Planning and Implementing CIS and AMR/AMI Projects WRF Project #4583 Lynne Powers EMA, Inc. Gary Wiest Greater Cincinnati Water Works Linda Reekie

Transcription

1 Planning and Implementing CIS and AMR/AMI Projects WRF Project #4583 Lynne Powers EMA, Inc. Gary Wiest Greater Cincinnati Water Works Linda Reekie Water Research Foundation

2 Agenda 1. Project Overview 2. Meter-to-Cash Cycle Overview 3. State of the Industry a. CIS b. Vendor Management c. AMS 4. Report Contents 5. Next Steps 2

3 Project Overview Utility Participants Sponsoring Utility: Greater Cincinnati Water Works Gary Wiest Participating Utilities City of Baltimore: Rudy Chow City of Regina: Debbi McCaig- Paisig, Brent Knaus City of Winnipeg: Wanda Burns El Paso Water Utilities: Mark Bolduc WRF and PAC Members Water Research Foundation Linda Reekie, Project Manager Project Advisory Committee (PAC) East Bay Municipal Utility District, Andrew Levine San Jose Water Company, Bob Day Charlotte Water, Doug Groce Arcadis, Esteban Azagra 3

4 Project Team Was Extremely Engaged and Provided Us Great Insights! 4

5 The Project 1. Updated 10-year old research related to selecting and implementing a water utility CIS 2. Conducted new research regarding maintaining, upgrading and using a CIS 3. Conducted new research related to implementing or upgrading AMR/AMI (AMS) systems and related benefits 4. Looked at vendor management related to CIS and AMS projects and systems 5. Provides a State of the Industry overview 6. Has buckets and buckets of recommendations 5

6 The Findings Reflect Extensive Research Survey distributed to 800 water utilities ~100 fully completed surveys submitted Case studies: ABCWUA Baltimore Bismarck LADWP NYC DEP Participating Utilities and Case Studies 99 water utility survey respondents Electric and water industry experiences Updated Report 6

7 Implementing a CIS or an AMS is More than Just Implementation 1 Define 1 needs Define and needs and strategy strategy 2 Prepare 2 3 for CIS Prepare or for Select AMS AMS Project and Project Contract 3 4 Select Implement and Contract Core CIS 4 5 Implement Implement Core additional AMS functionality 65 Sustainment/ Continuous Improvement 2016 EMA, Inc. The foundation for success starts with defining the business needs and the project strategy 7

8 Meter-to-Cash Cycle Overview 2016 EMA, Inc. 8

9 State of the Industry Respondents Reflect Wide Industry Cross-Section 9

10 State of the Industry Clear Trend Towards More Frequent Billing 10

11 State of the Industry Interest in Outsourcing is Increasing Currently outsourced services Additional within 2 years

12 State of the Industry Selected Social Media Channels Being Used Today 12

13 State of the Industry CIS Utilities are Moving to Provide Field and Back- Office with Near-Real-Time Data 13

14 State of the Industry CIS Most CIS s are Integrated with Other Key Applications 14

15 State of the Industry CIS Roughly Same # of Successes, Failures 15

16 State of the Industry CIS Success Factors 1. Had the right expertise and experience on the implementation team (from utility staff, vendor, and/or consultant) (25 utilities, or 64 percent of responding utilities) 2. Identified and quantified CIS project business goals, and compared them at the end of the project (17 utilities, or 43 percent of responding utilities) 3. An effective and positive internal project team (16 utilities, or 41 percent of responding utilities) 4. Vendor responses addressed the utility s needs (14 utilities, or 35 percent of responding utilities) 5. All or nearly all business requirements were met by off-the-shelf vendor solutions (12 utilities, or 30 percent of responding utilities) 16

17 State of the Industry CIS Failure Factors 1. Data conversion was a major problem (5 of 8 responding utilities) 2. The number and/or complexity of software modifications caused major problems (5 of 8 responding utilities) 3. Users were resistant to or unenthusiastic about the new CIS (4 of 8 responding utilities) 4. Insufficient or inadequate training (4 of 8 responding utilities) 5. We did not have a solid understanding of how the CIS fit into furthering our utility customer service strategy (3 of 8 responding utilities) 16

18 Vendor Management Nearly 20% of Surveyed Utilities are Unsatisfied with CIS Vendors 17

19 Vendor Management Reasons for dissatisfaction with CIS vendor maintenance Sometimes new releases or patches break previous fixes 25% We have low confidence the vendor s fixes will work the first time They are unable to respond to our service requests in a timely way, even when we are willing to pay more 25% 22% The vendor charges too much for the services requested 19% We have had issues with the vendor s Project Manager(s) 6% They keep changing support staff 3% 18

20 State of the Industry AMS Drive-By AMR is Most Widely Implemented AMS 19

21 State of the Industry AMS But More Utilities are Piloting AMI 20

22 State of the Industry AMS Many Utilities did not Conduct AMS Business Case 21

23 Report Contents Report Provides In-Depth Secondary Research Findings, CIS and AMS Knowledge, and Recommendations Meter-to-cash overview AMS description Organization considerations CIS description Typical functionality Optional functionality Interfaces CIS Considerations Trends General description of AMR and AMI Data transmission Meter Data Management Systems (MDMS) Trends 22

24 Report Contents CIS 1. Secondary research 2. Organizational considerations for CIS project 3. Typical project phases 4. Preparing for CIS project* 5. Preparing for CIS go-live 6. Challenges and potential remediation steps* 7. Warning signs of project in trouble 8. Checklist to enhance chances of success 9. Project Health Assessment* AMS 1. Secondary research 2. Organizational considerations for AMS project 3. Typical project phases 4. Preparing for AMS project* 5. Challenges and potential remediation steps* 6. Warning signs of project in trouble 7. Checklist to enhance chances of success 8. Project Health Assessment* *Contains tools you can use 23

25 Next Steps Final Report has been submitted Official publication 2016/early 2017 Publication #4583 Apply the recommendations! 24

26 Questions? To learn more, please contact Lynne Powers Gary Wiest Linda Reekie