Centrica October 2019

Evergreen technology for field users

Centrica:

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digital transformation in the field

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CENTRICA

Centrica’s Head of Mobile User Computing, Joanne Rose, discusses the technological and cultural measures supporting digital transformation for users in the field

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ritish energy multinational Centrica operates brands such as British Gas in the UK, Bord Gáis in Ireland and Direct Energy in

the US and Canada. Befitting its history, which 04

stretches back over 200 years, the company still maintains all of London’s gas lamps. Its technological credentials, however, are proven by such facets as its smart home subsidiary Hive. Employing around 31,000 people, part of its work as an energy service and supplier involves sending engineers to perform duties such as boiler repair and servicing, and smart meter installation. Joanne Rose, Head of Mobile User Computing at Centrica, is responsible for fulfilling the technological needs of teams in the field. That work is continuous, necessarily moving with the pace of technological change, as Rose explains. “We’ve transformed our field workforce digitally over the last 20 years. Currently, digital transformation for us is about continually making sure that our fieldworkers have got the most up-todate technology and software. What we’re doing is

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“ Digital transformation for us is about continually making sure that our fieldworkers have got the most up-to-date technology and software” — Joanne Rose Head of Mobile User Computing Centrica 06

setting the scene for our field workforce to be on the latest products and for them to be kept up-to-date.”

To carry out that work, Rose has found the introduction of new IT systems invaluable. “We’ve rolled out Windows 10 right across the organisation. One of the reasons that Windows 10 has been so important is because we have the Evergreen solution behind it. We will never be too far behind the latest operating system version that Microsoft is providing.” That escape from incremental and periodic upgrades extends to Centrica’s embrace of cloud technologies such as Office 365. “We use OneDrive for file storage along with the Office 365 tools like Excel, Word, Teams and PowerPoint,” says Rose. “From a user experience point of view, that Office 365 rollout has really transformed Centrica. We have the full suite and we’re constantly adding new applications and features.”

Centrica’s field workers have benefited in numerous ways, starting from the implementation of Centrica’s Windows 10 systems. “We have around 8,000 field users, and they were on a mix of Windows 7 and Windows 8.1.

CLICK TO WATCH : ‘THE NATURE OF DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION AT CENTRICA’

Our largest workforce, our Service and

geographically spread, they suffer

Repair workforce, were on really old

challenges in some remote parts of

devices as well. The project was mani-

the country where 4G is inaccessible.

fold because, concurrent with the engi-

Those challenges all had to be taken

neers’ laptops being replaced, my team

into consideration.” Geographical iso-

introduced a new operating system

lation brings challenges beyond just

alongside a brand new suite of applica-

connectivity, and technological solu-

tions.” Compounding this challenging

tions are addressing these as well.

project was the nature of field work,

“It’s very difficult to replace devices or

with niche requirements in comparison

enact a big IT upgrade because our

to desktop users. “They use a different

field workforce is truly field-based,

VPN solution, and their connectivity

meaning they never come to a Centrica

largely depends on the Vodafone

office and they don’t have regional

network,” says Rose. “Because they’re

depots. The technology they’re now w w w.c e nt rica . com

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Empowering your people to engage

Unleash your people to connect, collaborate, and innovate to transform your workplace and business.

Evergreen Workplace Services from Fujitsu.

Find out more about Digital Workplace at www.fujitsu.com

Empowering Centrica’s frontline We live in a world that demands flexibility and convenience and having a single work location is no longer the world we live in. A fantastic employee experience is key to the success of the modern business, and to achieve this, Centrica partnered with Fujitsu to transform and deliver their Digital Workplace.

The transformation embraced Windows

“The replacement of legacy devices was a crucial first step to enable employees to benefit from a new integrated, evergreen enduser service”

10, Azure, Office 365 and Fujitsu’s digital hybrid offering – on-premise and Cloud – for end user IT services, allowing 31,000 global

has provided Centrica’s employees with

employees, including 8,000 field engineers,

a new lease of flexible working, which in to-

to collaborate and be productive on a glob-

day’s ‘the workplace is everywhere’ is essen-

al scale. The result is that every employee,

tial for employee satisfaction and wellbeing

from office, home or field has equal access

– supporting all types of people in Centrica’s

to services. The new workplace is also

diverse workforce; with increased mobility

future proofed against the fast-moving pace

and effectiveness, while increasing employ-

of technology by being evergreen, so em-

ees’ ability to deliver great customer service.

ployees can always benefit from the latest

The replacement of the legacy devices

innovations and features.

Services are now available from any de-

was a crucial first step to enable employees to benefit from the new integrated, ever-

vice, increasing employee engagement, as

green end-user service, and by working

users are able to have the same, up-to-date

hand in hand with Centrica, and partnering

experience, in the office and field, as they

with Panasonic, Fujitsu procured, built and

do at home on their personal devices. This

led the deployment of 8,000 rugged and robust devices to Centrica’s team of field engineers so that they can now deliver an improved customer experience.

Alongside this, we have reduced the cost to serve, a key component of Centrica’s Digital Strategy. The outcome of the collaboration is a foundation for being able to add digital capabilities to improve engineers First Time Fix rates, resulting in great customer satisfaction and increased field productivity.

CENTRICA

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CLICK TO WATCH : ‘CENTRICA: FIELD-SUITABLE HARDWARE FROM PANASONIC AND FUJITSU’

using means they can communicate

to ensure access to its services. “An

with the whole of Centrica using

amazing thing about the Microsoft

Yammer,” says Rose. “Yammer is

tools that we’re using is accessibility.

