AWWA IMT61451

This paper focuses on the intersection of information technology and the business processes it supports. The key issue addressed is how to capitalize on the use of technology to leverage creative new business models. Rapid advancements in technical performance are certainly not new. However, new paradigms are created by the emergence of more universal standards (e.g. the Internet) and the packaging of comprehensive, flexible applications that radically reduce the need for custom programming. These shifts change the skills required to implement technology. For example, demands for programming are often replaced by the requirement to develop enterprise data models and to integrate packaged applications into the resulting architecture. These changes are creating new models for IT support with corresponding changes in roles of IT departments, their user communities, and the external vendors that assist them. Utilities face a second challenge. Concurrent with the emergence of new technology models is the expanding array of utility business models. Driven by deregulation, privatization, and increasing pressure on local budgets, new business models have exploded the demand for information and the tools needed to use information effectively. The challenge is to meet expanding technology requirements without a corresponding growth in cost. The paper discusses the impact of changes in business and technology; proposes structured methods to evaluate the unique requirements of individual companies; and the development of cost-effective solutions to meet those requirements. It also outlines the impact on organizational models to be considered as part of the business/technology optimization process. Includes table, figures.