Delivers
solutions that
are planned,
anticipate the
future and
valued by
customers
Introduction
Our Information Technology Strategy supports the Corporate Plan by placing customers front of mind and contributing to
liveable cities.
Under the three strategic mindsets of customer focus, business excellence and forward thinking, we will deliver IT solutions
that are planned, anticipate the future and are valued by customers.
Challenges and opportunities
The plan charts a course to leverage innovative and cost-effective IT solutions as a key enabler of customer value across
Sydney Water.
• To meet customer and stakeholder expectations on both price and service, we must operate as efficiently as possible.
• We will foster innovation and be ready to embrace change.
• To attain competitive advantage we need systems that are valued, easy to use, reliable and secure.
• We will leverage the information within our systems to be proactive and make decisions that improve customer value.
Targets
By 2018 we will be able to demonstrate:
• a 25% improvement in customer value
• 100% of information assets quantified and categorised
• 100% of IT systems life cycle and roadmaps documented.
We will revise the IT Strategic Plan annually to measure our success and refine the direction as required.
Information Technology Strategic Plan
Message from
the Chief Information Officer
The use of Information Technology to deliver
valued water solutions to our customers plays a
critical role in Sydney Water.
Continual innovation within the IT industry
compels us to plan for and anticipate the future
so that our systems remain as secure, easy to
use and sustainable as possible.
While we have made good progress over recent
years moving many of our IT systems towards
cloud style services we can, and need to do
more.
We intend to unlock capacity to deliver customer
focused and valued solutions by leveraging
information technology and our strategic
initiatives in the areas of business excellence and
forward thinking.
We will publish a 4+4 year roadmap of our IT
systems and services that identifies critical
assets and opportunities to improve customer
value.
We will leverage emerging technologies to deliver
capability at the right time.
We will challenge the traditional life cycle of IT
infrastructure through integration and reuse so
that we maximise asset longevity.
Our strategy supports hybrid systems and cloud
style services that are agile and sustainable.
We will quantify and categorise all information
sources so that the value of the information is
recognised.
We intend to move beyond the traditional
paradigm of Knowledge Management towards
delivery of tailored information to the right
people at the right time.
The management of information as an asset
will enable us to remain commercially
competitive by allowing us to predict and act.
Our integration strategy will enable
information to be managed as an asset and
reused.
By leveraging our strategies in forward
thinking and business excellence we will
unlock capacity that can be redirected
towards valued customer solutions.
.
In 2013/14 we will deliver the planned program of
works along with five key initiatives that will
enable the delivery of the four year IT strategic
plan.
Our success will support the corporate plan while
leveraging the other enabling stream of
Performance and Culture.
The five key enablement initiatives are:
• Trusted partners and shared outcomes
• Simplify engagement across Divisions
• Streamline IT Processes and Tools
• Plan for and anticipate the future
• We’re collaborative, proactive, capable &
engaged
The following pages outline:
• Our five enablement key initiatives for 2013/14
• Our program of works for 2013/14
• Our five year strategic goals
I look forward to working with you to realise the
benefits of the Sydney Water IT strategic plan.
Stephen Wilson
Forward thinking
Business excellence
Customer focus
Focus for 2013 – 2014
We will deliver valued IT solutions and
services that our customers require.
Our solutions will be easy to use, accessible,
reliable and secure.
They will support mobility, access to
information and enhance opportunities to
collaborate.
Our success will be measured through
customer engagement and feedback.
Delivers solutions that are planned, anticipate the future and deliver customer value
Sydney Water puts customers front of mind and contributes to liveable cities
Customer focus
Business excellence
Forward thinking
We leverage Information Technology
to deliver customer value
We collaborate as a trusted co-owner to
understand our customer’s needs and
develop valued IT solutions
We focus on delivering solutions which are
secure, easy to use, reliable and
sustainable
We are responsive and easy to deal with
We do what we say
We manage information assets to underpin
business decisions & attain competitive
advantage
We deliver customer value with prudent
investment directly linked to organisational
priorities enhancing outcomes
We use information systems to predict and
act
We are commercially competitive as
evidenced
through benchmarking
We leverage the expertise of others
We plan for and anticipate the future
We have a clear 4+4 year IT capability plan
Our architecture enables the integration of
future technology
We collaborate with IT partners to harness
innovation and convert it into sustainable
outcomes
We’re collaborative, proactive, capable and engaged
Performance Culture
Vision
>
Mission
>
Strategic
objectives
>
2017 targets
>
Enablers
>
3
Roadmaps supporting business needsInformation, Systems and Processes
Customer survey - 25% improvement over baseline 100% of information assets are quantified and categorised 100% of IT systems lifecycle managed
Systems deliver customer value Managed Information Assets
100% of IT systems lifecycle
managed
100% of information assets are quantified
and categorised
Customer survey - 25% improvement over
baseline
Technology capability targets
2013–14 to 2016–17
Mobility
By 2017, we will become a leader within the utilities sector in the use of mobility applications and solutions.
