SA POWER NETWORKS
SA Power Networks provides energy to South Australia . Over five years , the transformation of its award-winning IT team , led by Chris Ford , has demonstrated the power of innovation
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W ith 1.75mn people dispersed over an area of nearly a million square kilometres , the job of distributing electricity to all South Australia ’ s inhabitants is no small one . While the vast majority live in Adelaide , supplies need to reach people in upcountry communities like Port Augusta , Nullarbor or Oodnadatta ( which lies more than 1,000km from the capital ). The job of supplying and maintaining the power infrastructure across this sprawling state , about the size of Germany and France combined , falls to SA Power Networks ( SAPN ), which employs more than 2,000 people , including an IT team of around 250 .
Before Chris Ford was appointed CIO , the IT organisation had yet to live up to its full potential or be recognised as a vital part of the wider business – a familiar story . CEO Rob Stobbe recognised that IT could no longer be seen as a backroom function if the company were to meet the strategic goals of the Future Operating Model it was developing . In 2014 , he brought in someone with more than 25 years ’ of senior leadership experience , both within
JULY 2019