SH Power
Working together to meet new market conditions, easily and securely
Outcomes
- Enables employees to collaborate and share documents quickly, easily and securely with colleagues and external partners
- Facilitates process optimization with faster information flows and reduces manual workload
- Gives IT team greater control over storage and access, helping to protect business data
Challenge
With the Swiss utilities industry in flux, SH POWER must ensure it can keep pace with change— making it more important than ever that employees can share business data with each other quickly and easily. How could SH POWER ensure that increasing convenience did not come at the cost of decreasing security?
Major change is afoot in the Swiss utilities industry, with the drive for market liberalization gaining momentum. Large organizations already have the freedom to choose their electricity and gas supplier.
Daniel Epprecht, Head of IT Services at SH POWER, begins: “The energy market in Switzerland is changing very rapidly. To take full advantage of the new business opportunities, we want to be able to react fast.”
Urs Iseli, Head of Application Services at SH POWER, elaborates: “To meet evolving market requirements and new customer demands, rapid, reliable and mobile access to the latest business data is essential. The ability for employees to share documents without delay is increasingly crucial to the smooth running of our business.”
Engineers can share construction plans and documentation almost instantly thanks to Filr Advanced Edition. Surveyors can fill in forms on the go while inspecting locations, avoiding duplicate data entry and speeding up information flow across departments.
Details
Solution
Having used OpenText™ Filr for file sharing as part of the OpenText™ Open Workgroup Suite for some years, SH POWER decided to upgrade to Filr Advanced Edition.
Daniel Epprecht comments: “Micro Focus (now part of OpenText) Filr Advanced Edition enables our staff to share documents in just a few clicks, instead of having to send large emails back and forth, configuring FTP servers or even carrying around USB sticks. Filr is very user-friendly and, because it is available on all devices—desktop PCs, laptops, tablets and smartphones—staff can log in remotely, and we can easily exchange files with external partners.
“One of the main reasons we chose to move to Filr Advanced Edition was that we wanted to streamline processes and make network folders available more flexibly. The advanced security features including multi-factor authentication enable us to protect sensitive data in a regulated environment much better, and we are always looking for ways to improve security.”
SH POWER works closely with trusted partner NEXPERT AG. “Support from the NEXPERT team has always been excellent with specialists at hand to help with a wide range of products,” says Urs Iseli. “NEXPERT enabled us to automate many processes and guided us through certification processes to optimize our business.” NEXPERT also connects SH POWER with other OpenText™ customers to facilitate knowledge sharing.
OpenText™ Filr Advanced Edition integrates seamlessly with SH POWER’s existing OpenText™ and NetIQ solutions, which form the backbone of its IT services. The company uses OpenText™ Open Enterprise Server for file and print services, OpenText™ GroupWise for email, calendaring and instant messaging, OpenText™ ZENworks for endpoint management, NetIQ Identity Manager and Access Manager to control user permissions, and OpenText™ Vibe for collaboration.
Results
With OpenText™ Filr Advanced Edition, the 250 internal and external users are able to share data quickly and easily while the IT team has full control over storage location and access permissions.
Daniel Epprecht notes: “Engineers can share construction plans and documentation almost instantly. Surveyors can fill in forms on the go while inspecting locations, avoiding duplicate data entry and speeding up information flow across departments. This increased flexibility provides staff with the information they need to get on with their jobs without delay—which is particularly important during this period of change in the Swiss utilities sector.
“Micro Focus (now part of OpenText) Filr Advanced Edition is also integrated with our NetIQ and Micro Focus (now part of OpenText) solutions including GroupWise, leveraging existing information and avoiding additional configuration workload.
SH POWER changed the look and feel of OpenText™ Filr Advanced Edition to match the company’s corporate design, making sharing with external partners look more professional and strengthening the company’s brand. Allowing staff to specify when access to shared files should automatically expire strengthens security when working with external partners.
Daniel Epprecht remarks: “We plan to boost security further by implementing NetIQ Advanced Authentication and enabling two-factor authentication for file sharing.”
Looking to the future, SH POWER also aims to implement OpenText™ Service Desk to track and resolve issues more efficiently, relieving pressure on the IT team.
Urs Iseli concludes: “Supported by our partner NEXPERT, and with the reliable and powerful Micro Focus (now part of OpenText) Open Workgroup Suite and NetIQ solutions, we’re confident that we can keep pace with industry changes, and make the most of the new business opportunities they bring.”
Supported by our partner NEXPERT, and with the reliable and powerful Micro Focus (now part of OpenText) Open Workgroup Suite and NetIQ solutions, we’re confident that we can keep pace with industry changes, and make the most of the new business opportunities they bring.
About SH Power
Swiss utilities company SH POWER provides electricity, gas and water to approximately 50,000 people in the Schaffhausen region. The company is committed to reducing the environmental impact of its services and manages its own portfolio of renewable assets, including a hydroelectric power plant. SH POWER employs around 150 people.
