Nearly 67 Percent of North American Utilities Faced Significant Problems During Their Most Recent Customer Information System Procurement, New Research Reveals

Atlanta, GA, December 16, 2015 --(PR.com)-- RIM Solutions, a subsidiary of TMG Consulting that provides utility industry research and advisory services, announced today the results of part two of its four-part study into customer information system (CIS) replacement risks; this installment provides deep-dive analysis into procurement-specific risks.

According to the study, the biggest areas of risk during the procurement process are related to needs identification, the request for proposal (RFP) process and contract negotiations. The whitepaper includes strategies to first identify and then avoid, transfer, mitigate and ultimately accept these risks.

Conclusions are based on survey data, project experience, utility interviews and input from subject matter experts from various, sometimes opposing perspectives including EY, HCL Technologies, Harris-NorthStar, Oracle-CC&B and TMG Consulting.

Part one in the series, Utility CIS Planning Risk Mitigation, was published in September 2015. Parts three and four will be published in 2016 and focus on implementation and stabilization risks, respectively.

Parts one and two will be presented by Mario Bauer, CEO of TMG Consulting and Vanessa Edmonds, vice president of TMG Consulting and general manager of RIM Solutions during the CS Week Marketplace Webinar: The New Age of CIS Replacement Risk Mitigation, January 21, 1pm Central Standard Time.

According to Edmonds, “The successful procurement of a new CIS is more complicated than ever before. Utilities must think past features and functionality to how the system can support the needs of the business. That means going beyond what they need their CIS to do today to how it can support them in the future; a future that is unwritten.”

Bauer adds, “As costs continue to rise, proper planning for a CIS procurement will be more critical than ever. How to handle data, requirements, integration, edge systems, migrations, reporting and resources all has to be considered. The pre-RFP stages are riddled with risks and key to overall success—not just at go-live but 10 years out, as well. Our new research discusses these in detail.”

Replacement Market and Drivers
According to the study, 27 percent of utilities plan to replace their CIS’ in the next one-to-two years, and 12 percent in the next three-to-four years. The biggest problems with their current systems include insufficient ability to modify their systems to support changing business requirements and lack of ease of integration with other applications and processes, issues which will be a significant focus during their upcoming procurement.

About TMG Consulting
TMG Consulting is an unbiased utility, IT advisory firm that has delivered more than 400 projects to more than 250 public- and investor-owned utilities, evolving energy companies, and city, county and state governments since 1992. TMG provides IT planning, selection and post-implementation support for CIS, automated dispatch and mobile data, work management, Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) and Meter Data Management.

RIM Solutions, the research and advisory division of TMG Consulting, provides utilities and solution providers fast, flexible access to deep industry knowledge to arrive at better decisions and execute on the company’s vision and mission more effectively. Through tailored research and whitepapers, corresponding visual infographics and presentations, as well as strategic advisory services, RIM offers pre-planned road maps that leverage intelligence to deliver measurable business improvements.

Visit www.tmgconsulting.com and www.rimsolutions.net to learn more.