Schwab is certainly not alone when it comes to piloting grid computing. Dushyant Shahrawat, a senior analyst with the TowerGroup in Needham, Mass., says that many firms are tire- kicking the concept, but are still in phase one of the lifecycle. Some firms are testing it in the front office, others in the back office. The real value, he says, will come when the grid is extended across the middle, back and front office. "Mass implementations are still a couple of years away," Shahrawat says, adding that no one will be there before 2006.
In the meantime, firms will approach grid computing in stages. The first phase will consist of point solutions, with firms testing grid to run certain applications within the firewall. The long-term vision of grid, however, is much grander. It includes linking all computing power within a company and even extending it beyond to a utility-computing model, where people plug into a computing grid and pay for usage. It's similar to the way that an electric grid works, where power is routed through the grid to where the demand is most required.
Risk calculations ripe for grid at RBC
However, that's the grandiose vision. For now, firms will be testing it in areas that require high-computing power. One of those areas is risk-management computation.
Don DiPalma, chief technology officer at RBC Capital Markets, part of RBC Financial Group in Toronto, is running two grid pilots. One comprises 50 servers and the other about 70 machines.
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