Change management in the real world

Corporate Overview
The corporate environment in which AM/FM was being implemented created a great deal of new complexity and risk for the project.

When the project started in late 1997, the company had just been through major organizational restructuring. This restructuring had radically changed business units, departments, job functions and had resulted in layoffs. The climate around the organization was very tense; employees were experiencing high levels of stress and the business was struggling to adapt to major change. In this environment, it was difficult to gain buy-in for AM/FM, especially since technology projects are usually associated with major workforce impact and layoffs.

Corporate & Project Overview - Figure 1

In 1998, two major technology initiatives were launched. BC Gas began to develop its’ Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solution using SAP. The first three SAP modules were implemented in 1999: Human Resources, Materials Management, and Finance. The company also began developing a new Customer Information System (CIS) to provide a single centralized source of customer information. The new CIS, which will be implemented beginning in 2000, will replace the two current systems which both run on legacy mainframe platforms.

In 1999, two more large-scale technology initiatives were started; development of a mobile data solution and replacement of the work management (WMS) and preventative maintenance (PM) systems. The technology solution for mobile data is MDSI, while SAP is the platform that will likely replace WMS/PM. Both projects are targeted to begin in 2000.

With several technology projects being implemented concurrently and organizational changes occurring every few months, the risk and complexity for the AM/FM project was dramatically increased. Such a dynamic, rapidly changing corporate environment made the function of change management even more critical to the project’s success.

AM/FM Project Overview
The AM/FM implementation project started in late 1997. The first phase was a five month Architecture and Project Planning phase. The objective of this phase was to create a solid framework to guide the project through to its’ duration. Four architectures were developed: Organization, Application, Data, and IT Infrastructure. Once these architectures were completed, detailed project plans and budgets were developed for each of the following project components: Data Conversion, Application Development, and Change Management.
AM/FM Data Conversion
Data Conversion was separated into two phases: Interior and Coastal. The Interior data conversion phase kicked off with the first pilot area of data converted in late 1998. Data was then converted area by area until the Interior data conversion was completed at the end of 1999. The Coastal data conversion phase started in 1999 and will be fully converted to AM/FM by the end of 2000.

AM/FM Application Development
The application development component was divided into four phases; the four phases were closely aligned with the major business processes that AM/FM will support. Rather than implement in one large “big bang” at the end of the project, the decision was made to deliver functionality as soon as possible. This early, phased implementation approach enables the business to begin realizing benefits and allows users to start climbing the learning curve. The four phases of application development are: Drafting and Mapping, Plan Maintenance, Emergency Response, and Facilities Design.

Drafting and Mapping. In this phase, customized tools were developed to aid drafters in creating and maintaining landbase and facilities data.
Plan Maintenance. This functionality was designed to support the operations maintenance departments in planning and maintaining facilities. The first facilities that will be maintained in AM/FM are valves, leaks, and cathodic protection systems.
Emergency Response. This functionality, which will be developed and implemented in 2000, will provide the ability to analyze facilities information on-line in AM/FM during emergency situations.
Facilities Design. Facilities Design functionality will provide gas system planners with the ability to design and post as-built facilities on-line in AM/FM. This phase will require the eventual development of interfaces between AM/FM and the systems that were discussed previously: WMS, CIS, Mobile Data, and SAP. It is in this phase of functionality where ERP and spatial solutions “come together” under an enterprise-wide architecture, from both a technology and business process perspective.

Change Management
Change Management takes a business perspective of technology; tightly integrated with Data Conversion and Application Development, the Change Management component is responsible for “bridging” the technology and the business. Change Management integrates AM/FM, the business, and other corporate enterprise-wide initiatives. On the BC Gas AM/FM project, the Change Management team was responsible for business process reengineering, benefits realization, training and user documentation, communication, and human resource and labour relations issues.

The change management model
To effectively support the BC Gas AM/FM project, a Change Management model and methodology was developed. The model illustrates how the three major components of Change Management are integrated: Business Process Reengineering, Training & User Documentation, and Communication. Refer to Figure 2 for a diagram of the Change Management model used on the BC Gas AM/FM implementation project.

Change Management Model - Figure 2