Hydro Tasmania - UXC Eclipse
Customer Case Study
Hydro Tasmania Renewable energy industry leader drives change with UXC Eclipse
Industry
Solution
Renewable energy
SharePoint offers:
Straight Talk
* A flexible Enterprise Content Management (ECM) solution
“They (UXC Eclipse) offer us flexible, knowledgeable and expert resources. There is no need to micro-manage their projects.... This is a huge benefit to us.”
* A centralized site for document storage, sharing and distribution
Kirstie Cerone, Project Manager Hydro Tasmania
* A familiar Microsoft user experience with customization flexibility
Enterprise Information Management As the Hydro Tasmania group utilizes many different IT solutions for document management, there was business-wide recognition of the need to launch an Enterprise Information Management (EIM) program across the entire organization to promote consistency and platform homogenization. Hydro Tasmania sought a centralized document repository that would provide easy access for employees to version controlled content – from a single platform – replacing existing
solutions, including the current 80-20 document management (80-20) software solution, which is being phased out. Furthermore, as Hydro Tasmania already utilized the Microsoft Office Suite (Excel, Word, PowerPoint, Outlook), the business wanted a solution that would be compatible with its future plans to upgrade the business to Microsoft Outlook 2010.
1
In addition, Hydro Tasmania sought a flexible enterprise content management (ECM) solution that provides a familiar Microsoft user experience. After investigating suitable solutions, Microsoft SharePoint was chosen as the preferred collaborative content management portal. SharePoint offered a single infrastructure for all business units’ document storage, sharing and distribution requirements. SharePoint also offered the ability to customize an individual business unit or teams’ site to suit their unique data capture requirements. Furthermore, SharePoint delivered community tools for staff, including internal discussion groups, staff noticeboards, RSS feeds, wiki technology, and a portal for head office’s corporate updates.
Hydro Tasmania needed to engage with a new service provider to regain control of the project, complete the planned set of deliverables, generate a positive experience for Entura, and to ‘pave the way’ for the successful implementation of SharePoint across the remainder of the business.
Challenges
UXC Eclipse Engagement
Prior to engaging with UXC Eclipse, Hydro Tasmania had implemented a SharePoint 2007 Intranet Site ‘myhydro’, deployed a SharePointbased document management repository for Entura, and made other similar advances throughout the business.
Hydro Tasmania engaged with the locallybased UXC Eclipse office in 2010, initially for general SharePoint consulting, leading to the requirements analysis phase for the EIM program. The program kick-started the ‘Common Platform Project’ that included:
The first stage of the project incorporated the development of SharePoint 2007 for Entura via another vendor, highlighting some major challenges early. “After the project started, we realized that our issues were taking too long to resolve, up to two weeks, and there was no onsite support. We felt we were being held over a barrel and they dictated the direction of the project. We no longer wanted to be dependent on one consultancy,” said Hayden Foley, Project Manager.
2
In order to progress the project, Hydro Tasmania wanted to engage new local partners for its ongoing development requirements. As Hydro Tasmania had contracted UXC Eclipse to provide applications development services for previous projects, it knew UXC Eclipse had the capability to provide high-level architecture advice for its latest comprehensive EIM project.
“About six months into our initial project, our previous partner was not delivering to the project’s specifications and there was no resolution in sight. Within five months of engaging UXC Eclipse, we are about to go live with one of our first major projects. They are brilliant - keep them on.” Kirstie Cerone Project Manager Hydro Tasmania
1. 80-20 migration – the migration of an existing document repository to SharePoint 2010 2. Entura 2010 SharePoint upgrade – including a document management capability with SharePoint 2010 3. myHydro intranet upgrade from SharePoint 2007 to SharePoint 2010.
