Transforming the IT of a renewable energy company

Can you solve IT issues, make employees happier and more productive and keep costs down?

One of the largest UK renewable energy companies were experiencing IT issues and had a tense relationship with their existing IT service provider. This disrupted the entire business, frustrating their employees and making it harder to do their job.

We had to come up with a plan to fix these IT issues, but we arrived in a volatile situation. The problem was seriously hurting their business and their ambitious plans to grow were at risk. So we had to go in and work hard to understand their issues.

Find the cause, find the solution

First, we had to figure out the root causes of their IT issues. We had to understand the complexities and the relationship between them and their IT service provider if we were going to know how these issues were impacting the business.

How did we do it? We interviewed their senior stakeholders and got a well-informed view of the problem. Throughout the process, we stood by our principles: act collaboratively, objectively and independently. The team found three main causes: a poorly defined IT operating model, misaligned services and Service Level Agreements, and missing IT capabilities.

Rolling out the improvements

In the same interviews, we developed a new vision for their IT. What did IT need to do to support the business? What were their top priorities for the next couple of years? Using these answers, we designed and developed a new IT operating model. To make sure it was the right model for them, we came up with five potential options—based on our knowledge of the market. Once they picked a model, we led the team who created the final, detailed design and ran the transition programme. In total, we had to oversee five different workstreams to make the change happen.

Seeing the benefits of change

This new IT operating model has led to many benefits. They can now invest more in technology, knowing the basics are in place. Their IT team is much more experienced, and because they now have a much better relationship with the rest of the business, they’re able to discuss strategy, what they prioritise and how to manage their portfolio of IT projects.

Employees are happier now, too. Since the programme, employee engagement scores have risen, and problems have eased. Any issues that people do raise, the IT department can quickly resolve.

Find out how we help our clients in Technology