Xchanging taps into Wessex Water IT offshoring

Xchanging has been awarded a contract with Wessex Water. Under an offshoring arrangement Xchanging Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur will deliver software consultancy and development services to the utility as it transforms its IT operations.

With the 2014 Water Act confirming the deregulation of the UK non-household water market – giving businesses the opportunity to choose their provider for water and sewerage services – Wessex Water required a flexible and transparent IT infrastructure to meet the Open Water industry regulations that govern separation between the wholesaler and retailer business arms.

Phil Pike, group head of information services at Wessex Water, said: “At the heart of everything we do is our commitment to putting our customers first. We’re investing in the technology, systems and processes to engage further with customers, hear and act on their feedback, and improve the way we work with them to provide a quality service.”

He said: “In Xchanging we have found a partner that shares our vision and has the right credentials and experience to meet our needs. The proposed transparent programme delivery framework matched our requirements perfectly, with the integrated reporting and management dashboards presenting us with complete control over all our work streams.”

To avoid the potential visibility and timeline pitfalls that frequent offshore development, an agile delivery method will be implemented across projects, where requirements gathering, development and testing happen concurrently and in collaboration with Wessex Water.

Wessex Water serves 2.7 million customers in south west England.