Approaches for achieving IT-support for Asset Management

The last ten years have seen a steadily growing awareness across industries of the benefits of proper Asset Management. This is further accentuated in the Power Industry by challenges with an aging infrastructure and workforce and economic pressures enforced by reregulation. Utilities seeking to improve their Asset Management capabilities are naturally considering implementation of IT-systems to support the strategic planning and operational processes. However, Asset Management is by its nature a process that encompasses several organisational units within the utility. As a consequence it also requires support from many different IT systems both in terms of data and functionality. A parallel development is that many utilities currently strive for the vision of an Integrated Utility. This vision consists of seamlessly integrated IT systems that can easily be adapted to new requirements. This paper presents a set of approaches that utilities may consider when implementing the Integrated Utility vision. These approaches are then discussed with regards to their influence on the other goal of enhanced IT support for Asset Management. The discussion is concluded with some important aspects to be considered in order to achieve the desired improvements for Asset management regardless of chosen integration approach.