Hydro Tasmania decided to create an onsite team of expert consultants and developers from local applications development consultancies, including UXC Eclipse. “We wanted an agile ‘scrum-style’ program team comprising of local SharePoint experts,’ said Hayden Foley. ‘This was going to offer us greater flexibility and get our project back on track.” As Hydro Tasmania’s EIM Program changed and expanded in size (beyond the Common Platform project), to more than a dozen separate projects, the 80-20 migration was placed on hold and UXC Eclipse’s required expertise and services expanded to include: •
SharePoint consulting and development management
•
SharePoint implementation and customization
•
Environment management
•
Applications development and testing
•
Administrator support for SharePoint 2007/SharePoint 2010
•
Technical support and training
•
Business analysis
•
Business case writing
“We initially engaged two consultants from UXC Eclipse, one to handle SharePoint development and the other to perform business analysis,” said Kirstie Cerone, Project Manager. “However, once we had them both onsite, we soon realized that they could not only perform each other’s tasks, but could handle any other work we could find. It’s been a great advantage to swap tasks and priorities between them. It’s great to have such flexible expertise and resources.” UXC Eclipse is also writing the business case for future development projects, including the capability to grant external access for clients to document libraries and other collaborative tools, hosted externally through the Cloud.
Benefits Since becoming a part of the onsite EIM project team in Hydro Tasmania, UXC Eclipse is providing applications development services and expertise across 15 ongoing projects within the SharePoint and Information Management space. The UXC Eclipse team’s skills range from software customization and programming, through to helping with resourcing, scheduling and writing business cases. “UXC Eclipse staff are intuitive, proactive and have slotted straight into our existing team,’ said Kirstie Cerone. ‘You can give them any issue and have the confidence that they will return with the best solution for you. Plus, since they have been a part of our team, we have learnt about additional skills and expertise they can offer that we haven’t even utilized yet.” “We were looking for a new email integration tool that would provide drag-and-drop capabilities from Microsoft Outlook to SharePoint, providing a date-and-time-stamp with any data captured. We just mentioned the requirements to UXC Eclipse’s team, they researched the market and located the perfect tool.” “We want to keep the current contracted staff from UXC Eclipse forever but are confident that we can use any other consultants from UXC Eclipse, based on our experience of the skills and services offered. UXC Eclipse is aware of our needs and we know they can deliver the professionalism and expertise we require.”
UXC Eclipse as a Partner “We have more confidence in UXC Eclipse’s professional resources than our previous providers. They offer us flexible, knowledgeable and expert resources. There is no need to micromanage their projects - they can be left on their own,’ said Kirstie Cerone. ‘With so much to manage, it’s amazing how much this helps us concentrate on the overall project. This is a huge benefit for us.”
3
ROI
About UXC Eclipse:
“About six months into our initial project, our previous partner was not delivering to the project’s specifications and there was no resolution in sight. Within five months of engaging UXC Eclipse, we are about to go live with one of our first major projects,” said Kirstie Cerone. “They are brilliant – keep them on.”
UXC Eclipse is a leading provider of intelligent business solutions to the enterprise and midmarket.
“We will always need to get external resources to support our IT projects. From our current experience and confidence, we see the value in staying with UXC Eclipse.”
UXC Eclipse’s service offerings include applications business consulting & project management, applications development, corporate performance management and business process management. Built on the Microsoft platform, UXC Eclipse also delivers vertical solutions to deliver deep, industry-specific ERP and CRM functionality.
About Hydro Tasmania Since its first hydropower development almost a century ago, Hydro Tasmania has been a leader in renewable energy development and is Australia’s largest producer of renewable energy. Today it uses a combination of water and wind power to harness natural energy to sell on the national grid, as well as trading electricity and energy-related environmental products (such as Renewable Energy Certificates). Hydro Tasmania owns Momentum, the Victorian specialist electricity retailer, while its professional consulting services business Entura uses its expertise in energy and water with governments, utilities, developers and international companies. As a Government Business Enterprise, Hydro Tasmania is owned by the people of Tasmania through the State Government. As of July 2011, the Hydro Tasmania group employs over 900 people and has assets worth around $4.8 billion.
For more information, please contact: USA +1 212 965 6400 [email protected] www.uxceclipse.com
© 2013 UXC Eclipse. All rights reserved.
Canada +1 604 899 6092 [email protected] www.uxceclipse.ca
Established in 1991, UXC Eclipse’s success has been built by providing the highest levels of service and offering a choice of solutions from leading software vendors.
UXC Eclipse is part of the publicly listed Australian IT solutions and services company, UXC Limited. To find out more, please contact UXC Eclipse.
