Business restructuring and the strategic role of 'IT'

Westcoast Energy has recently undergone a major restructuring as a result of industry deregulation. As a result of the restructuring in 1997, Westcoast, producers, shippers and customers renegotiated gathering and business processes and devised a new tolling methodology known as the Negotiated Toll Settlement. This paper describes the new structure of Westcoast, the lines of business the company is engaged in, the nature of the Negotiated Toll Settlement with emphasis on the important role that information technology (IT) played in the company's business restructuring strategies. In discussing the impact of restructuring and the Negotiated Toll Settlement on information technology, attention is drawn to the enormity of the cultural change faced by employees largely unfamiliar with change. It discusses the new skills and competencies required and the complexity introduced by the need for timeliness. The difficulties of having the delivery team in Vancouver and system support and customers in Calgary and the massive changes that had to be made to refocus attention on customer and operational concerns are outlined. Among the lessons learned, cultural change was identified as perhaps the most difficult stumbling block, followed by the need for communication, quality assurance, risk assessment and project management methodologies, and recognition of the direct relationship between business and system changes. figs