Hydro Tasmania Case Study
In 2003, Hydro Tasmania reviewed its existing payroll-only HRIS requirements to include HR functions. The main drivers for the additional requirements were to increase business operational efficiencies, to meet the requirements for NEM operations and reduce operational costs.
Design philosophy reduces costs for Hydro Tasmania
Overview
With the commissioning of Basslink in 2005/06, Hydro Tasmania will enter the national electricity market (NEM), and through its connection to the national grid, be able to provide renewable energy to the eastern states.
The Challenge
In 2003, Hydro Tasmania reviewed its existing payroll-only HRIS requirements to include HR functions. The main drivers for the additional requirements were to increase business operational efficiencies, to meet the requirements for NEM operations and reduce operational costs.
In addition, Hydro Tasmania had not upgraded its version of PeopleSoft HR for some time and was well behind the latest release. The cost of upgrading to the latest version was significant, and hence Hydro Tasmania went to tender to upgrade the existing PeopleSoft application -- or select a new HRIS.
The Solution
Following tender evaluation, Hydro Tasmania chose Aurion as the application to support HR activities. The reasons were based primarily on Aurion's design philosophy of 'one product for all markets'. This philosophy gives extensive functionality with a 'vanilla' implementation - ie, no customisations and a support model that ensures all configurations are supported for life. Additional reasons included:
- Aurion's implementation methodology
- cost of implementation
- Aurion's flexibility
- Aurion's ability to deliver.
Once the selection was completed, a 'proof of concept' was undertaken to validate the selection of Aurion, provide a level of comfort in the business decision and evaluate the Aurion consultants' capability. The POC was done as a 2-week 'hands on' guided demonstration of the tool and its capability in Hydro Tasmania's operational environment. The Aurion application and consultants fulfilled the proof of concept outcomes.
In July 05, Hydro Tasmania completed implementation of the 'Phase 1' project, which covered Payroll, Learning and Development, and Leave administration. Phase 2 commenced with the implementation of Employee Self Service and Career Manager, which are scheduled to come on line during Q1 2006. OH&S and Recruitment modules are scheduled for the 06/07 financial year.
The Benefits
Hydro Tasmania aimed to realise the following benefits from its Aurion implementation:
- Provision of additional HR functionality to improve operational efficiencies
- Reduced operational overheads by simplification of business processes, workflow support, and ESS
- Capability to support increasing regulatory requirements for induction processes, OH&S, licensing and training, and operational compliance
- Lower total cost of ownership (including simplified support, upgrade and maintenance)
"The Aurion consultants guided us through the implementation with a high degree of skill, knowledge and understanding. The ease of the Aurion implementation was a pleasant surprise for our Payroll team." Glenn Wickham, HRIS Project Manager