Instead of outsourcing its research surveys, BankWest has moved its customer programs back in-house and is utilizing a new Web-based application.

The bank deployed the open-architecture platform to give its staff more control over its complex surveying process, and to free-up its IT shop from the program's technical problems.

BankWest strategic analysis manager Simon Edwards said the outsourced provider did not have the technical expertise to work with the organization's Corporate and Business Division SME customers.

"While BankWest offers simple and straightforward products, in relative terms, business banking and finance is a complex category," Edwards said.

"The contact channels for the customer are multi-dimensional and the decision to purchase finance from a business bank is far more complex than with a personal banking product.

"We have had significant internal demand for the program beyond its scope since its implementation [and] the ability to now control the data collection loop end-to-end allows us to easily service this demand."

BankWest implemented the Dimensions platform from predictive analytics vendor SPSS which allows the company to author, analyze and share results across the division.