Leveraging the true value of legacy customer information systems.

• Author: Dunlea, Martin
• Position: Report

For many years, customer information systems (CIS) have been at the heart of utility operations and the principal system of record for customer data and transactions. Long before regulators introduced concepts of separation, unbundling or sought to inject choice and competition in the energy retail markets, utilities have relied on their CIS, developed for the most part as proprietary solutions, as the principal source for customer data. For many utilities, the CIS is a heavily customized, largely isolated system, built initially to accommodate customer billing information. Many customer information systems were purpose built--designed to be a workhorse for account information and billing calculations. CIS applications were not built with continuous, multi-channel customer service and the robust functionality and agility requirements for contact center interface in mind.

Today utilities find themselves facing an important dilemma. Does the utility incur the significant risk, time and cost of replacing its CIS application to better address front office needs--or is there a way to introduce significant improvements in functionality and operations while delivering on ever changing, market-driven needs.

When faced with the current economic difficulties and the need to carefully manage significant capital investments, the correct system change decision becomes critical.

The energy industry has changed significantly in the past 10 plus years, specifically the pressure to continue to reduce operating costs and to improve customer service levels, while at the same time supporting new types of customer interactions such as the real-time exchange of electricity price information. Today's CIS is not only a technology, but it is also a comprehensive, customer-centric approach to the organization's customers and must be reflective of its customer support strategy and its regulatory and competition mandates. This comprehensive approach includes policies and processes, front-of-house customer service, employee training, marketing, systems and information analytics and management. It is important that CIS implementations extend beyond technology toward the broader utility organizational and information technology requirements.

Over the years, utility's customer care functions have managed multiple transactions on behalf of the customer and the utility. Regardless of age, CIS are responsible for gathering and storing extensive customer data records. The value to the organization lies in gaining access to that data and to its ability to drive new customer products by...