Microsoft’s enterprise social media

For engineers or employees with

tool, and we have, for instance, particu-

disabilities across Centrica, those

lar groups that relate to their laptops.

Microsoft tools provide a lot of extra

My team monitor the relevant groups

functionality. If you are dyslexic, for

and contact the engineers to get more

instance, you can change the setup to

information about trending problems.”

make it more friendly to you. Subtitles

A critical partner of Centrica’s on-

are available for live meetings if you’re

going digital transformation has been

hard of hearing, and if you’re visually

Microsoft which, aside from the afore-

impaired you can change the technol-

mentioned Windows 10, Office 365

ogy to work better for you.” On the

and Yammer, has also provided tools

hardware side, Panasonic has been

vital to field work at Centrica, providing laptops and more. “Panasonic has been a Centrica technology partner for more than 20 years. I’ve worked with them practically all of that time, and they are an extremely supportive supplier. They have helped us to understand the technology that they’re introducing as they refresh their current models, particularly during our latest project where we rolled out about

“ Where we’re implementing new technology, we make sure that users are happy with it and really understand it before it gets deployed” — Joanne Rose Head of Mobile User Computing Centrica

6,000 Panasonic TOUGHBOOK G1 devices to the field. We always work very closely with Panasonic when

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we’re doing our device selections.”

Providing the tailored builds to operate

E XE CU T I VE PRO FI LE

Joanne Rose Joanne is Centrica’s Head of Mobile User Computing.

She’s passionate about supporting Centrica’s field-based employees. Joanne leads a high performing team that have ensured that the field-based employees have the best technology available to them. She’s also an active campaigner for gender diversity in her organisation and an energetic member of the Centrica Women’s Network.

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“ The most important 12

thing for us is to be able to keep our estate Evergreen” — Joanne Rose Head of Mobile User Computing Centrica

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CLICK TO WATCH : ‘CENTRICA: HOW THE CLOUD AIDS COMMUNICATION AND ACCESSIBILITY’

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successfully in the field was Fujitsu.

from the highest levels. “The approval

“We worked closely with Fujitsu to

came from the top and our CIO, Mike

make sure that the Windows 10 build

Young. Digital transformation has been

that we were deploying to our field

hugely important to him and his strat-

workforce was the best that it could be

egy, so in sponsorship terms there’s

and met the different needs of field

never been an issue.” Care was taken

users. That planning stage was vital,

to ensure the field workforce was on

and what they delivered really worked

board and engaged with the introduc-

for the field.”

tion of new technologies. “We made

With the change in technology there

sure there was a pilot group which was

was a parallel need to ensure that it

able to trial devices and get first looks

could be integrated culturally in differ-

at the software,” says Rose. “Where

ent parts of Centrica. Rose found the

we’re implementing new technology,

appetite for digital transformation came

we make sure that users are happy w w w.c e nt rica . com

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with it and really understand it before it gets deployed.” For the wider company, programmes are in place to spread the message and ensure understanding of new technologies. “One of the things that we’ve introduced at Centrica is a community called the Digital Champions Network, and we have 600 digital champions that help with the adoption of new Office 365 technology throughout the company.”

As much as it was important to ensure the right culture was in place to 16

profit from digital transformation, Rose is passionate about the need for a culture shift surrounding issues of diversity. “I’m a strong voice in Centrica when it comes to talking about women and diversity issues. I am on the Centrica Women’s Network working group and I head up the local chapter here at the office. It’s a really exciting network and it’s grown significantly, particularly over the last year. We’re working a lot more closely with our Diversity and Inclusion team, so that the strategy of Centrica’s Women’s Network is supporting the strategy of our Diversity and Inclusion team. We have a committee and we organise

events in our own location, whether it’s career development sessions or presentation skills courses. We celebrate International Women’s Day and we’ve done events for that which have generated awareness around the issues that women face in the workplace. My chapter has set up a mentoring scheme for women. We set it up around nine months ago, and we had a review session just a few months back. The impact that the mentoring scheme has had on the women participating has been astounding. It’s not that we’re saying every woman should be promoted – it’s more that every woman should be the best that they can be, and the changes that we’ve seen in these women, and the changes and differences that they’re making to our local office, has been amazing. Those kinds of things have been extraordinary to see and they’re really making a difference.”

The perennial nature of digital transformation at Centrica sees a number of projects in the pipeline. “We’re speeding up how we deploy updates into our field workforce. There’s a project going on with Microsoft at the moment using w w w.c e nt rica . com

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“ The changes that

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we’ve seen in these women, and the changes and differences that they’re making to our local office, has been amazing” — Joanne Rose Head of Mobile User Computing Centrica

the DevOps model and Microsoft Store for Business. We’re working with our local application teams so that, when fixes to current issues are identified, it’s days before they get out to the workforce rather than weeks. It’s vital to us that our engineers aren’t falling behind on patches and operating system updates – both for the sake of security and feature updates that they bring. We’re working with our partner Fujitsu to make sure that we can keep those devices and our workforce in that Evergreen state. We’re looking at BT Pinhole technology where we will be using the BT wifi network as an alternative to the 4G network, and Fujitsu are on board and very supportive with this. The most important thing for us is to be able to keep our estate Evergreen.” With the digital innovations implemented by Rose and her team, Centrica’s field workers can perform their crucial role with confidence in the technology they use.

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Millstream Maidenhead Road Windsor, SL4 5GD United Kindgom T +44 753 494 000 www.centrica.com