SA Power Networks: Leading the utilities industry in digital transformation with SAP solutions
Explore SA Power Networks’ journey with SAP
SA Power Networks delivers electricity to all of South Australia. As the region shifts to renewables and customer service demands rise, the utility must modernize its IT to keep pace. With SAP as its long-term partner and SAP software at its core, SA Power Networks is driving innovation across the business.
| Industry | Region | Company Size |
| Utilities | Adelaide, Australia | 3,100 employees |
Head of Enterprise Applications, SA Power Networks
Powering South Australia through efficient, sustainable operations
As the sole electricity distributor in South Australia, SA Power Networks powers the lives of millions of homes and businesses across the state. Key to this is ensuring highly efficient and sustainable operations that translate into quality service for customers at an affordable price.
The energy sector is quickly evolving with the introduction of renewables, such as wind and solar, electric vehicles and battery technology, and decarbonization of the energy system. Not only must SA Power Networks continually adapt to customer demands and changes in the electric grid, but it must also ensure that IT systems running the business are reliable and easy to use.
To do all this and more, SA Power Networks needs an IT partner it can trust—and a core ERP system that is integrated at every level of the business.
Head of Enterprise Applications, SA Power Networks
Integrating operations and data and moving to the cloud
SA Power Networks has been working with SAP for nearly three decades—making SAP solutions the clear choice for integrating data and operations and migrating to the cloud. Plus, SA Power Networks knew it could count on SAP Services and Support to provide help and guidance from planning to design and deployment.
With SAP S/4HANA Cloud Private Edition, the utility is running warehouse management, finance, procurement, maintenance, works management, and more, allowing it to interconnect processes to drive end-to-end efficiencies.
Cloud solutions from SAP are also being deployed. Core HR processes are running on SAP SuccessFactors solutions. SAP Concur solutions are being used for expense management. Other cloud solutions, such as SAP Enable Now, support end-to-end processes.
In addition, SA Power Networks is beginning to take advantage of SAP Business Technology Platform (SAP BTP) to ease development, increase the level of integration across systems, and support a new customer service portal.
Head of Enterprise Applications, SA Power Networks
Empowering customers, workers, finance, and IT
While the digital transformation at SA Power Networks is ongoing, nearly every employee at the utility as well as its customers are seeing significant benefits.
Customers can request everything from disconnections to the electrification of a new property through the customer service portal. Finance is taking advantage of the expansive functionality that SAP S/4HANA has to offer. Field technicians can access work orders and payroll data from mobile devices. And an award-winning billing system overhaul and integration has greatly improved governance and compliance.
For the SA Power Networks IT team, security is always top of mind. As a utility, the company provides critical infrastructure that is constantly under threat of cyberattacks. Working with cloud-based systems enables continual checks and upgrades to help ensure system resilience and data protection, all of which can be performed without affecting business operations.
Finally, working with SAP makes overall system management much simpler. Not only does it ease communication and development, but it also helps ensure SA Power Networks has an ERP partner that truly understands the ins and outs of the business.
Head of Enterprise Applications, SA Power Networks
Preparing to power a greener, more sustainable future
Moving forward, SA Power Networks will continue its digital transformation—adopting additional cloud solutions and expanding the use of SAP BTP. Core to those projects will be using artificial intelligence to better understand data and improving customer service through streamlined operations.
For its field technicians, the IT team is working on a single point of entry for mobile apps to minimize jumping between apps for different tasks.
In the customer space, SA Power Networks recently rolled out its award-winning Flexible Exports program. This initiative is the first of its kind in the world to allow customers to double their solar exports and minimize constraints through collaboration with industry players, customers, and market bodies. This will mean stronger returns from rooftop solar for South Australians and shows the company’s commitment to make the clean-energy future a reality today.
The future is bright for SA Power Networks and its customers, and SAP will be there to support IT innovation each step of the way.