While the water industry figures out how to cope with today’s sustainability and quality challenges, the threat of market competition is looming large. Moreover, the burden of debt, lack of an adequately skilled workforce, stringent regulations, ever-increasing customer expectations and reputational risks, means water companies are finding themselves in the eye of a perfect storm.
Information has become the key asset to navigate and weather this perfect storm. The role of information in building a resilient business has become as critical as the physical infrastructure itself. The ability to know in advance where and when the next pipe burst is likely to occur; which customer is likely to default on their payments; which combined sewer outflow will spill and when; or how to optimally deploy the workforce are all examples of valuable insights that data analytics can provide. Closer integration and collaboration across the value chain is achieved with innovative use of technology, providing real-time visibility of processes, performance and ultimately, the impact on customer experience.
Business capabilities like predictive analytics, proactive customer experience management, integrated asset management, single views of customer and work, and situational awareness is crucial in ensuring water utility companies are resilient. The approach should be outcome-oriented and create incremental value while seamlessly transitioning to new ways of working. By unlocking value from information sources that often exist in silos, companies can leverage available technologies innovatively and utilise new technical capabilities.
Advanced analytics and information visualisation technologies will power these business capabilities, combining structured and unstructured data from business systems. These systems can also leverage unstructured data, which may include contact centre call records, text written up in the CRM notes, photographs and images of assets taken in different point of time.
Now is the time for utilities to think about how a business resilience framework can transform the way they operate. “Information” is one of the most valuable assets to weather the perfect storm, enabling water companies to assess their critical business processes and to de-risk the critical failure points. The right framework can deliver an informative risk assessment together with a prioritised portfolio of investments and control actions that address people, process, and infrastructure, thereby streamlining operations and facing up to the challenges.