Scottish Power is hoping to cut costs and improve business processes by moving its UK commercial and industrial customers to a single billing system.

By replacing six legacy applications with one billing system from Hansen Technologies, the utility firm will also ensure it meets regulatory requirements.

The company has chosen data integration software from Informatica to manage the migration process, which it expects to complete in the next year.

'Through acquisitions we have inherited a variety of billing systems which we are looking to consolidate for our industrial and commercial customer base,' said Derek Johnston, UK IT director at Scottish Power.

'There will be some immediate benefits in terms of reducing IT support costs, but there will be bigger benefits in terms of overall business performance.'

Informatica's PowerCenter Advanced Edition product will ensure that Scottish Power meets Sarbanes-Oxley data control and auditability requirements, and provide accurate data by automating much of the migration.

The utility firm has relied on custom hand-coding techniques to access and migrate critical customer data in previous projects.

'We find that with Sarbanes-Oxley the need for improved adaptability is quite onerous, but a lot of the controls and reporting functionality comes as standard with the Informatica product,' said Johnston.

Scottish Power also hopes to reduce IT support costs.

'There are two legacy systems with high support costs that we will reduce,' said Johnston.

New systems could also improve accounting practices for corporate energy customers by ensuring all invoicing is presented in a consistent way.

'At the moment there are subtle differences in terms of how billing is presented on each system,' said Johnston.