De Watergroep: making reporting waterproof

Jul 03, 2017
  • utilities
  • SAP
  • Microsoft

When teaming up with delaware, De Watergroep set a clear goal: to make the organization future-proof by increasing business insights and improving the decision-making process through robust, central reporting. Operating at the intersection of utilities and government, De Watergroep is the biggest drinking water company in Belgium. More than 1,400 employees ensure the provision of water via a network of 30,000km of pipes to 2.8 million customers and hundreds of enterprises.

Fit-for-purpose roadmap

Together with De Watergroep, delaware defined a roadmap based on 3 pillars: analysis of the information needs, a well-organized governance structure, and a selection of technological tools. “Our project team thoroughly analyzed the needs of the business and mapped the processes including our company’s mission, vision and goals before looking at technologies or tools.

In line with the project objectives and budget, we implemented best practices for governance and rolled out the program pragmatically, starting with small but valuable sub-projects,” says Cristina Orodel, Project Manager BI & Portfolio Manager at De Watergroep.

The existing hardware and software platforms were replaced by a new setup based on Microsoft AX ERP and data warehouse, complemented by SAP BO as a reporting tool. Thanks to the addition of SAP BO Universe for the translation of technical data from the data warehouse into clear business terms, business users can now build reports without needing SQL coding skills. 

For De Watergroep, this new setup has created a single point of truth, eliminating the existing information silos and allowing the company to make sound decisions based on centrally validated data.

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Governance as key success factor

BI isn’t just about technology, however, which is why De Watergroep invested in a solid governance structure from the start. delaware supported De Watergroep in defining a process which challenges every new request for a report based on multiple criteria. Furthermore, a Business Intelligence Competence Center was set up to define future reporting needs and to reflect on current challenges and opportunities.

Future-proof

Thanks to the current BI solution, De Watergroep is well equipped for the future. “We now have a solid BI foundation allowing us to create new value-adding apps and reports for the business. The current reports for ‘Waardering Net’ (valuation of the water net), non-revenue water (NRW), financial closing and legal reporting, purchasing and water services have already enabled us to make substantial FTE savings, allowing us to deploy our employee resources on more value-adding activities. 

Building on our current capabilities, we will continue to combine data from various sources to reveal valuable insights for the business,” concludes Cristina Orodel.

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