IBM Services, Software Support DTE Energy’s Enterprise Business System

ARMONK, NY - IBM (NYSE: IBM) today announced that DTE Energy (NYSE: DTE), a diversified energy company operating gas and electric utilities which serve 3.5 million customers in Michigan, has completed the development and implementation of its innovative DTE2 Enterprise Business System project.

IBM Global Business Services managed the project which included IBM’s Maximo asset management software application as part of a program that updated critical IT business systems company-wide, including Detroit Edison, MichCon and a number of non-utility subsidiaries.

IBM Global Business Services managed the delivery of DTE Energy’s new Enterprise Business System that will provide better information faster, and using processes based on best practices will provide better visibility and the capabilities to more efficiently manage all phases of DTE Energy’s business. IBM’s Maximo solution was one of six major business systems the project covered. With this new program in place, DTE Energy now has a single, integrated system that consolidates activities and processes critical to DTE Energy’s business, including: work and asset management, supply chain, geographic information system (GIS), human resources, finance, and mobile workforce management. In addition to the cost savings realized by consolidating several older systems, the improved operational and employee efficiencies delivered by the systems will benefit the company and its customers.

The program was completed last month, when more than 10,000 users from DTE Energy’s regulated and non-regulated businesses began logging on to the integrated system that included software applications from SAP, Maximo, Websphere, ESRI and Advantex to perform their daily work management, human resources, financial and supply chain activities. As part of the DTE2 project, DTE Energy replaced several legacy systems with a single Maximo installation supporting Nuclear Generation at its Fermi 2 nuclear power plant, Fossil Generation, Electric and Gas Distribution, Gas Transmission, Facilities Management and select non-utility businesses across 10,000 users.

Detroit Edison’s system generation capacity is approximately 11,000 megawatts. The company uses coal to generate about 79 percent of its total electrical output, with the remainder produced from nuclear fuel, natural gas, oil and hydroelectric pumped power. The Enterprise Business System initiative allowed DTE Energy to consolidate more than 100 small, stand-alone applications, which saved millions of dollars, offered increased operational efficiency and provided a cross-business perspective to assets and operations that was unavailable in the past.

“With the launch of EBS, we’re now focused on delivering on our vision for managing the business for the future and reduce our total IT spend,” said Ron May, senior vice president, DTE2. “As we become more skilled in using the various processes and as the system becomes more mature, I’m confident we’ll be able to more completely realize our goals of communicating more quickly, running the business more efficiently and having better control of our data supporting Sarbanes-Oxley and other regulatory requirements.”

IBM Global Business Services designed, planned and delivered the installation of the six major functional systems, and handled the integration with other systems to deliver on DTE Energy’s goals for EBS. IBM’s Maximo is a software application with a standard-based, open architecture that integrates with other critical business functions to support the diverse needs and business processes for managing assets across business units. With its single enterprise-wide system now in place, DTE Energy can more effectively and efficiently manage its operations. This system will be the foundation for improved performance and increased productivity as DTE Energy meets the growing demands of its customer base.

“When we started on this project, DTE Energy’s goals were clear: improve energy generation efficiency, increase worker productivity and reduce the costs associated with operations,” said Bill Sawyer, VP of Maximo Operations in the IBM Software Group. “The go-live of the EBS program demonstrates the combined value of IBM software and services as well as the experience and ability to meet the unique needs of a major utility like DTE Energy.”