to finish it by November.
It is also highly likely that Busan Bank, also working with IBM mainframes, will finalize a similar project this year. A Busan Bank executive said that after its head office finishes revamping the database center it will work out a plan to push for similar next-generation IT systems as well.
