Scottish Power has signed a major application service provider
(ASP) deal in a bid to revamp customer services.
The six-figure deal with WhiteCross Systems shows that large
companies are starting to take the plunge into the controversial
ASP market.
Scottish Power aims to boost profits by using ASP services from
WhiteCross to analyse customer needs and highlight marketing
opportunities.
The utility will use a WhiteCross server to analyse customer
data. WhiteCross will run and maintain the service - based on a
monthly licence fee - from its data centre. Andy Butcher, market
research and database manager of Scottish Power, said: "Part of the
rationale was to understand the customer base more efficiently in
financial terms. To understand the customer you have to invest in
technology."
But many IT managers and analysts remain sceptical about the
real benefits of using ASPs in such a volatile and emerging
market.
Butcher, however, said it was reducing capital costs by leasing
the equipment from WhiteCross. "There are strict service level
agreements and expectations of what it should provide," he
said.
The utility will use the new service - based on multiple
parallel processing - for business units ranging from energy supply
and retail, to new initiatives such as telecoms. The deal follows
hot on the heels of another high-profile ASP contract in the
utilities sector. Earlier this year Powergen signed a landmark ASP
contract with QSP. The £3.85m contract, for QSP’s Webfinance suite,
supports 600 Powergen users.
Analysts attributed the rise of ASP services in the utility
market to fierce competition in delivering online services for
customers. “Our research in the past year in the transport and
utility sector has shown they [the utility sector] are more
interested in ASPs than others,” said Katy Ring, research director
for e-business at analyst Ovum. “They need to provide online
services quickly and they can piggy-back on the skills of the ASP
provider which has a shrink-wrapped infrastructure in place.”