A REPORT TO THE BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS OF PUBLIC UTILITIES Upgrade Business Intelligence Software Hydro Place April 2012
SUMMARY Hydro uses several tools to provide a Business Intelligence software solution. Two of the tools required, Essbase and Web Analysis, will not be supported after May 2013. The vendor for these two products has no plans for product substitution or replacement. A third product, Clarity, will have support for the existing version end in December 2012. The updated version of Clarity will be supported by IBM. This project is justified on the requirement to replace software that is being retired completely by the vendor, and/or for which version support is ending. The Business Intelligence software is used for vital financial functions including budgeting, forecasting and financial reporting and serves as a basis for other reporting and analysis. Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro i
TABLE OF CONTENTS SUMMARY... i 1 INTRODUCTION... 1 2 PROJECT DESCRIPTION... 2 3 JUSTIFICATION... 3 3.1 Existing System... 3 3.2 Operating Experience... 3 3.2.1 Maintenance or Support Arrangements... 4 3.2.2 Maintenance History... 4 3.2.3 Historical Information... 4 3.2.4 Anticipated Useful Life... 4 3.3 Development of Alternatives... 4 4 CONCLUSION... 5 4.1 Budget Estimate... 5 4.2 Project Schedule... 6 APPENDIX A... A1 Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro ii
1 INTRODUCTION Hydro's Business Intelligence Upgrade Project has been developed to ensure the uninterrupted use of Hydro s key financial tools. Hydro s budgeting, forecasting and financial reporting functions use Clarity software as the technology tool. This system is vital to the Company and is used daily by Hydro personnel as a means of financial planning, cost control and analysis. Capital Asset modeling also uses Business Intelligence (BI) tools for future projections of capital expenditures and depreciation and is key to budgeting, forecasting and reporting on the capital program. This software is also used as a database for Hydro s key performance indicators. Key performance indicators are input, stored and analyzed in the following areas: Safety performance; Environmental performance; and Financial performance. Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro 1
2 PROJECT DESCRIPTION The scope of work is to replace the existing versions of Essbase, Web Analysis and Clarity with replacement products for Essbase, and Web Analysis, and to upgrade Clarity to a supported version. The updated software will be installed on new server hardware. Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro 2
3 JUSTIFICATION This project is justified on the requirement to replace software that is being retired completely by the vendor for which version support is ending. See Appendix A for the IBM ShowCase Essbase and IBM ShowCase Web Analysis Withdrawal. The Business Intelligence software is used for vital financial functions including budgeting, forecasting and financial reporting and serves as a basis for other reporting and analysis. 3.1 Existing System BI System components Essbase and Web Analysis were initially installed in 2002. The Clarity components were added in 2009. Table 1: Major Work and/or Upgrades Year Major Work and/or Upgrade Comments 2010 Essbase/Web Analysis upgrade Migration effort 2009 Clarity Implementation 3.2 Operating Experience The software is used on a daily basis by head office and field personnel for analysis and input of information and comparisons of actual results against budgets and forecasts. These tools are also used to analyze and report on key performance indicator data for safety, environmental responsibility and financial performance. The following items are not relevant to the justification of this proposal: Reliability Performance; Outage Statistics; Legislative or Regulatory Requirements; Safety Performance; Environmental Performance; Industry Experience; Forecast Customer Growth; and Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro 3
Vendor Recommendations. 3.2.1 Maintenance or Support Arrangements The application is supported externally by a maintenance agreement with the vendor. The annual cost for Essbase and Web Analysis is $67,000. Clarity external maintenance annual costs are $32,000. 3.2.2 Maintenance History The only maintenance cost incurred in the past five years was in 2010 when $93,000 was spent for Business Intelligence software. 3.2.3 Historical Information Table 2: Historical Information Actual Year Capital Budget ($000) Expenditures ($000) Comments 2010 83.8 93.9 Essbase/Web Analysis Upgrade 2009 127.0 131.0 Clarity Implementation 3.2.4 Anticipated Useful Life The software anticipated useful life is until 2016 at which time the software has to be upgraded to again extend support of the software. 3.3 Development of Alternatives No alternatives have been identified. This budget proposal is based on estimates to migrate the existing Essbase and Web Analysis licenses from IBM, which is ending support for these applications to Oracle, which provides these applications on a different operating system. The upgrade option is recommended because: 1. Minimal Software change; 2. Ability of internal staff to leverage existing skill sets; and 3. Improved availability of external contracted staff when needed. Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro 4
4 CONCLUSION Hydro uses several tools to provide budgeting and forecasting functionality, financial reporting, capital asset depreciation modeling and key performance indicators reporting. Two of the tools required, Essbase and Web Analysis, will no longer be supported after May 2013. The vendor for these two products has no plans for product substitution or replacement. A third product, Clarity, will have support for the existing version end in December 2012. The new version will be supported by IBM. This project will upgrade these products and move them to environments that will allow this software to be supported. 4.1 Budget Estimate The budget estimate for this project is shown in Table 3. Table 3: Budget Estimate Project Cost:($ x1,000) 2013 2014 Beyond Total Material Supply 114.0 0.0 0.0 114.0 Labour 81.6 0.0 0.0 81.6 Consultant 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 Contract Work 222.0 0.0 0.0 222.0 Other Direct Costs 61.6 0.0 0.0 61.6 Interest and Escalation 25.8 0.0 0.0 25.8 Contingency 71.9 0.0 0.0 71.9 Sub-Total 576.9 0.0 0.0 576.9 Cost Recoveries (207.7) 0.0 0.0 (207.7) TOTAL 369.2 0.0 0.0 369.2 Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro 5
4.2 Project Schedule Table 4: Project Schedule (Essbase/Web Analysis Upgrade) Activity Start Date End Date Planning Essbase/Web Analysis Migration January 2, 2013 January 31, 2013 Planning Design Essbase/Web Analysis Design Work January 2, 2013 January 31, 2013 Procurement Contract Essbase/Web Analysis February 1, 2013 February 28, 2013 Upgrade to external supplier Construction Perform Essbase Install/Migration March 1, 2013 May 26, 2013 Tasks Commissioning Go Live under new Essbase/Web May 27, 2013 June 10, 2013 Analysis systems Closeout Essbase/Web Analysis Closeout June 11, 2013 June 30, 2013 Table 5: Project Schedule (Clarity Upgrade) Activity Start Date End Date Planning Clarity Upgrade Planning July 2, 2013 July 31, 2013 Design Clarity Upgrade Design Work July 2, 2013 July 31, 2013 Procurement Contract Clarity Upgrade to external August 1, 2013 Aug 31, 2013 supplier Construction Perform Clarity Install/Migration September 1, 2013 October 30, 2013 Tasks Commissioning Go Live under new Essbase/Web November 1, 2013 November 7, 2013 Analysis systems Closeout Essbase/Web Analysis Closeout November 8, 2013 November 30, 2013 Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro 6
Appendix A APPENDIX A IBM ShowCase Essbase and IBM ShowCase Web Analysis Withdrawal Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro A1
Appendix A Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro A2