Audio version

17

BSC AND ELECTRIC IRELAND

April/May 2013 www.esb.ie/em

MANAGED PRINT SAVES TREES AND CUTS CARBON FOOTPRINT

Pictured (l-r) are: Pat Stack, Anne O'Connor, Susan Small, Antoinette Reid and Edmund Gaffney.

WHAT IS IT?

Last year, ITS Business Service Centre replaced all of the 1,200 PC printers and photocopiers located in ESB offices with a new state-of-the-art centralised printing, copying and .pdf service called ‘Managed Print'. an external company, ERGO, provides the maintenance and support service for all of the new multi-function printers throughout the country.

WHY DID WE DO IT?

This new approach will save the company €1m annually through a major reduction in the amount of paper and toner used – not to mention the associated reduction in our carbon footprint. Staff will recall the piles of uncollected documents in printer trays – under the new approach, if you don’t print a document within 24 hours, it’s deleted. The new printers are effectively combined printers and photocopiers, so we now have fewer machines to service and replace. They are easy to use and also allow staff to scan and fax documents

346,000 print jobs have been sent to printers but not collected - an example of the level of waste under the old approach.

PROJECT HIGHLIGHTS:

In total, 100 locations throughout the country were switched to the new service with four to five locations completed each week. The target of full rollout by December 2012 was achieved.

Chief Information Officer Liam Molloy said, “Many thanks to staff throughout ESB for your willingness to adopt the new service. Managed Print has Revolutionised the way we print in ESB and, based on the feedback we’ve received, is seen as a big improvement on the old approach. We now have a state of the art printing and document sharing environment that delivers significant sustainability benefits in a secure and very cost effective manner.”

BENEFITS: Sustainability Benefits

• 1,900 printers and copiers were replaced

• We’ve reduced our printing from 25m pages in 2009 to 11m pages currently

• This represents a reduction of more than 50% in our printing

Since Managed Print was installed, 346,000 print jobs have been sent to printers but not collected - an example of the level of waste under the old approach.

Testing out the system.

The resulting environmental savings are shown in the diagram below:

• This saving has been produced by a combination of the following Managed Print features:

• Duplex (both sides printing).

• Black & White (Mono) instead of Colour. A greater awareness of the cost of colour versus black & white has resulted in a huge reduction in colour printing.

• Scanning to email has proved a hugely popular advantage.

• Deletion of print jobs after 24 hours if not collected.

• The confidentiality aspect of ‘follow-me printing’ was also a major selling point of the new system with the swipe card retrieval process.

ELECTRIC IRELAND U20'S RUGBY INTERNATIONAL HOME SERIES

THE IRISH U20's rugby team once again turned Dubarry Park into a fortress on Friday March 8th as they played against France.

Having beaten England in Athlone with a last gasp try and conversion in February, the Irish team were unlucky to lose by the narrowest of margins away to Wales (2 points) and Scotland (1 point).

After these setbacks, the team bounced back. Roared on by a full house in Athlone and with live TV coverage on RTE2, they set about beating a tough French outfit 22-5.

“Mon Dieu!” Sean Walsh, Sponsorship Electric Ireland pictured with members of the French delegation in Athlone.

Once again Centre Tom Daly was awarded the Electric Ireland Man of the Match award. He followed up his 8 points against England, which included the winning conversion in the 77th minute, with a tally of 17 of the Irish points against France.

The Irish team will finish their campaign away to Italy.

BSC commences the rollout of Microsoft upgrade

MICROSOFT UPGRADE AT BSC

The Business Service Centre (BSC) has agreed a programme of work with Microsoft that is scheduled to be carried out over the next two years. The benefits of this programme include providing staff with access to the latest version of Microsoft products so that they can carry out their day-today work more efficiently and effectively. It will also provide ESB with a more robust IT infrastructure.

THIS WORK INVOLVES FIVE SEPARATE PROJECTS:

• Microsoft Lync for online meetings

• MyDesktop/MyOffice upgrade (which includes Office 2010 & Internet Explorer 9)

• Replacement of Blackberry with Smart Phones

• Upgrading PCs/laptops to Windows 7

• Upgrading Windows servers to Windows 2008

ITS has already rolled out Phase 1 of Microsoft lync to more than 750 users across all Business Units in ESB. While some challenges where encountered during the early stages of the rollout, of Lync, these have since been addressed by Microsoft. Phase 2 of the rollout is due to be implemented this year for an additional 2,800 users.

The MyDesktop/Myoffice upgrade which includes an upgrade to Office 2010 and Internet Explorer 9 has already commenced and will continue until September this year. ITS users together with an early release group from Electric Ireland have been upgraded. The next group will include all Electric Ireland along with Corporate Centre

WHAT’S COMING NEXT?

1 The replacement of the Blackberry with Smart Phone.

The replacement of staff Blackberrys will commence over the coming weeks. Smartphone users will be able to access features such as Lync and Instant Messaging on their phones along with email, calendar, contacts and tasks. The introduction of this technology allows ESB to avail of new developments in corporate mobile applications on smart devices.

Pictured (l-r) are: Lorna Davey, Richard Dufficu, Fergus Cook, Arthur Hutchinson (standing), Leornard Walsh, Anne O'Connor, Declan Lannon (standing), Liam Molloy, David Dillon and Ratna Nelapati.

2 Upgrading PCs/laptops to Windows 7

ITS will be upgrading all laptops and desktops from Windows XP to Windows 7, Office 2010 and Internet Explorer 9. In line with ESB's desktop Strategy, this project will deliver the most appropriate device for you, as agreed by your business unit. replacement of laptops/desktops will begin in Q3 this year.

3 Upgrading Windows servers to Windows 2008

All Windows application servers will be upgraded from Windows 2003 to Windows 2008 - this may require the upgrading of some business applications.

All of these initiatives will contribute to PIP by significantly reducing costs across the business.

DID YOU KNOW?

ESB provide a staff discount if you wish to purchase Office 2010 for home use (special staff price of €10 has been agreed with Microsoft).

For more information visit the following location. http://esbnetwcm/icthome/ict_customer_service/itpurchases/microsoft_office_staff_offer.html

CONNECTIONS PLUS LAUNCH

Business in the Community has launched its new Connections Plus programme, sponsored by Electric Ireland. Building on the success of its previous ‘Connections’ programme, Connections Plus is open to small businesses with fewer than 50 employees in all sectors across northern Ireland. Connections Plus is designed to provide support to small businesses through a combination of best practice seminars, high-level one-to-one mentoring support and advice for supplier development. The overarching goal is to ensure that businesses across northern Ireland have sustainability and responsibility firmly on their agenda.

Tasting sweet success are Heather Major, Connections Plus; Kieran Harding, Business in the Community; Jim Moore, ‘Aunt Sandra's Candy Factory’ - the first to sign up to Connections Plus and Ken McKervey, Commercial Manager Electric Ireland.