J.P. Morgan Taps IBM's DB2 for Asset Management Systems

The agreement marks the bank's first step in migrating from Sybase to standardize on IBM's database servers and tools.

A multi-million dollar technology deal announced by J.P. Morgan last month calls for the bank to replace legacy Sybase database applications in its asset management services division with IBM's DB2 Universal database. Besides DB2, the selection includes IBM's WebSphere Web Application software and VisualAge for Java application development tool, which are being utilized by J.P. Morgan's Arrakis Internet technology division to launch Morgan Online See related adjacent story.

According to an IBM spokesperson, the agreement marks the bank's first step in migrating from Sybase to standardize on IBM's database servers and tools. "This process will take place over the next couple of years, but DB2 is going to be the standard database at J.P. Morgan," she said.

However, spokesmen for both J.P. Morgan and Sybase, said, Sybase will continue to be used in other areas of the bank including trading floor operations, and will be considered for all future firmwide implementations. But the bank's spokesman declined to say why Sybase was being removed from the asset management business and which specific applications ran on it. As recently as February, J.P. Morgan said it would work with Sybase to build the firm's new multi-million dollar Web-based derivatives venture, Cygnifi, in which Sybase is an investor.

When asked why the bank selected IBM, the spokesman said: "What we're trying to do is create a universal platform in which we can plug and play tools from a variety of vendors. We chose DB2 because of its high volume transactional and data repository capabilities," said the spokesman.

Even IBM concedes its contract doesn't cover a longer-term, firmwide rollout to replace competitive products in areas like investment banking and market data. Jeff Jones, senior program manager in IBM's Data Management Solutions group, said, "It's a staged strategy for J.P. Morgan, and that strategy is their business. We have not tried to go in and dictate how they migrate or when."