The Way Forward
Having successfully turned around the development of the new billing system through Xansa, Harrison continues with his effort in evaluating new technologies that align well with its business strategy. He envisages Xansa’s role beyond being a one-project application-development company to that of being a long-term technology partner. In that sense, he is being ably helped by the Xansa team, which is not only responsible for continually enhancing the billing system but also for looking at what else needs to be developed around the system to increase its value. For example, the company is examining the use of advanced telemetry and its potential business benefits.

To get this partnership going, Harrison has to relentlessly communicate with the Xansa team about the company’s vision and its business strategy. “This not only maneuvers the partner to take the same direction, but also helps them translate into action what the business demands,” says he.

Timely feedback is as important as communication. It is important to immediately point out any mistakes on the part of the provider so that they are not repeated in the future. “That’s how we have been able to establish a family-like relationship with Xansa,” concludes Harrison.

The relationship has worked equally well for Xansa. “We have had almost no attrition in the last one year in the YorkshireWater team at Xansa,” claims Tarun Singhal, Delivery Director (Yorkshire) for Xansa. “This can be attributed to transparent messaging and translation of business needs between us.”

YorkshireWater’s IT team is now left free to focus on strategic issues related to planning and management. They no longer have to handle operational issues such as managing peak workloads. Recovery of bad debts has helped increase cash flow and overall customer satisfaction ratings have been consistently going up. 

YorkshireWater: What They Do

One of the world’s 10 largest water companies, YorkshireWater is a part of the Bradford-based Kelda Group (formerly YorkshireWater). The company has a monopoly in water supply and wastewater management, and provides 1.24 billion liters of water to more than 1.9 million households in Yorkshire, U.K. As a utility company, YorkshireWater operates more than 700 water and sewage treatment works, and 120 reservoirs. Office of Water Services (Ofwat) is the economic regulator that monitors the pricing and the compliance with the Water Industry Act 1991 for YorkshireWater. For the second consecutive year, Ofwat confirmed YorkshireWater as the most efficient water and sewerage company in the U.K., and was awarded three “A” ratings for the efficient way it runs its water and wastewater operations. Also, in the year 2006, the company registered an annual turnover of £704.7 million ($1393.9 million). Also the other key performance indicators for the company for the year 2006 are: Customer satisfaction (96 percent), drinking water quality (99.97 percent) and wastewater treatment works’ compliance (99.6 percent).