The status quo consists of expensive licensing deals, even more pricey setupcosts followed by ongoing maintenance and consulting fees just to keep the software up to date.
Egenera computers may cost 30% more than a comparable amount of bargain-basement processing, but their centrally managed operations eliminate setup and maintenance costs, as well as cables and multiple copies of systems.
Scale enables BlackRock to spread costs associated with personnel and technology setup over a larger asset pool and investor base letting it charge a more competitive investment advisory fee while maintaining higher operating margins.