After 16 months of planning, testing, training, and other work, the Customer Cloud Service (CCS) system went live on Tuesday, February 20th. The cloud-based software is the upgrade to our Customer Care & Billing (CC&B) software from Oracle which holds and handles our customer information and interacts with many other systems that allow us to efficiently serve our customers. 

Director of Customer Relations Scott Mullis said, “This upgrade will help us to stay on the cutting edge of technology that will allow us to continue providing exceptional service to our customers. Our cross-functional project team did an outstanding job getting the system configured, tested, and ready for business.” 

The conversion (aka: go-live) took place over a long weekend and required the shutdown of our payment system from Friday evening to early Tuesday morning. That included the online payment portal and pay-by-phone system. It also prompted the closing of our lobbies and drive-thrus to the public while offices remained open so that employees could assist customers over the phone and perform other duties. 

Becky Pope and Elizabeth Sharp with IT served as Project Managers. Functional and Technical Leads were fulfilled by IT representatives Courtney Basile, Robin Nichols (recently retired), Michelle Edmondson, and John Bartolotti.  

“The CCS Core Team did an outstanding job to ensure every phase of this project was successful and go-live weekend was no different,” said Elizabeth Sharp. “Being new to the project management role, it was great to see the teamwork, determination, and hard work from the CCS Core Team throughout this project, and it certainly paid off in a go-live weekend that went smoothly and finished on schedule.” 

Becky Pope added, “The project team and sponsors were very determined during the project to make sure everything was correct for GUC and our customers. Cutover weekend demonstrated the team’s thoroughness throughout the project. My last project for GUC has been a pleasure.” Becky was also a Project Manager for the conversion to CC&B back in 2014-15 and plans to retire this Spring. 

They could not have done the project alone, however. The following project team members from across all departments worked hard on the success of the project: Natalie O’Neal and Wendy Rogers (Electric); Paula Vinciguerra and Kenny Daniels (Meter), Lisa Johnson (Gas), Nikia Best-Manuel (Water), Denine Hardee (Billing), Juliet Telfair and Shannon Oakley (Customer Relations), Brian Weigand and Kim Coggins (Finance), and Max Wu (IT).  

Team members worked diligently throughout the project and especially hard the last few months alongside TMG (our consultants working on the project) and Oracle (the software designer). TMG will continue to offer support through the stabilization period and beyond for any obstacles that may arise. 

The Executive Sponsors include Andy Anderson (IT), Jonathan Britt (Finance), Anthony Miller (Gas), Scott Mullis (Customer Relations), and Chris Padgett (General Manager’s Office). The Steering Committee is Andy, Scott, Colleen Sicley (Customer Relations), Ken Wade (Electric), David Springer (Water), Durk Tyson (Gas), Brian Weigand (Finance), and Steve Hawley (Public Information).  

“I can’t say enough good things about the CCS Core Team, our GUC leadership team, and everyone who supported this project,” said Andy Anderson, Director of IT. “Upgrading a system of this size and scope is a significant project for any organization. To reach this point within 16 months of starting the project while coming in under budget is an outstanding achievement.” 

Cityworks Go-Lives
The Cityworks project that replaces Oracle’s Work & Asset Management (WAM) and Mobile Workforce Management (MWM) systems has been running in parallel with the CCS Project. On the morning of February 20th (and as a result of the CCS go-live), our Water and Gas Departments began operating fully on Cityworks for both short- and long-cycle work, while Electric’s Meter Section went live with short-cycle work. 

To recap, long-cycle work includes installation and maintenance of electric, gas, and water infrastructure, which has been performed since 2015 using WAM. Short-cycle activities like meter work, appointments, and field activities have been completed using MWM.  

The project has been rolled out in four big phases or “Task Orders” (TOs). The first phase, which kicked off at the end of December 2022, included short-cycle work decisions, mission-critical integrations shared by all operating areas, and central configurations. The remaining phases include implementation and launch for each operating department, starting with Water Resources, then Gas, and ending with Electric in March. 

The following employees from IT, including GDS (GIS Data Services), are serving as the overall core team members throughout the entirety of the project: Allen Watkins (Program Manager), John Bartolotti, Todd Cannon, Amber Garris, Sean Hawley, Kelly Mayo, and Tyler Reynolds.  

The Water Resources core team includes Nikia Best-Manual, Bryan Bland, Wade Corbitt, Chad Flannagan, Jarret McGalliard, Robert Veal, and Jay Wetherington. The Gas core team is Paul Bunch, John Daughton, Paul Edwards, Eric Phillips, Carl Smith, Lisa Johnson, Dillon Wade, and Alan Cummings. The Core Team for Electric is Lee Ausbon, Jamie Braxton, Jason Gaskins, Jason Hardee, Mike McGowan, Wendy Rogers, and Jeffery Williams. All teams worked hard to ensure a smooth transition into not only Cityworks, but CCS as well. 

“Many of the representatives on our Cityworks project also served on the CCS project,” said Allen. “They have worked tirelessly through long days and evenings to complete their assignments in addition to their regular job activities since the project kick-off in late 2022.” 

The Electric Department went live with the short-cycle components of Cityworks and continues to work towards a full implementation by the end of March. With Meter employees being the biggest users of short-cycle work, IT provided on-site support to them during the first week of utilizing Cityworks (in addition to IT’s support with the CCS launch and Water/Gas full Cityworks launch).