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Case Study: ScottishPower Debt Manager Upgrade
This case study describes Arum's initial engagement with ScottishPower. This project involved upgrading Debt Manager from a green screen Version 4 AS400/DB2 based application to a web GUI Version 6 application running on UNIX/Oracle. The Agency Management Module was introduced as part of the upgrade project.
The Challenge
ScottishPower embarked upon a major customer collections improvement programme aimed at making them ‘best in class’. ScottishPower’s Debt Manager application and infrastructure needed a major overhaul to support this aim. While the system worked, ScottishPower realised that without significant changes to it, they would be unable to move the business forward or exploit the valuable functionality supplied with newer versions of the product, for example, the Agency Management Module. The challenge was to upgrade the main Debt Manager system to a completely new platform, whilst adding new functionality. The goals of continuity of the existing operation and speed within an outsourced support environment provided additional challenges.
The Outcome
The project lasted 20 months from initial design and planning to completion. It was implemented in two stages to allow some business benefits to be realised early and to minimise business impact. The project completed to time and within budget with all of the original scope delivered. The business was very pleased with the outcome and provided excellent feedback on the application in early production use.
Sandy Duckett, Head of Credit Management within ScottishPower Energy Retail was delighted with the result, in particular Arum's ability to put their knowledge into practice. He said:-
"Arum’s enthusiastic contribution to this strategic project to replace our old green screens was fundamental to the success of the upgrade. In addition their knowledge of Debt Manager, excellent overall project management skills and experience enabled us to confidently implement the solution knowing that appropriate quality standards had been met and support processes were in place."
How did Arum achieve this successful outcome?
By understanding our customer's business and working closely with the ScottishPower team at all stages of planning. Our in-depth knowledge of the Debt Manager product and history was vital to the success of the ScottishPower upgrade and fundamental to enabling the functionality for practical use within the organisation.
THE PROJECT
Organisation Background
ScottishPower is an international energy company, made up of four businesses: Energy Retail, Energy Wholesale and Energy Networks in the UK and PPM Energy in the US. The group provides electricity, transmission and distribution services; supplies electricity and gas services; and operates electricity generation and gas storage facilities.
ScottishPower Energy Retail is the gas and electricity supply company and holder of the group’s supply licences. It manages pricing, selling, billing and receipting for gas and electricity supply to both business and domestic customers and deals with enquiries arising in the course of this business. The group has over 5.2m customers in the UK.
Project Background
ScottishPower Energy Retail's cash collection function is called Customer Collections. In 2004 Customer Collections set itself the target objective 'to create a "best in class" credit management organisation'. A fundamental review of performance led to plans to improve the operations of the business by adopting a holistic approach covering people, processes, strategy and policies, performance and technology work-streams. The umbrella project was called Project Fortune’.
Early on in the planning for Project Fortune it was recognised that a key enabler of the aims of Customer Collections was the provision of significantly upgraded information technology systems. It was also realised that this workstream was likely to be both the highest cost and longest duration element of the project. A review of the options was conducted and it was decided that Fair Isaac’s Debt Manager system would be upgraded and enhanced rather than replaced.
ScottishPower had installed Debt Manager in 1998 to collect domestic and small business debt. Just prior to the upgrade they had 2.2 million records in the application, with just under 1,000 users of the main application and up to 3,000 call centre users able to access a limited range of functions via an interface with the main call centre application. A Genesys dialler conducted outbound dialling, a number of Management Information (MI) tools were used and there was additionally a connection to a high volume printing solution.
Project Aims
The aims of the technology workstream of Project Fortune that became the Debt Manager Upgrade project were:
- A system that Enables 'Best in Class'
- An upgraded version of the Debt Manager system incorporating existing functionality but enabling the system to become a flexible tool which will facilitate ongoing improvements
- Step improvement in Debt Collection system capabilities for ScottishPower
- Access to more features within Debt Manager
- Improved architecture, performance & resilience
- Reduction in peripheral systems (mainly manual databases and spreadsheets)
Project Activites
The core of the project was the upgrade of Debt Manager version 4.1 Green Screen hosted on an AS400/DB2 platform to the V6 web GUI application hosted on a Unix/Oracle and W2003/Weblogic alongside the introduction of the Debt Manager ‘Agency Management Module’. In addition a large number of Access databases and spreadsheets were to be replaced, which meant including the functionality and data from them in the Debt Manager system.
Project Challenges
Significant challenges solved by the project included:
- Definition and development (by Fair Isaac) of a new Debt Manager Application Protocol Interface (API) to meet Scottish Power’s need for integration with the contact centre application;
- No upgrade near this size had previously been attempted for Debt Manager anywhere;
- Very significant business readiness requirements associated with moving large numbers of users from green screen to a web GUI interface, at a time of significant organisational change;
- Concurrent upgrades and changes to many other systems including the dialler;
- Complex data migration;
- Implementation of Agency Management Module required reconciliation of work currently held with Debt Collection Agencies as the true picture and ScottishPower data quality both were unknown;
- Debt Manager very dependent upon data feeds to/from one host system.
Arum's Role
ScottishPower recognised the scale of the project and identified that one key way of reducing risk was to engage a Project Manager experienced in Debt Manager and Fair Isaac/London Bridge Software, but who was also independent of Fair Isaac, and able to offer an unbiased view. Arum Systems provided such a Project Manager for the duration of the project, as well as an Implementation Project Manager and Debt Manager consultants to work on specific aspects of the project.
Our Project Manager and other consultants acted on behalf of ScottishPower throughout the project from the design and planning phase through to implementation. We managed input from Fair Isaac, three other large third party service providers and all ScottishPower personnel working on the team.
The scope included:
- Business case development,
- Upgrade strategy and plan,
- All contract negotiations,
- Implementing the business plan,
- Business readiness/mobilisation planning,
- Development, testing and
- Planning the production system implementation
Additional value for ScottishPower was gained from Arum's previous experience of working with Debt Manager and Fair Isaac, allowing key risk mitigation actions to be put in place at planning and contract stages.
Project Outcome
The project completed in 20 months, a significant achievement. From initial design and planning to completion, Arum took ownership of the main Project Management role and ensured that costs were controlled, schedules planned and ScottishPower's expectations managed effectively. To minimise the business impact it was agreed that the project implement in two steps.
- Step 1 September 2005
- Step 2 May 2006
Both steps implemented on time and within cost.
All functionality from the original scope was delivered and the excellent feedback from the business was appreciated by the team.
Arum services have been retained by ScottishPower and we continue to be involved in key aspects of their Debt Manager application design and development as well as advising on best practice Customer Collection activities.
Further Details
Please contact Malcolm Collett for further details.
malcolm.collett@arum.co.uk
Tel +44 (0)870 383 1980