Designing an enterprise solution - Making the Pieces Fit
AM/FM Change Management
The Change Management component works with the business in the areas of
business process redesign, training and communication to prepare the
organization for system implementation and to ensure the technologies are fully
exploited to achieve maximum benefits.
Diagram 1.1
IRM
The Integrated Resource Management (IRM) project involves the development
and implementation of an automated workforce scheduling management system
(automatic work scheduling as opposed to manual, printed work orders) that
allows field workers to receive work orders and communication via wireless
technology.
The technology vendor is Utility Partners and the applications are Mobile UP,
which is used by Dispatchers, and MobileField which runs on the mobile laptops
used by field staff. Benefits include enhancing the roles of field technicians and
dispatchers with exciting new technology, reducing the time it takes to schedule
and dispatch crews, improving coordination of resources and responsiveness to
customers and reducing costs.
The IRM project consists of a Project Manager, an Implementation Team,
Change Management Team and a Business User Team.
WMS/PM
The Work Management System / Preventative Maintenance (WMS/PM) Project
is focused on streamlining the construction and maintenance work processes
within BC Gas. This Project will provide a common and consistent toolset that
can be used to plan and track maintenance activities for equipment within the
distribution system. This tracking will be accomplished through the
implementation of the PM module of SAP.
The current WMS at BC Gas is technically obsolete. It is a legacy system, which
resides on an OS/2 platform and the costs associated with ongoing maintenance
and operations have increased substantially in recent years. There will be
significant annual savings associated with the retirement of the existing WMS.
The WMS/PM Project is looking to replace this system with a series of SAP
modules.
The WMS project consists of a Project Manager, an Implementation Team,
Change Management Team and a Business User Team.
Middleware
Due to the number of different technologies in use at BC Gas, the need for a
large number of point to point interfaces was becoming alarming. Not only are
point to point interfaces expensive to design and maintain but also interfacing in
this manner leads to data integrity issues and a disconnected architecture. It
was recognized that the company needed to integrate an Enterprise Application
Integration (EAI) solution. This project included managing the timing of the
implementation of the interfaces, understanding the rollout plans of the projects
involved, developing the appropriate policies, standards and processes for
implementing the interfaces and identifying and training the required resources to
maintain the system.
Mercator was the technology chosen. The project has a timeline of one year to
implement the system and complete all Operations interfaces.
The Problem
Senior Management, recognized the obstacles that existed within the company
and the challenges that lay ahead for projects implementing major technology
systems. With several key technology systems being implemented in the same
time period (refer to diagram 2.1), that impacted the same business units, users
and business processes, problems were arising. Projects were competing for
sponsorship, resources and dollars. Each project had its own schedule towards
attaining its project goals. Projects were not taking the time to work together or
facilitate a common understanding of each other's implementation schedules,
interface strategies, benefits realization, process re-engineering, communication
time lines and training plans. It was recognized after the fact that if the time had
been taken to develop a common understanding of each projects objectives,
certain mistakes may have been avoided.
Diagram 2.1
