IBM taps into NT water with asset management contract

Peter Dinham
Tuesday, 17 November 2009 05:45

IT Industry - Deals

IBM has snared a $14.5 million agreement with the Northern Territory's multi-utility provider, Power and Water Corporation, to design and implement an asset management system aimed at delivering electricity, water and sewerage services to the corporation’s 80,000 customers across more than 1.3 million kilometres of the Top End territory more efficiently.

Under the agreement, Power and Water will tap IBM's expertise and technology for its Asset Management Capability (AMC) Project, which is a four-year program to improve asset management practices across the corporation.

Power and Water Corporation AMC program director, Sharon McAnelly, said today the organisation needs an enterprise-wide system to streamline processes and report real performance, and she said "better asset management systems capability means better information on asset performance and condition. This will bring clarity to investment decisions, maintenance planning and delivery, and ultimately better customer services.”

McAnelly said a key component in the delivery of the AMC Project lies in the implementation of IBM Maximo Spatial Asset Management, a geospatially enabled asset management solution integrated with the latest Geographic Information System (GIS) technology from IBM Business Partner ESRI. 

IBM Australia and New Zealand general manager public sector, Steve Bond, said today that the company’s Maximo Spatial Asset Management solution is designed to enable users to visualise all assets and work in a geospatial context to help optimise resources and decisions. 

"The solution enables users to capture, analyse, and display assets, locations, and work orders. For example, asset managers will not only know that an asset exists, but can also see information about its condition, cost, maintenance history and exactly where it is on a map, in relationship to other assets of various types.”

According to Bond, Power and Water will also be using IBM Cognos TM1 to consolidate and analyse maintenance and capital works planning, which he said “will help Power and Water to meet the future needs of the growing Northern Territory population and meet the goals of its recently increased capital maintenance plan allocated across power generation, power networks, water, sewerage and business services.

"We are delighted to be helping Power and Water Corporation lay down the groundwork for smarter energy and water management. Power and Water Corporation joins the ranks of businesses and governments around the world working with IBM on smart technology systems to help manage and optimize the use of finite resources."