The Client
Headquartered in Dayton, Ohio, Dayton Power & Light (DP&L) is the primary utility company serving southern Ohio residents and commercial clients’ energy needs. Over 1,500 employees at eight production sites and multiple service center locations provide electrical services to more than 500,000 Ohio consumers in 24 counties. On an annual basis, DP&L realizes revenues in excess of $1 billion.
The Challenge
The impending deregulation of utility companies was forcing DP&L to address the question of “What will be the IT needs for its transition from a company that just generates power, to a company that generates power for profit?” Previous IT investment strategies within the utility sector typically focused on cost-reduction and avoidance: i.e., extend the life of existing systems and avoid investment into new technologies. DP&L needed to understand what would be important from an IT infrastructure perspective and how IT could be leveraged to provide a competitive advantage in the utility sector.
The Haverstick Approach
Haverstick Consulting proposed a top-down IT Strategic road map development effort to specifically address the needs of DP&L, its infrastructure, management policies, and pending impacts of deregulation. This effort spanned approximately three months. The road map was framed by researching previously deregulated industries, specifically the airline industry, telecommunications industry, and other states that have undergone utility deregulation. Based on this research, and lessons learned from other companies, a top-down architectural infrastructure review and gap analysis was conducted.
The Result
Alternatives and solutions to fill the gaps were developed into a comprehensive, time-phased strategic road map. It provided DP&L specific IT infrastructure action items and plans that would competitively position DP&L within the deregulated energy market. The client collaterally realized value when operational management reviews allowed Haverstick Consulting to recommend simple changes to operational procedures that were acted upon. These changes greatly augmented and reduced risk to the operations of the company. |
