Budget airline EasyJet is embarking on a major integration project to improve visibility of its financial and customer data.

The company is to consolidate data held in a combination of bespoke and off-the-shelf systems into a Microsoft SQL Server 2005 data warehouse.

Integration tools will then allow the firm to provide a single view of information, says EasyJet head of software delivery Paul Curtis.

‘We have been very careful to maintain all our data since we launched our first flight 11 years ago, but we need to be smarter in how we use this wealth of information,’ he said.

Because EasyJet has developed rapidly, systems have expanded organically to support growth, resulting in a number of disparate applications, says Curtis.

The first objective is to replace financial software before deploying a more sophisticated customer relationship management (CRM) system next year.

The low-cost carrier business model is maturing and it is the ideal time to consolidate systems and improve data management, according to Forrester analyst Henry Harteveldt.

‘Although growth is slowing, the need for EasyJet to understand its customers and position itself for future growth is still of critical importance,’ he said. ‘This is a wise move and an intelligent use of limited IT resources.’

Although established online, EasyJet does not have a customer loyalty programme, which limits the amount of information it can effectively gather.

‘Gathering new information on customers will allow it to understand buying patterns and add new flights or routes where necessary,’ said Harteveldt.

EasyJet is also launching a web site combining flights and hotel packages, based on Microsoft’s .Net technology.