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BSC and Electric Ireland
December 2012/January 2013 www.esb.ie/em
Head Office Restaurant serving real change
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CLIMOTE – the smart time-clock
ELECTRIC IRELAND launched climote on Wednesday November 14th. The event, which drew in a large crowd of interested spectators, was a great success and was attended by ESB Chief Executive Pat O’Doherty and BSC & Electric Ireland Executive Director Brid Horan.
The Chief Executive told of his own experience of climote and how he is noticing the benefit of having the device. He outlined how Electric Ireland is championing innovation with this Irish company, climote, and how this modern product is bringing new technology into the home of the Irish consumer, carrying on the ESB tradition of developing innovative technology.
At the event a draw took place where lucky winner Charlie Cronin won a free climote installation.
As part of this launch, Electric Ireland provided a hands-on demonstration of climote to all interested staff in Head Office.
Climote is a remote-control heating time-clock switch that you can access using a smartphone and that replaces your old timer switch. This means you can turn your heating on or off from wherever you are - you don’t even have to be in the same country to operate it! All you need to do is download the free climote app or text the device to control your home heating. So no more walking into a cold house, you can make sure your home is always warm when you get there!
For more information on climote call the Electric Ireland Home Services team on 1850 372 333 or e-mail homeservices@electricireland.ie.
IT Governance and Strategy
SUCCESSFUL DELIVERY of IT projects that support business change is a major contributor to the strategic success of ESB. About €50m is spent each year delivering IT Projects to support business initiatives.
There are a number of processes and structures in place to ensure that ESB prioritises projects in line with business requirements, maximises the value from these investments and effectively manages the delivery of projects.
The Technology Service Delivery and Investment Board is responsible for prioritising all IT investments and ensuring that the most possible benefits from these are realised. The IT Governance Policy provides guidance on how projects should be managed and delivered, using PRINCE2 project management methodology in particular.
In line with PRINCE2, the project board is the ultimate authority and has responsibility for a project. It consists of:
- The project executive, who represents the interests of the business and is ultimately responsible for the successful delivery of the project and its associated benefits
- The senior users, who represent those who will use or operate the delivered processes and systems. They are also responsible for delivering the defined benefits to the project executive.
- The senior suppliers, who provide the specialist skills required to create and deliver the required solution. Day-to-day management of the project is delegated to the project manager who looks to the project board for support and guidance, approvals and decisions.
Project Board Training
IT Governance facilitates Project Board Training for all new projects. The purpose of this is to ensure that all members of a board are clear as to their role and are aware of the associated responsibilities. Project Board Training was previously delivered by an external company, however, in an effort to control external spend and to use the expertise available in-house, this is now provided by IT Governance.
This training also outlines the support that is available to project boards through assurance and how the Service Support team in Technology Solutions can assist projects in implementing the Project Governance Policy.
The first in-house training session was for the Geographical Information System (GIS) project in ESB Networks and took place on Tuesday September 18th this year. This project is replacing an existing system and provides geographical information to a number of key business systems.
The GIS Project Board consists of representatives from ESB Networks (executive and users), Technology Solutions (supplier) and Intergraph (supplier). The initial training was very well received and it is planned to provide this training to all new projects prior to mobilisation.
Anyone interested in knowing more about this should contact Sandra Ryan, IT Governance and Benefits Realisation at ext. 27837
€5,000 raised for cancer unit
Generation & Wholesale Markets
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Contents
■ Savings for commuters
The Annual EasiTravel Plan is now available to ESB staff for 2013
■ High-visability vests for Junior Infants
ESB staff and some high profile names have been busy dispensing high-vis vests to various schools up and down the country
■ IT governance and strategy
Successful delivery of IT projects that support business change is a major contributor to the strategic success of ESB
■ Head Office restaurant
Staff survey results are in and plans have been proposed
■ ESB Online store product review
Sinead Williams from ESB Networks in Wilton tested the Power Monkey
■ Powering kindness
Electric Ireland Powering Kindness Week saw thousands of people throughout the world do small acts of kindness in the name of three Irish charities
Annual Taxsaver Tickets - EasiTravel Plan 2013
THE ANNUAL EasiTravel Plan is now available to ESB staff for 2013.
These tickets are issued at the end of January and are valid for 12 months from the 1st February.
Staff wishing to avail of the scheme for 2013 must apply by Friday December 14th.
Full details and application forms are available on the Business Service Centre website:
From the Intranet Homepage choose ‘Work Services’ and from the dropdown menu choose ‘Business Travel’. On the page that opens, choose ‘Annual EasiTravel Plan’ –he Application Form is also on this page.
The advantages of the EasiTravel Plan
• All annual tickets are tax free.
• Tickets available for travel anywhere in the Republic of Ireland.
• Staff can save up to 47% of travel costs as a result of tax and PRSI benefits. See www.taxsaver.ie.
• No queuing - Tickets are delivered directly to ESB.
• ID cards are available free of charge.
Leaving your car at home and taking an alternative transport option such as public transport, is of significant benefit to the environment.
See www.onesmallstep.ie or www.change.ie for more details.
