At the American Water Works Association (AWWA) 2009 Annual Conference and Exposition, water-industry leaders discussed some critical issues: aging infrastructure, aging workforce, providing potable water, climate change, funding, as well as environmental and regulatory issues.

There is no argument that the industry is preparing for changes to respond to the current situation and build sustainable operations. The issues will not go away, regardless of limited capital funding. And several industry leaders call for the need to move faster. Water utilities are facing these vital questions:

• What can utilities do now to ensure that their operations are efficient, sustainable, and able to meet the needs of the future?
• What is your organization’s plan to meet the issues of aging infrastructure and workforce?
• How will you ensure regulatory compliance, especially keeping up with unfunded mandates?
• How can you gain visibility into the risk associated with your investments to make better decisions about the actions you take?
• How can you track your investments and monitor their performance for your organization?
• How do you improve service levels for your customers?

Register Now.

We invite you to join us for a Webinar to address these questions and hear from a customer who has implemented customer information systems (CIS) by SAP and the SAP ERP application. Our featured guests are Dorothy Greene, business operation support manager; and Christine Marion, controller, of Gainesville Regional Utilities (GRU), a multi-service utility owned by the City of Gainesville. The company provides services in water, wastewater, electric, gas, and telecommunications. GRU is the fifth- largest municipal utility in Florida and it made the decision to implement CIS solutions from SAP. When support expired for the company's existing ERP system, GRU decided to replace the system, which had limited functionality. GRU wanted to create a strategic foundation for the transformation of its financials and become more efficient.

In 2009, the company started its implementation of SAP ERP.   In this Webinar, GRU will share some of the benefits gained from the implementation so far:

• Financial close has been reduced by ten days.
• Organizational readiness is improved because of a well-orchestrated change- management initiative.
• Efficiency is increased because of a new financial-accounting and management-cost-reporting system.

• Manual travel processes are now automated

Utilities of all sizes are leveraging smart grid and smart metering solutions to connect with their customers.

Black & Veatch Corporation is a leading global engineering, consulting and construction company with the mission of Building a World of Difference®. By advancing the frontiers of knowledge, we provide our clients with reliable solutions to their most complex challenges, thereby helping improve and sustain the quality of life around the world.

Itron Inc. is a leading technology provider to the global energy and water industries. Itron Inc. consists of Itron in North America and Actaris outside of North America. Our company is the world's leading provider of metering, data collection and utility software solutions, with nearly 8,000 utilities worldwide relying on our technology to optimize the delivery and use of energy and water. Our products include electricity, gas and water meters, data collection and communication systems, including automated meter reading (AMR) and advanced metering infrastructure (AMI); meter data management and related software applications; as well as project management, installation, and consulting services. To know more, start here: 

Tantalus provides Smart Grid communications technology that enables electric, gas & water utilities to optimize the use resources by automating monitoring & control processes, improving operational efficiency, and delivering the information utilities and consumers need to manage energy intelligently and cost-effectively.

Oracle delivers the proven software applications that help utilities achieve competitive advantage, business performance excellence and a lower total cost of technology ownership. Oracle integrates industry-specific customer care and billing, network management, work and asset management, mobile workforce management and meter data management applications with the capabilities of our industry-leading enterprise applications, business intelligence tools, middleware and database technologies. Oracle enables its customers to adapt more nimbly to market deregulation, meet ever-evolving customer demands, and deliver on commitments to environmental conservation.