CS Holdings completes R7.5m Africa water project

CS Holdings has designed a full cost recovery water tariff model for Ethiopia`s Addis Ababa Water and Sewerage Authority (AAWSA) in a R7.5 million, multi-disciplinary project.

The scope of the project extends to the specification and selection of a computerised billing system, integration thereof with customer relations and financial systems (presently in progress), and the reengineering of transaction processes. Additionally, CS Holdings has effected the restructuring of AAWSA, and the training and development of its staff to fully exploit the benefits of the integrated solution.

"The primary outcome of the AAWSA project has been to improve the organisation`s water revenue efficiencies by implementing a reliable computerised billing system. A newly-introduced tariff that takes affordability of the dwellers of Addis Ababa into account will, over a period of years, align revenues and profits with the actual cost of supplying water to the population," relates Jeff Howard, director of the public sector consulting unit of CS Holdings.

"Not only was the existing tariff too low to reflect the actual cost of producing water, but the billing system was slow and inefficient. Bills were distributed to customers every two months, so payments were always in excess of 60 days in arrears. AAWSA will introduce a monthly billing cycle by Q2 this year.

"Additionally, the new customer relations programme is essential in that it provides the means to educate the population of Addis Ababa on the importance of water conservation, and of having a sustainable water supply," Howard points out.

The project team identified affordability and willingness to pay as important considerations in the design of a new tariff structure. Following an in-depth investigation, which included a survey of AAWSA`s customers in Addis Ababa, as well as various workshops with AAWSA`s management, it was decided to undertake a major redevelopment of the tariff model, which AAWSA could use to update and refine its tariffs from year to year.

The AAWSA staff received comprehensive training on the new model so that they could accomplish this in-house. Finally, the team made recommendations for water, sewerage and sludge removal tariff structures based on a full cost recovery approach.

"We also recommended that the tariffs be phased in five years, and that they be adjusted with inflation or deflation," concludes Howard.

The customer relations component of the project was initiated early in 1999, and built a stronger customer, community and service focus for AAWSA - particularly around tariff increases for water and sludge removal services. To this end, a customer relations steering team (CRST) was appointed in April 1999, involving some 14 AAWSA staff and management. "Their task was to develop and implement a customer relations improvement plan (CRIP)," Howard explains. "Workshops were held for this purpose, and a 12-month plan was developed. Trainers were trained to spread the message of water conservation and the importance of bill payments, and to create an awareness and understanding of tariff increases among AAWSA stakeholders and customers.

"CRST and CRIP formed the cornerstones of the customer relations workstream," he continues. "Despite severe budget and time constraints, the CRST performed admirably and demonstrated great enthusiasm and potential throughout. Because neither AAWSA nor the citizens of Addis Ababa had ever experienced such an education programme before, it has probably been the most visibly successful programme of the entire project."

After reviewing AAWSA`s customer management and billing systems, CS Holdings recommended that AAWSA implement a network of PCs upon which all processing for customer accounts, billing and receivable management be performed. A powerful computer with large storage capacity would be used as central server for this system, would run a relational database management package and be responsible for all data storage, as well as maintenance tasks such as regular backups. All user interaction with the server would be accomplished through industry-standard PC workstations, running programs for the various processes needed to manage the data stored on the server. Printers would be attached to the various computers on the network for the preparation of the printed reports.

"The recommended approach provided AAWSA with a sound basis to implement a comprehensive system for the management of customer accounts, meter reading, billing and collection within a timeframe consistent with the revision of tariffs," says Howard. "This will enable them to move into the mainstream of computer systems architecture as used worldwide."

"The specification was put out to international tender and applications were received from all over the world," Howard continues. "French software vendor Infeo were eventually chosen, as their solution provided the best fit for AAWSA`s requirements."

Infeo was responsible for the installation, configuration and whatever customisation of its Customer Management package, X7, was needed. "They worked closely with the AAWSA staff as well as the CS Holdings project team to ensure that implementation of the selected system was accomplished in a timely manner, according to system requirements, and within acceptable quality standards," says Howard.

During the software customisation and integration phase, the X7 database and software was installed on AAWSA`s server. Additionally, preparation was made for data migration, the X7 package was parameterised to adapt to AAWSA`s rules and requirements, and core reports of the system (customer bill, meter reading sheet and various summary and control reports) were developed.

During the testing and training phase, a first portion of AAWSA`s customer information was chosen and migrated to the new system. The Akaki branch of AAWSA was designated to be the pilot zone. This step enabled the project team to test the data migration programs, billing and reports, and set up a training database with actual field data.

At the end of the test phase, the X7 software was deployed on AAWSA`s workstations, and formal four-week hands-on training sessions were held. These included train-the-trainers and train-the end-users (conducted by the trainers themselves with the support of the Infeo team) sessions.

Once the training was over, the complete data migration for all branches was performed at the head office, and the first billing run prepared. For this purpose, the latest meter readings were also migrated from the old system. To ensure that the transition between the two systems was correct, a migration check (data comparison between the old and new systems, including several cross-checks and checksums), and a billing results check (the old billing was also run on the old system in parallel with the new system) were performed.

The results of these two exercises were very positive. Right after this first billing run was complete, the first bills under the new format were distributed to the branches, and from there to AAWSA`s customers. At the same time, operation on the system by the end-users began. Maintenance requests were processed (recording of new connections, disconnections, meter changes etc) and meter readings for the next billing period were captured.

According to Howard, a well-defined and manageable scope, together with a well-articulated project plan that included the roles of all stakeholders, were among the factors contributing to the success of this project. "Additionally, a clear and appropriate data migration strategy, and well planned and executed training of system administrators and end-users made for a smooth transition to the new system.

On 4 July 2001 the operational system was handed over to AAWSA. The organisation operated the system and will continue to maintain and resolve all system issues with the assistance of Infeo and CS Holdings.