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Governance framework and organizational readiness focused on identifying the governance structure and processes used to support a successful transformation while remaining flexible to account for anticipated changes in the roadmap (new/changed initiatives, re-prioritization, etc.). The design focus for the organizational structure centered around providing flexibility to leverage resources across the corporation.

Complexion of the Business Transformation Roadmap and Organization

As a result of the ongoing process and solid engagement of subject matter conducted by experts from CenterPoint, IBM and cross-functional resources from across the company in electric, gas, marketing, finance, fleet, strategic planning and customer care,the Smart Grid Business Transformation Roadmap successfully aligned with CenterPoint’s strategic objectives. The complexion of the roadmap is a direct reflection of the smart grid strategic plan, which

• Focuses on consumers, reliability, safety and operational efficiency;
• Identifies key foundational initiatives focused on organization, processes and technology; and
• Prepares for emerging technologies while letting the market and regulators set the pace. The key characteristics of this Business Transformation Roadmap are
• Comprehensive—inclusive of the smart grid strategic plan and aligned with IT roadmap, smart grid and customer vision;
• Practical—the initiatives are not experimental; and
• Action-Oriented—based on organizational readiness, initiatives can be achieved and transformation realized.

 The Business Transformation Roadmap, segmented into five domains, will help guide CenterPoint to realize its smart grid strategic plan and transition into the utility of the future.

1. The Grid Operations Domaincovers the advanced grid observability and control, quality and reliability initiatives.

• The domain includes best practices in leveraging smart grid devices for remote monitoring, control and automation. Additionally, CenterPoint Energy will continue to lead the way with further advancements in localization and characterization analytics.
• The grid operations initiatives are the main drivers to achieve the regulatory and stakeholder areas of the strategic plan.
• Demand response initiatives will be the focus of defining CenterPoint Energy’s position in the area of demand response. 

2. The Work and Asset Management Domain enables optimization of assets and resources to drive operational effectiveness and efficiencies.

• The domain includes major IT initiatives to leverage and modify existing systems in order to provide functionality to support the unified processes.
• The initiatives include best practices in adopting asset management processes, and tools that are used to great benefit in Europe and Asia, as wel as across the North American utility industry.
• Work and asset management initiatives are major enablers to achieving operational efficiencies and reliability strategic plan thresholds.

3. The Customer Management and Experience Domain enables customer care, advanced services, and visibility into utilization quality and performance.

• The customer management and experience domain is the main driver for promoting customer satisfaction and engagement.
• Focus is on in-flight initiatives around customer vision, and support of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs).

 4. The Emerging Technologies Domain enables PHEVs, demand and supply management, as well as distributed generation.

• The domain covers best practices in PHEV adoption and preparation taken from European and western U.S. utilities and incorporation, and leveraging of distributed generation proliferation ideas from leading industry thought pieces; it even sets the stage for future positioning in dynamic load management from storage, vehicle to grid, and reactive power management.

5. The Foundation Domain represents the initiatives that are integral to the success of all of the other domains.

• The domain covers the foundational areas of transformation (people, process and technology).
• The foundation initiatives are instrumental in effecting transformational change.
• The foundation initiatives will provide efficiencies across the roadmap, and increase the effectiveness and transformational effect of the initiatives in the other domains.

Implementation of the Roadmap to Realize the Strategy

A series of cross-functional Business Transformation workshops was able to identify hundreds of potential initiatives across all five domains, from which nearly two dozen were authorized for implementation in 2011, and assigned executive sponsors and team leads. The executive owners and team leads are responsible for establishing or refining the business cases for each initiative, and for preparing them for authorization and support. Continued business support in process development, impact assessments, training development and presentation, and technology ownership will be important to the successful implementation of CenterPoint Energy’s transformational efforts as these undertakings become part of the company’s day-to-day operations.

CenterPoint Energy recognizes the importance of modifying existing end-to-end business processes to leverage the company’s investment in new technology, thereby making employees more knowledgeable, skilled, informed, prepared and efficient. It is important that each initiative identified on the Business Transformation Roadmap be able to stand on its own. Nonetheless, in communications to employees, company leadership stresses that the whole of Business Transformation exceeds the sum of its parts, such that the cumulative power of employees’ combined efforts will indeed begin to transform the way CenterPoint Energy does business in pursuit of its smart grid and customer vision.

About the Authors

John E. Slanina is division vice president of Business Transformation for CenterPoint Energy, and is responsible for development and execution of the transformational roadmap of initiatives to support CenterPoint’s smart grid strategic plan. Slanina previously served as the division vice president of distribution operations for CenterPoint Energy Houston Electric, and has 30 years’ experience in the electric utility industry.

Khalid A. Behairy is a senior managing consultant with IBM Global Business Services in the Strategy and Transformation Practice for Energy and Utilities. He has more than 15 years’ experience, and consults for utilities on developing and implementing operational and technology strategies.