Northgate to help Consumer Council for Water deliver on strategic aims
05 May 2006
Northgate Information Solutions today announces a further success in the utilities sector with the signing of an agreement with the Consumer Council for Water (CCWater) to support the organisation in the effective management of ICT resources.
Launched in October 2005, CCWater is the statutory consumer body for water and sewage services in England and Wales. Its aim is to become the leading consumer representation body through delivering an efficient and effective service.
In a contract worth £750,000 over 3 years, Northgate will provde CCwater with a fully-managed service that will see the company take ownership of, upgrade and support all CCWater's ICT assets at a fixed costs.
CCWater will benefit from:
the provision of a secure and stable infrastructure that enables employees across CCWater's network of offices to access information when they need to;
productivity gains through increased mobile working;
a reduction in time spent on adminstration;
expert support through a full helpdesk service;
rapid implementation, enabling CCWater to operate independantly of OFWAT's ICT infrastructure by June 2006.
Andy Ross, Managing Director of Northgate Managed Services, said;
"We are delighted to be assisting the Consumer Council for Water at this important time in the organisation's development. Ensuring that members of the public receive the best service from the water industry means enabling Council staff to spend less time on adminstration and paper-chasing and more time focusing on the consumer. This is our first substantial contract in the utilities sector in Britain and we look forward to a successful partnership with CCWater going forwards".
Tony Smith, CCWater Chief Executive, added:
"CCWater represents the interest of water consumers across England and Wales, and the way we manage our own resources is critical to the work that we do. the ability of users to connect remotely to systems from home or using mobile technology will address the constraints currently imposed on mobile workers and will help rebalance staff workloads. This is key to the strategic vision for CCWater's future. This new partnership with Northgate will enable us to concentrate on our core role, safe in the knowledge that our current and future ICT needs are being met and with the certainty of a fixed cost."
