Genesis Energy plans to introduce a range of new IT products as it gears up for a possible initial public offering (IPO).
“We’re looking at a lot of change, scale and new products,” says IT services manager Chris Robb. “We’ve had to gear up well ahead of any IPO. We’re under a lot more scrutiny from Audit and Treasury.”
As part of its plans, it switched its outsourcer in June, the six-year incumbent, Gen-i, losing out to Dimension Data, which was awarded a five-year managed services contract. Datacom was the other unsuccessful tenderer.
Robb says Genesis had been running two helpdesks, one provided by Gen-i and the other by Hamilton-based Sitel.
“We bought the service desk component from Sitel, which has enabled us to consolidate in-house,” he says. “There are a number of services associated with that.”
He says a key attraction of the Dimension Data bid was it offered a named services team.
“We know all the engineers and the key resources, rather than dealing with a highly leveraged model.
“The engagement has got off to a positive start, with the transition phase of the project successfully completed in just eight weeks.
“Our sector is going through a period of unprecedented change as customers seek more control and better value from their energy purchases and as competition increases.”
He says the engagement with Dimension Data is working “superbly well”.
“It’s unlike anything I’ve ever seen before from a vendor.”
State-owned Genesis Energy is New Zealand’s largest energy retailer, supplying electricity and gas to more than 660,000 customers.
The company owns 31 percent of the Kupe oil and gas field.