THE CHALLENGE

Chicopee Electric Light realized that changing both a Customer Information System and an Enterprise Resource Management system in tandem is a major undertaking for any utility. "A utility of our size doesn't have the in-house experience to handle a system switchover of this magnitude," says Jeffrey Cady, Project Manager at Chicopee Electric Light. Chicopee is a municipal electric utility in Massachusetts with about 25,000 customers. "We had originally asked the vendors to submit a joint CIS/ERP proposal with the option of selecting each system individually. Based on our evaluations we decided to select them individually using the best of breed approach," says Jeff.

TMG CONSULTING SERVICES

Chicopee's recent RFP process resulted in a short list of four vendors who were invited to deliver one day demonstrations. The vendors were required to follow a script developed by TMG Consulting and the utility. After the vendor presentations and reference checks were evaluated, a single vendor was identified as the finalist and was invited for a five-day scripted follow-on presentation focusing on detailed capabilities of the system.

RESULTS

"TMG Consulting guided us through the process, answering our questions and helping us script the questions we should be asking the vendors. They make sure the vendors are honest with us. We first considered selecting TMG Consulting as our consultant after hearing Greg Galluzzi speak at a conference. They know what the vendors' capabilities are, and TMG Consulting's implementation experience is going to help us reduce our mistakes. We simply don't have the insight that they have," says Jeff.

"Utilities need to build a bridge between their CIS and enterprise systems anyway," says Mario Bauer, senior consultant with TMG Consulting. "Changing both systems within a similar timeframe can be a good plan since the process can be so disruptive anyway. How the systems are to interface is the key driver in decision."