Customer success
Elexon
"We've been able to use OrbusInfinity to help us make strategic decisions, and we expect this to continue over the coming years as it forms a core part of our strategic direction."
Enterprise Architect
Stephen Francis
AT A GLANCE
Industry
Energy
Region
EMEA
Use Case
Application Architecture management, Application & Technology Roadmapping management, Business Capability Management
The Challenge
Elexon is an essential part of Great Britain's energy market, managing the balancing and settlement arrangements for energy suppliers and generators. The organization works closely with National Grid and various partners to develop robust systems that support the dynamic nature of energy distribution and consumption.
Technological advancements and the shift towards distributed energy sources like solar and wind have introduced significant complexity to the energy market. The increased granularity and frequency of data necessitated a transition from traditional, centralized systems to modular, cloud-based solutions. This transformation was essential for enhancing productivity and meeting evolving customer expectations. Elexon needed a solution to:
- Simplify decision-making
- Provide insights into its current IT landscape and capabilities
- Identify opportunities to streamline its IT portfolio
- Pinpoint technology, process, or capability gaps
Solution
The team at Elexon sought an enterprise architecture platform that could meet their needs without the complexities of previous products. They chose OrbusInfinity after a comprehensive evaluation supported by thorough guidance from the Orbus team. The implementation included:
- Data migration: Successfully transferred substantial data from existing architecture tools, streamlining the onboarding process.
- Scalability: Quickly acquired additional licenses to accommodate the platform’s widespread usage, ensuring uninterrupted access.
- Workflow transformation: Centralized architecture content within OrbusInfinity, improving accessibility and collaboration.
- SharePoint integration: Leveraged alignment with Microsoft 365 to optimize document management practices.
The Result
OrbusInfinity empowered Elexon with strategic insights that led to significant operational cost reductions and optimization of resource allocation. Key achievements include:
- Business value analysis: Identified about 30% of applications for near-term retirement, streamlining the technology portfolio.
- Optimization of investment: Directed focus towards essential applications and areas requiring further development.
- Cost savings: Reduced overhead by eliminating redundant and underperforming technologies.
The implementation also provided other benefits through its visualization capabilities:
- More informed decision-making: OrbusInfinity empowered Elexon to adapt visualizations for compelling stakeholder content, providing clear guidance and insights.
- Market adaptation: Supported new governance structures and strategic pivots in operations.
- Stakeholder engagement: Improved communication and collaboration by presenting complex data clearly.
- Strategy development: Played a key role in initiatives like the new digitalization strategy by visualizing business architecture components.
Looking forward, Elexon plans to use the platform to:
- Streamline application portfolio management: Identify key investment areas and potential reductions.
- Enhance risk assessment: Evaluate and mitigate risks more effectively.
- Develop robust reporting functions: Support transparency and informed decision-making.
- Expand technology architecture use: Refine technology strategies.