Energy & Utilities, Operations Excellence
A large investor-owned U.S. utility provider is paving the way toward a clean-energy future. They are in the middle of a multi-year initiative to deliver an industry-leading experience to their customers, with a primary goal of becoming digital. Part of this effort required a new customer information system (CIS) and other technology to drive front- and back-office customer service and billing platforms.
Success depended not only on selecting the right suppliers but also ensuring high performance and collaboration among them. That’s where West Monroe came in.
We have partnered with this utility for almost a decade to drive critical change. Our track record, combined with utility infrastructure and strategic sourcing expertise, made us the ideal partner. Over a few years, we helped the utility select and orchestrate the work of 10+ suppliers to bring its operational and service vision to fruition—with measurable precision.
total savings, representing multiple millions, achieved through supplier management best practices
milestones met on time with the primary SI
successfully negotiated commercial agreements across the supplier ecosystem
The utility’s journey to modernize front- and back-office operations required a significant investment of time and resources. In turn, the company’s board expected broad and significant impact: greater business agility, more efficient operations, and enhanced data and capabilities for creating personalized offerings and new revenue streams—among other benefits.
To deliver on these expectations, the utility needed to be sure it had the right suppliers in place—organized and managed in the right way to meet specific commitments and milestones.
In particular, the utility sought outside expertise for:
That’s why the utility turned to West Monroe.
This was a complex challenge—but exactly the type of situation for which we’ve built our sourcing and supplier management capabilities. We were equipped with deep experience and a diligent, detailed, and objective approach for guiding selection and governance in a multi-supplier environment with key milestones that spanned multiple years. Our team:
With our guidance, the utility negotiated more than 25 statements of work across 10+ suppliers. Having flexible, accountable, above-market agreements with key partners brought clarity and a required level of accountability to a multi-implementation partner model, fostering the cooperation necessary to progress on schedule toward its goals.
Our work also brought significant efficiency to the project, including: