Riverina Water expands digital transformation program

Riverina Water has implemented Infor’s CloudSuite Public Sector Customer and Billing modules as part of its ambitious digital transformation project. Early positive signs suggest deployment will have a flow-on effect, with customers set to reap the rewards of real-time transaction capabilities.

Implementation of the cloud-based enterprise software platform is in line with Riverina Water’s aim of achieving customer excellence. In a survey across the supply area of Wagga Wagga City, Lockhart Shire and parts of Greater Hume and Federation council areas earlier this year, overall customer service satisfaction scored 4.69 out of 5.

Riverina Water was winner of the 2021–22 Sam Samra Award for Most Improved Local Water Utility in NSW. Now Infor will bolster the utility’s forward focus by helping better manage costs, secure IT investments and improve service delivery to its more than 77,000 customers, by retiring legacy systems and moving to the cloud.

Infor CloudSuite Public Sector includes Infor Financials & Supply Management, Infor CIS Billing and Infor Enterprise Performance Management (EPM), delivering integrated planning, budgeting, forecasting and financial consolidation, business intelligence and analytics. The platform was selected following a competitive tender process in a bid to ensure that Riverina Water is well-positioned to operate in an increasingly digital world, while supporting efficient work processes, procedures and service delivery — both internally and externally.

“We’re pleased that Infor has been able to deliver on the first phase of our transformation program. The system has only been in production for two months and we’re already seeing tangible benefits with a number of manual processes now automated. I’m looking forward to seeing how it will further benefit our customers into the future,” said Andrew Crakanthorp, CEO at Riverina Water.

“Infor plays an important role as a trusted partner in our commitment to providing safe and reliable drinking water to an ever-growing community. Infor was selected for its deep water industry experience and a cloud offering that’s flexible, agile, secure and customisable — all ingredients of the right industry-specific solution for our needs as we look to strengthen service delivery and enhance our standing as a customer-centric organisation with best-in-class customer service,” Crakanthorp said.

“Importantly, we see this as a long-term partnership that will help meet our strategic goals.”

Riverina Water is planning future rollouts of additional Infor solutions including asset management, financials, supply chain management and the CareFor managed service.

“We are delighted with the success of Riverina Water’s digital transformation project thus far, particularly since the deployment started towards the end of the pandemic,” said Terry Smagh, senior vice president and general manager of Asia Pacific and Japan, Infor.

“We’re proud to play our part in meeting Riverina Water’s strategic goals so they can succeed in a world where customers expect 24/7, always-on functionality with real-time capabilities. Both organisations are driven by a shared commitment to customer excellence, and Infor’s industry-specific, purpose-built CloudSuite solution will ensure enhanced service delivery and outcomes for Riverina Water’s end-customers, internal users and external stakeholders alike.”

The platform underlies the digital transformation programs of many utilities and government entities. In New Zealand, Infor was recently named as the “systems of record” (core IT system) for the country’s water reform program. The organisation counts NZ’s largest water authority, Watercare, as a longstanding customer, along with Waikato Regional Council and six of the 18 water corporations in Victoria, Australia.

Image caption: Riverina Water.