Yorkshire Water has integrated its IT systems to improve the way that it delivers services.

The utility has installed software from IBM to unite systems serving 1.7 million customers.

Steve Giles, a middleware architect at Yorkshire Water, says the technology has modernised the organisation’s systems and made it more responsive to customer needs.

‘We realised there was a challenge to improve customer service while at the same time reducing costs,’ he said.

The IBM Websphere system now underpins Yorkshire Water’s call centre, and the operation of its supply chain management, finance, and enterprise resource management systems.

The water company’s IT staff can now be much more flexible when the business requires new processes to be implemented, says Giles.

‘We are able to respond quickly and efficiently and get amended versions of systems out to people incredibly quickly,’ he said.

‘We see it as an important part of our long-term technology infrastructure.’