In the announcement, CIO Karl Landert says that "forming DynamicOps provides Credit Suisse with the opportunity to realize a return on its software investment, as well as properly form and fund a software organization that can help meet its current and future technology needs, as we continue to roll out our dynamic data center vision." (To read about Landert's promotion and former CIO Sanzone's sudden departure, see "Credit Suisse CIO Jumps Ship to Merrill Lynch Amid Industry Turmoil.")

Credit Suisse has already "made our leap in terms of competitive advantage," Yatko says, "and now it was about being able to realize the full value of our software asset and perhaps offer that as an industrywide capability that could add value and really demonstrate the entrepreneurship of the technology organization. It made sense."

As to competitors using the VRM product, "we still have a unique advantage to early adopters who will be consuming this technology," Yatko says.

In fact, Credit Suisse stated that the VRM software is currently installed in other large IT organizations in financial services as well as other industries. "We're selling to and working with a lot of clients who are other financial institutions that compete head to head with Credit Suisse," says DynamicOps CEO Krueger.

Virtualization is spreading widely within financial services. Credit Suisse competitor Merrill Lynch, for example, plans to virtualize half of its 63,000 employee desktops within five years, thereby cutting 50 percent from the cost of managing and owning PCs and servers, notes a recent article.

In addition, Yatko points out that a vendor in growth and startup mode, like DynamicOps, might be able to do even more with the VRM product than could have been done internally at Credit Suisse. And, in the long run, he says, that will only help Credit Suisse as it continues to build upon its data center strategy with a known vendor by its side.

© 2009 CXO Media Inc.