The right customer information system can help you exceed expectations through
flexibility, reduced costs, and stronger customer allegiance.
Multiple forces - including
increasing regulatory and shareholder pressures, deregulation, budgetary
constraints, shifting customer expectations, and technological advances
- are impacting the way utility companies conduct business. To thrive in
this changing environment, utilities need to reduce operating costs, rapidly
introduce new and innovative customer- oriented services, and dramatically
improve the flexibility of customer pricing and offerings to gain market
share in an unregulated marketplace and increase customer loyalty in a regulated
one. Utility organizations today gain competitive advantage not only through
their products but also by exceeding their customersı expectations and,
subsequently, building customer allegiance.
Most utility companies have customerfacing systems that are between 8 and
10 years old. Far behind the technology curve, these older customer care
systems are cumbersome, expensive to operate and maintain, and inflexible
in the face of an unregulated environmentıs unknown demands. Attempting
to modify older systems to meet newer, shifting customer needs often leads
to inefficient point-topoint system interfaces, expensive system modifications,
add-ons, and extensive manual work-around. These attempts to use older systems
often result in redundant employee work efforts and unclear customer ownership
across departments, functions, business units, and geographies. An overall
plan for efficient use - and eventual replacement - of these older systems
is needed.
BearingPoint, one of the worldıs
largest business consulting and systems
integration firms, understands that
todayıs utility companies need a comprehensive
customer care system support
plan that identifies key customer-facing
components and allows a modular
approach to incrementally migrate from,
or efficiently enhance, legacy customeroriented
systems. It is only through
careful development of a coordinated
blueprint for true customer-centricity
that utilities can operate within a longterm
framework for customer information
systems (CIS) success.
A Successful Case in Point
One case for this vision was represented
in our recent collaboration with a North
American energy and power company
client. Our client owns and operates several
subsidiary companies that distribute
electricity, generate power and provide
energy services, and transmit data. Its
employees focus on providing reliable,
effective, and efficient services to customers
while delivering value to its
shareholders. The company was formed
through the amalgamation of five local
utility companies and found itself using
five separate CIS systems to manage customer
information and deliver billing and
collection services.
Several of the systems were older than others, so the client decided to
migrate all operating companies to one of the more recently implemented
systems; however, once the systems were migrated, the client found that
the chosen system could not handle the scale of information and data for
the combined organization. Response times to customer requests were suffering,
and the accuracy of billing data declined. Due to the non-integrated business
processes, billing cycles were not in sync, and the client hired more staff
to perform manual billing and other functions. Furthermore, the company
was formed at a time when significant regulatory changes were being introduced in its
marketplace, further complicating its
technical and business challenges.
Wanting to remain competitive in the
newly deregulated marketplace while
continuing to offer superior service to
its existing customers, the client determined
that it needed a new CIS. Client
management viewed this project as an
opportunity to transform its operations
and move toward a more cohesive union
between the operating companies, whose
business processes and operations were
drastically different from each other.
Because the CIS solution offered by
PeopleSoft had been implemented successfully
at more than 20 utilities, and
not wanting to risk a failing project, the
client selected PeopleSoftıs customer
management system. Additionally,
PeopleSoft CIS best matched the clientıs
requirements, including the ability to
connect with an electronic shared service
operated by the state that electronically
transfers customers to another
provider upon request.
With its own IT resources stretched to
capacity, and wanting to leverage the
knowledge of a seasoned PeopleSoft CIS
integrator, the client turned to
BearingPoint for assistance in implementing
the application.
The clientıs objective for the project was
to quickly and efficiently implement a new
CIS. The client viewed this project as critical
to improving its ability to effectively serve
its customers and as a foundation for offering
additional services to its residential,
wholesale, and commercial customers.
Furthermore, the client wanted to limit
changes to the software package by modifying
business practices to meet its requirements
for the system.
Working together with PeopleSoft and
another market provider, BearingPoint
implemented PeopleSoft Customer
Information System 8.8 in an accelerated,
14-month timeframe using our R2i (Rapid
Return on Investment)ı framework. We
developed a detailed requirements document
outlining the business process functionality
capable through the application and helped
the client develop new roles, responsibilities,
and procedures to support the new
functionality.
Collaboration with the client was a necessary
and critical component of this project.
To increase the success of the
engagement, we worked closely with key
stakeholders to understand their business
requirements and to prepare end users for
use of the application. Our teams took the
client from phases of preparation, validation,
training, and simulation into deployment.
As a result of this project, the client
will gain an integrated customer management
system that combines a rich array of
capabilities in one system. The system
provides users access to detailed data on
customers, rate structure, metering, field
orders, billing, payments, adjustments,
and revenue collection. This application
will allow the client to deliver lower-cost
services and leverage strategic information
to better serve those customers.
Furthermore, the application will allow the
client to meet regulatory requirements and
will become a foundation for the future
growth of the company.
The Value Chain of Stronger CIS in Utilities
With the continuing deregulation of electricity
markets in North America, local
utilities need superior customer service,
cost management, and cost takeout to
maintain customer loyalty and provide
competitive rates of return. We believe
that implementations of new CIS solutions
can help utilities improve systems to
maintain a competitive edge, especially
with respect to designing and building
modifications that enable clients to meet
very specialized, regulatory-imposed needs
on a state- or province-specific basis in
North America.
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