Computer systems that deal in pounds, shillings and pence are at the core of IT infrastructures at some of the UK's biggest banks. Banking services depend on legacy systems 24-hours a day, even though they are expensive to maintain and inflexible. The complexity of replacing hundreds of applications developed, acquired and integrated over a long period using proprietary methods makes the task "analogous to an archaeological dig", says Don Free, research director at analyst firm Gartner. Furthermore, banks have not been in a hurry to change things because there has been no pressing business case to do so, says Justin Speake, chief executive at research company Bloor. "Banks have not had to invest aggressively in IT because they have been making lots of money," he says.
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