No1 FX Gets New Grid Solution

4th December 2007




Xchange Business, a leading player in the Bureau de Change and worldwide currency transfer market, has today gone live with its new grid-based bureau system called No1 FX. No1FX is based on the financial services grid architecture (www.fsgrid.com) and has helped to automate XChange Business’s business processes and cut operational costs through allowing rapid deployment to new outlets.

The system is built on top of Corporate Modelling’s Business Processing Grid* and was designed and developed using their enterprise improvement tools along with Microsoft Windows Compute Cluster Server 2003. This joint application development has resulted in a feature rich solution tailored to XChange Business’s exact business requirements.

In the next few weeks the new system will now roll out to over 220 bureau de change outlets throughout the UK, trading under “No1Currency”, and thereafter to the new wave of sites coming shortly.

Mark McElney CEO XChange Business said, “We had a legacy bespoke solution that was limiting our company growth and when we looked around the marketplace there was really nothing that could deliver the real time statistics and reports we needed. By using a custom solution with grid processing we have exactly what we wanted and the power to scale in line with our rapid expansion plans. It provides us with the power and reliability of a mainframe but at a fraction of the cost”

The key to the deployment and new features that have been implemented has been the use of Microsoft’s click once technology making the remote support much easier. Michael Newberry, Product Manager of High Performance Computing (HPC) at Microsoft UK said of the initiative “We are delighted with the work of Corporate Modelling, and the application areas in which they are taking HPC.”

This new system is an example of the work organisations in the financial services sector are doing with grid computing and how it has advantages over a traditional mainframe system especially with the expansion the sector is seeing. Norman Mitchell IT Director of XChange business said, “The power of the system gave us exactly what we want and allows for the future scalability at a low cost and low maintenance to cope with the increase in the number of franchisees”.

About Exchange Business
Xchange Business provide safe and secure worldwide currency transfers for both businesses and private individuals. Under the brand name of No1 Currency they also operate a chain of over 220 bureau de change throughout the UK offering exchange rates you will find hard to beat.
www.xchangebusiness.co.uk

About Corporate Modelling
Corporate Modelling deliver advanced model driven analysis and application generation tools and services and as a founding member of the Financial Services Grid Initiative is to grid based solutions.
www.corporatemodelling.com

About Microsoft
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq "MSFT") is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realise their full potential.
www.microsoft.com