Technology... How Do We Live With IT If We Can’t Live Without IT

You’ve heard the saying “Can’t live with it, can’t live without it”. When “it” refers to IT (Information Technology), the utility industry most certainly cannot live without it. In fact, at the Greater Cincinnati Water Works and Metropolitan Sewer District, we have become increasingly invested in IT. Investments in SCADA systems, CMMS, LIMS, CIS, billing systems, and AMR technologies have paid dividends through greater efficiency and levels of service, thereby justifying the system acquisition and implementation costs.Moving forward however, achieving timely and substantial returns on these capital investments is increasingly difficult. First, the cost to purchase, upgrade, and support technologies continues to grow at an exponential rate and ongoing support of these specialized applications requires highly skilled expertise. IT upgrades must also compete with traditional capital construction projects. Often, the benefits of IT investments are not as readily understood by the business, adding to the funding challenges. Lastly, the significant labor savings achieved through the initial implementation of systems such as SCADA and AMR cannot be as easily duplicated.So if we can’t live without IT, how do we continue to live with (and afford) IT? How do we justify future expenditures in new technology if the “low hanging fruit” of efficiencies has already been picked? Two solutions are proposed, each involving an expanded view of technology procurement and use.