SAPinsider Technology Executive Forum Issue 1 2021

As a result, CIOs and CTOs will have to make major decisions about selecting the best platform for their organization and, in doing so, be confident the tech- nology platform provider will keep pace with the demands of digital change. “In technology, we are driving agility, but we are also signing a 10-year contract, so I don’t want to get into bed with the wrong dragon,” says Potter. By choosing the SAP, Microsoft, and Salesforce platforms, Thames Water adds weight to the argu- ment that platforms are replacing systems integra- tors (SI). “Platforms like SAP, Azure, and Salesforce bring incredible capability out of the box, and that capability is well integrated. We are focused on how we can exploit those capabilities.” According to Potter, Thames Water utilizes SIs to help with the heavy lifting required to bring capabil- ity into an organization, but throughout his career, he has focused on developing the technological capabilities of the business. “The world is changing, and the SI relationship is going to ebb away and be replaced by partners that bring something quite dif- ferent to the organization. You get these disruptions once every 20 years. That doesn’t mean the job gets any easier for me — I now have to have capabilities in-house to manage the technology platform provid- ers, so it is a very different challenge to managing a systems integrator,” says Potter. He and his team are now constantly looking at how they get more demonstrable value from the platforms. Embracing Data A commonality of the platforms that Thames Water has selected is their strength in managing major levels of data. As the UK’s largest water provider, Thames has major data sets on its customers, water network, staff, and machinery for treating and supplying water to 10 million customers — including this scribe. “We have to be at the cutting edge of how we use data,” Potter says of how data is rising in priority on the organization’s agenda, as it is for many. “We are learning as we go in terms of how we use data. We are in the process of mastering our data and cleaning it up as part of the development of a data integration layer for the business. Then we can expose that data to our services and users, but also to the customers,” Potter says. Potter has a unique way of getting the entire busi- ness involved in data projects, which will both deliver data management modernization, but perhaps more importantly, make the business feel like it played a role in the data creation and digital transformation. This will avoid the perils of the organization feeling like the program was done to them by IT. “I have tried to identify business transformation programs that require a change to their data, and as a result, 70% of our technology and data estate consolidation is being done through these change programs. At the same time, we are identifying areas that we can add value to the business through improvements in the data quality. In two years' time, I expect to have a single, high-quality data set,” he says. Asset data, such as information on a pump or sewage treatment plant, is the most complicated area of data, but also the one that could make significant savings to the business. “Over the next 18 months, we plan to expose more of our asset data through an open data strategy, so that other people can start using that data and then, in turn, we can find more value from that data.” Mike Potter, Digital Transformation Director of Thames Water, joined Thames Water after working in the UK’s central government in various business technology leadership roles, including Chief Digital and Information Officer for HMRC, the UK’s tax collection body, and at the Cabinet Office preparing the nation for leaving the European Union. Before joining the public sector, Potter led technology with Boots, the largest pharmacy retailer in the country. 34