POWER February 2020 - 33

CONNECTED PLANT
time and on budget. The team ultimately
elected to utilize a waterfall approach,
wherein the project was divided into
phases with specific roles assigned to
each participant.
In an effort to make the waterfall ap2.
Although it required several months of work to integrate and test the new ERP system, AES
recognized the value a common set of tools could provide. Courtesy: AES Corp.
provements resulting from an effective
data migration.
Driving Consistency in Business Processes.
First and foremost, AES achieved
consistency-driven business processes
that benefit both the company and the
customers it serves. AES' asset management
team was immediately relieved of
complexity, as data aggregation relied on
fewer sources. This upgrade centralized
all administrative and operational functions,
enabling easier management of
the company's global operations-from
Dayton to Hanoi. The new efficiency also
translates into lower operating costs,
spawning a better return on investment
for end customers.
Lowering Total Cost of Ownership.
The successful data migration reduced
the complexity of AES' technology landscape
with hardware reduction, as well
as maintenance and software license
elimination. Meanwhile, the company
reduced total cost of ownership (TCO)
through leveraging global Shared Service
Centers that support multiple businesses.
Located in Argentina and Bulgaria,
AES' global service centers manage the
company's financial and supply chain
management operations via its global
ERP. The organization can now provide
support for global employees and eliminate
costs associated with managing
tasks across each locality. With a significantly
lower TCO between technology
and employee support, AES can
ultimately pass these savings onto its
customer base.
Key Learnings
While the benefits speak volumes, AES'
successful digital transformation didn't
come without its challenges. By their
very nature, data migrations in the utilities
sector involve an enormous financial
February 2020 | POWER
investment, many stakeholders, unprecedented
complexity, and regulatory red
tape. Having successfully completed its
ambitious data migration, AES' IT team
can offer several best practices for other
utility companies considering a digital
transformation in 2020 and beyond.
Prioritize Team Building. AES'
18-month data migration undertaking
tapped approximately 40 full-time
AES employees, in addition to an IT
support team of about 40 part-time
consultants at any given time-many
of whom traveled in from out of town.
PwC was brought in as the principal
integrator, while SAP managed the
data migration conversion process.
Meanwhile, AES' power plant staff was
tasked with overseeing asset validation
and tax requirements.
Given the sheer volume of players
involved, AES recognized the need to
drive team chemistry and foster collaboration
to ensure that the project
was completed as efficiently and painlessly
as possible. With that in mind,
management sought to arrange a series
of offsite activities focused on forming
a sense of camaraderie outside of the
work environment.
One of the best relationship-building
activities turned out to be a soccer
league where project participants got
together for a weekly match on warm
summer nights. Not only was this more
engaging than your typical team dinner,
but it also provided a shared sense of
purpose and had a real impact on team
chemistry, which proved invaluable.
Integrate Agile Processes into Your
Approach. Given the various parties involved
in the transition, AES was challenged
to implement a process that
kept everyone on the same page, while
ensuring the project was completed on
www.powermag.com
proach more agile, teams were intentionally
integrated to ensure no one was
waiting around for a certain aspect of
the project to be completed before they
could get to work. AES also employed a
unique " roadshow " testing model with
the goal of demonstrating solutions
ahead of the formal testing cycle.
AES worked with consultants to build
solutions quickly, showcase the technology
to relevant teams, and collect feedback
in real time. This process allowed
the team to make changes with plenty of
time to spare, instead of waiting for the
formal testing process to begin.
Ensure Ongoing Business Engagement.
Data conversion was a significant
effort that would have benefitted
from better engagement with the business.
Once the global ERP solution
went live, AES fielded several questions
from the core business team surrounding
where the data lived and how
it was transformed. As such, the team
could have given the business a more
active role in the data validation process
to not only avoid confusion down
the road, but also to release the technical
team for other tasks.
From a training perspective, AES created
a set of training sessions and tools
to get everyone up to speed on the new
system. While these resources were
largely effective, the team also would
have benefited from creating a network
of experts in various processes and
technologies to address any follow up
concerns.
As customer and employee experiences
become more and more important
as we enter a new decade, we can
expect to see utility companies increasingly
prioritize digital transformation to
meet new demands. In fact, since AES'
successful digital transformation and
data migration, the company has already
filled several reference calls from other
utilities in the process of exploring the
business capabilities made possible by a
global ERP system.
While transformations require significant
resources, the benefits far outweigh
the challenges and the course
forward will only become more efficient
as best practices are shared. ■
-Alejandro Reyes is IT project
director at AES Corp.
33
http://www.powermag.com
POWER February 2020

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