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Australian Securities Exchange completes Red Hat migration

The exchange has migrated 'mission-critical' legacy applications to Red Hat, after first deploying the company's JBoss Enterprise Application Platform in 2011.
Written by Asha Barbaschow, Contributor

The Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) has completed the migration of "mission-critical" legacy applications to the Red Hat JBoss Enterprise Application Platform (JBoss EAP).

ASX first deployed JBoss EAP in 2011 to modernise its legacy technologies and to facilitate the introduction of new web applications after it realised its legacy application server platform was becoming increasingly inconsistent, unstable, and expensive.

After the initial ASX Online Company migration was complete in 2012, ASX used JBoss EAP to build the ASX.com API, as well as its Sharemarket Game, which gives players the opportunity to learn how the share market works.

ASX now runs critical B2B applications on Red Hat, including ASX Online, which is used daily by publicly-listed companies to update prices, issue company announcements, and report to the market.

In addition to JBoss EAP, the exchange also uses Red Hat JBoss Web Server, Red Hat Enterprise Linux, and Red Hat Consulting from the open-source software provider, as well as receiving on-site Linux training.

The exchange serves 6.7 million shareholders and more than 2,200 listed companies and issuers, and according to Red Hat, as a result of implementing JBoss EAP, the ASX's website and application reboot times are 60 times faster than with the legacy application.

Earlier this month, the ASX announced that US-based blockchain firm Digital Asset will be responsible for replacing its Clearing House Electronic Subregister System (CHESS) with a distributed ledger solution.

The CHESS system -- which dates back to the 1990s -- is used by the ASX to record shareholdings and manage the clearing and settlement of equity transactions publicly listed in Australia.

The ASX said the decision to choose Digital Asset follows the successful build of enterprise-grade distributed ledger technology (DLT) software for core equity clearing and settlement functions, as well as the completion of testing over the past two years by both parties.

For the 2017 financial year, the exchange reported AU$434.1 million in after-tax profit.

Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) came in at AU$583.2 million, while revenue saw a AU$17.8 million year-on-year increase to AU$764.1 million.

Expenses for the reported period rose by 6 percent to AU$180.9 million, and capital expenditure was AU$50.3 million.

The spending related to continued infrastructure upgrades, CEO Dominic Stevens said, which included progress on the DLT project and the new futures trading platform, which was sent live during the 12-month period.

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