Hydro Tasmania Renewable energy industry leader drives change with UXC Eclipse
Industry
Solution
Renewable energy
SharePoint offers:
Straight Talk
* A flexible Enterprise Content Management (ECM) solution
“They (UXC Eclipse) offer us flexible, knowledgeable and expert resources. There is no need to micro-manage their projects.... This is a huge benefit to us.”
* A centralized site for document storage, sharing and distribution
Kirstie Cerone, Project Manager Hydro Tasmania
* A familiar Microsoft user experience with customization flexibility
Enterprise Information Management As the Hydro Tasmania group utilizes many different IT solutions for document management, there was business-wide recognition of the need to launch an Enterprise Information Management (EIM) program across the entire organization to promote consistency and platform homogenization. Hydro Tasmania sought a centralized document repository that would provide easy access for employees to version controlled content – from a single platform – replacing existing
solutions, including the current 80-20 document management (80-20) software solution, which is being phased out. Furthermore, as Hydro Tasmania already utilized the Microsoft Office Suite (Excel, Word, PowerPoint, Outlook), the business wanted a solution that would be compatible with its future plans to upgrade the business to Microsoft Outlook 2010.
1
In addition, Hydro Tasmania sought a flexible enterprise content management (ECM) solution that provides a familiar Microsoft user experience. After investigating suitable solutions, Microsoft SharePoint was chosen as the preferred collaborative content management portal. SharePoint offered a single infrastructure for all business units’ document storage, sharing and distribution requirements. SharePoint also offered the ability to customize an individual business unit or teams’ site to suit their unique data capture requirements. Furthermore, SharePoint delivered community tools for staff, including internal discussion groups, staff noticeboards, RSS feeds, wiki technology, and a portal for head office’s corporate updates.
Hydro Tasmania needed to engage with a new service provider to regain control of the project, complete the planned set of deliverables, generate a positive experience for Entura, and to ‘pave the way’ for the successful implementation of SharePoint across the remainder of the business.
Challenges
UXC Eclipse Engagement
Prior to engaging with UXC Eclipse, Hydro Tasmania had implemented a SharePoint 2007 Intranet Site ‘myhydro’, deployed a SharePointbased document management repository for Entura, and made other similar advances throughout the business.
Hydro Tasmania engaged with the locallybased UXC Eclipse office in 2010, initially for general SharePoint consulting, leading to the requirements analysis phase for the EIM program. The program kick-started the ‘Common Platform Project’ that included:
The first stage of the project incorporated the development of SharePoint 2007 for Entura via another vendor, highlighting some major challenges early. “After the project started, we realized that our issues were taking too long to resolve, up to two weeks, and there was no onsite support. We felt we were being held over a barrel and they dictated the direction of the project. We no longer wanted to be dependent on one consultancy,” said Hayden Foley, Project Manager.
2
In order to progress the project, Hydro Tasmania wanted to engage new local partners for its ongoing development requirements. As Hydro Tasmania had contracted UXC Eclipse to provide applications development services for previous projects, it knew UXC Eclipse had the capability to provide high-level architecture advice for its latest comprehensive EIM project.
“About six months into our initial project, our previous partner was not delivering to the project’s specifications and there was no resolution in sight. Within five months of engaging UXC Eclipse, we are about to go live with one of our first major projects. They are brilliant - keep them on.” Kirstie Cerone Project Manager Hydro Tasmania
1. 80-20 migration – the migration of an existing document repository to SharePoint 2010 2. Entura 2010 SharePoint upgrade – including a document management capability with SharePoint 2010 3. myHydro intranet upgrade from SharePoint 2007 to SharePoint 2010.
