Fortis modernizes application at 1/10th the cost of replacement
Company Size
1,000+
Region
- America
Country
- Canada
Product
- webMethods Integration
- Natural Application Development
- webMethods EntireX
- webMethods CAF
Tech Stack
- Oracle
- UNIX
Implementation Scale
- Enterprise-wide Deployment
Impact Metrics
- Cost Savings
- Digital Expertise
- Productivity Improvements
Technology Category
- Application Infrastructure & Middleware - Middleware, SDKs & Libraries
- Platform as a Service (PaaS) - Application Development Platforms
Applicable Industries
- Utilities
Applicable Functions
- Business Operation
Use Cases
- Process Control & Optimization
- Remote Asset Management
Services
- Cloud Planning, Design & Implementation Services
- Software Design & Engineering Services
About The Customer
FortisBC Inc. is a fully integrated electric utility in southeastern British Columbia, Canada. The company serves approximately 120,000 customers and is part of the Fortis group of companies, which includes six other electric utilities and one gas utility in Canada. FortisBC is committed to energizing British Columbia and is dedicated to the future, ensuring that its business-critical systems are ready to support new business initiatives, from automated metering to B2B integration.
The Challenge
FortisBC, a fully integrated electric utility in southeastern British Columbia, was facing challenges with its decade-old customer information system. The system, which was used daily by customer service, was out of warranty and needed a language, interface, and database update. The system had proven functionality worth preserving, but replacing it could have cost tens of millions of dollars. The company wanted to modernize the system at a fraction of the cost of replacing it. Other goals included adding a Web front-end, creating a single sign-on environment, improving security and eliminating manual password changes, assuring easy mobile and remote access, building a platform for a next generation of business services, and improving the ability to deliver more self-services to the customer.
The Solution
To modernize the application, FortisBC collaborated with Software AG Global Consulting Services and Techlogix, a global consulting and IT services company. The consultants proposed a modernization solution that used webMethods EntireX to replace the outdated middleware and to create Web services. webMethods CAF was used to recreate 155 Smalltalk screens “like-for-like.” Software AG partner Techlogix provided offshore development, lowering project costs by 30 percent. The modernization, based on webMethods technology, has “reenergized” the application, making it more reliable, easier to support, more secure and accessible to mobile users. For the first time in a long time, IT has a system it can more easily enhance—for example, by streamlining processes—to deliver greater value to the business.
Operational Impact
Quantitative Benefit
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