We will leverage our proficiency in delivering mobile applications to develop and deploy a range of new and innovative solutions. These new solutions will leverage industry partnerships and our Integration, Identity, Security and Information strategic directions.
Our mobility solutions will enable our customers, partners and staff to collaborate and access or create information anywhere, at anytime.
Cloud
By 2017, most of our systems will be operating as internally or externally hosted cloud based services.
In 2014, we will publish cloud utilisation standards and overlay our existing systems to measure their cloud readiness and inform their roadmaps. We will leverage the most appropriate cloud offerings (private, public or hosted) based on a quantifiable process and decision frameworks. Our cloud utilisation standards will be underpinned by our enhanced Integration strategy and security.
Integration
By 2017, our integration platform will enable information and transactions to be exchanged in real time between systems that are cloud enabled and hosted in the most appropriate location.
In 2014, we will publish integration standards for third party connections to our systems to facilitate externally hosted cloud solutions.
Identity &
security
Sydney Water will continue to enhance its Identity Management and Security systems to enable tailored information to be presented to the right people at the right time.
Information
By 2017, we will know the value of all information assets and drive competitive advantage by leveraging these sources to predict and act.
We will achieve this by focusing on selecting products and services that demonstrate our corporate strategic objectives while rebalancing our applications portfolio to maximise competitive advantage.
Technology capability map by year
2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17
Mobility
Deliver a range of mobile applications to both internal and external customers Deliver a range of new or enhanced end user computing models
Develop enterprise mobility and Bring your own device strategy
Deliver a range of role-based mobile applications supporting business processes Deliver a range of business applications which leverage business process management concepts, service oriented architecture and mobility
Deploy smart mobile computing devices and mobile business solutions to a mobile workforce
Deploy a range of mobile applications that leverage enhanced Geographic Information Services and location-based services.
Enhance Mobile Strategy to include pervasive connectivity, integrated collaboration suites and workforce convergence
Deploy business solutions to further enhance pervasive mobile computing services, workforce convergence and collaboration networks
Cloud
Deliver a web enabled document creation and collaboration suite Develop and publish a Cloud utilisation policy
Develop enterprise sourcing and vendor management process Commercialise offerings through negotiations with service providers
Deliver a range of applications by leveraging cloud technologies.
Commence assurance and compliance of cloud and outsourcing service providers Assess and rationalise cloud and outsourcing suppliers
Deliver infrastructures and platforms by leveraging appropriate cloud
technologies.
Explore services computing opportunities and vertical business process as a service
Investigate applicability of big data business opportunities
Implement applicable Business Process Outsourcing initiative
Integration
Deliver enhanced service oriented architecture to prepare to deploy new services to customers
Enhance our Enterprise Service Oriented Architecture Strategy
Develop and publish integration standards for third parties to connect to our systems. Develop enhanced business process
management service oriented architecture and master data management architecture
Re-factor legacy systems which do not natively integrate
Investigate applicability of web-oriented architecture and event-driven architecture Optimise value through adaptable business processes based on service oriented architecture, master data management and business process management
Enhance business services leveraging applicable process enhancement services
Identity &
security
Develop an IT Security Strategy, Architecture and Strategic Roadmap Develop security policies, standards and procedures enabling third party access.
Enhance information security capabilities by countering cyber threats.
Enhance the identity and access management systems to include organisational, role and location information.
Incorporate external partners into the identity and access management system Develop an IT Security Strategy, Architecture and Strategic Roadmap to address new threats such as corporate crowdsourcing, geospatial and location based services, information mashups and cloud
Incorporate customers into identity and access management system
Enhance risk and compliance management covering big data and future contracting partners
Information
Establish a consolidated information governance model.
Establish and implement an information management framework.
Develop a Geographic Information System strategy
Leverage business intelligence capability to deliver executive dashboards & managers portal
Identify authoritative information sources and commence rationalisation .
Commence delivery of enterprise data quality and data governance best practices
Review business intelligence capability to deliver analytics, enhanced usability, role base content.
Enhanced leverage of extract transport & load to deliver data quality matrix on key information assets
Leverage service oriented architecture integration to discourage
non-authoritative information repositories. Deliver an enhanced GIS service. Enhance Information Management Strategy to leverage value co-creation, information mashup, and corporate wiki Improve BI capability to deliver mobile BI applications, GIS integration and predictive analysis solutions
Develop the Big Data Strategy and architecture
Master data management in use across Sydney Water