Hydro Tasmania decided to create an onsite team of expert consultants and developers from local applications development consultancies, including UXC Eclipse. “We wanted an agile ‘scrum-style’ program team comprising of local SharePoint experts,’ said Hayden Foley. ‘This was going to offer us greater flexibility and get our project back on track.” As Hydro Tasmania’s EIM Program changed and expanded in size (beyond the Common Platform project), to more than a dozen separate projects, the 80-20 migration was placed on hold and UXC Eclipse’s required expertise and services expanded to include: •
SharePoint consulting and development management
•
SharePoint implementation and customization
•
Environment management
•
Applications development and testing
•
Administrator support for SharePoint 2007/SharePoint 2010
•
Technical support and training
•
Business analysis
•
Business case writing
“We initially engaged two consultants from UXC Eclipse, one to handle SharePoint development and the other to perform business analysis,” said Kirstie Cerone, Project Manager. “However, once we had them both onsite, we soon realized that they could not only perform each other’s tasks, but could handle any other work we could find. It’s been a great advantage to swap tasks and priorities between them. It’s great to have such flexible expertise and resources.” UXC Eclipse is also writing the business case for future development projects, including the capability to grant external access for clients to document libraries and other collaborative tools, hosted externally through the Cloud.
Benefits Since becoming a part of the onsite EIM project team in Hydro Tasmania, UXC Eclipse is providing applications development services and expertise across 15 ongoing projects within the SharePoint and Information Management space. The UXC Eclipse team’s skills range from software customization and programming, through to helping with resourcing, scheduling and writing business cases. “UXC Eclipse staff are intuitive, proactive and have slotted straight into our existing team,’ said Kirstie Cerone. ‘You can give them any issue and have the confidence that they will return with the best solution for you. Plus, since they have been a part of our team, we have learnt about additional skills and expertise they can offer that we haven’t even utilized yet.” “We were looking for a new email integration tool that would provide drag-and-drop capabilities from Microsoft Outlook to SharePoint, providing a date-and-time-stamp with any data captured. We just mentioned the requirements to UXC Eclipse’s team, they researched the market and located the perfect tool.” “We want to keep the current contracted staff from UXC Eclipse forever but are confident that we can use any other consultants from UXC Eclipse, based on our experience of the skills and services offered. UXC Eclipse is aware of our needs and we know they can deliver the professionalism and expertise we require.”
UXC Eclipse as a Partner “We have more confidence in UXC Eclipse’s professional resources than our previous providers. They offer us flexible, knowledgeable and expert resources. There is no need to micromanage their projects - they can be left on their own,’ said Kirstie Cerone. ‘With so much to manage, it’s amazing how much this helps us concentrate on the overall project. This is a huge benefit for us.”
3
ROI
About UXC Eclipse:
“About six months into our initial project, our previous partner was not delivering to the project’s specifications and there was no resolution in sight. Within five months of engaging UXC Eclipse, we are about to go live with one of our first major projects,” said Kirstie Cerone. “They are brilliant – keep them on.”
UXC Eclipse is a leading provider of intelligent business solutions to the enterprise and midmarket.
“We will always need to get external resources to support our IT projects. From our current experience and confidence, we see the value in staying with UXC Eclipse.”
UXC Eclipse’s service offerings include applications business consulting & project management, applications development, corporate performance management and business process management. Built on the Microsoft platform, UXC Eclipse also delivers vertical solutions to deliver deep, industry-specific ERP and CRM functionality.
About Hydro Tasmania Since its first hydropower development almost a century ago, Hydro Tasmania has been a leader in renewable energy development and is Australia’s largest producer of renewable energy. Today it uses a combination of water and wind power to harness natural energy to sell on the national grid, as well as trading electricity and energy-related environmental products (such as Renewable Energy Certificates). Hydro Tasmania owns Momentum, the Victorian specialist electricity retailer, while its professional consulting services business Entura uses its expertise in energy and water with governments, utilities, developers and international companies. As a Government Business Enterprise, Hydro Tasmania is owned by the people of Tasmania through the State Government. As of July 2011, the Hydro Tasmania group employs over 900 people and has assets worth around $4.8 billion.
For more information, please contact: USA +1 212 965 6400 [email protected] www.uxceclipse.com
© 2013 UXC Eclipse. All rights reserved.
Canada +1 604 899 6092 [email protected] www.uxceclipse.ca
Established in 1991, UXC Eclipse’s success has been built by providing the highest levels of service and offering a choice of solutions from leading software vendors.
UXC Eclipse is part of the publicly listed Australian IT solutions and services company, UXC Limited. To find out more, please contact UXC Eclipse.
