Sustainability Magazine November 2019 | Page 173

CLICK TO WATCH : ‘ THE NATURE OF DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION AT CENTRICA ’ 173 a mix of Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 . Our largest workforce , our Service and Repair workforce , were on really old devices as well . The project was manifold because , concurrent with the engineers ’ laptops being replaced , my team introduced a new operating system alongside a brand new suite of applications .” Compounding this challenging project was the nature of field work , with niche requirements in comparison to desktop users . “ They use a different VPN solution , and their connectivity largely depends on the Vodafone network ,” says Rose . “ Because
they ’ re geographically spread , they suffer challenges in some remote parts of the country where 4G is inaccessible . Those challenges all had to be taken into consideration .” Geographical isolation brings challenges beyond just connectivity , and technological solutions are addressing these as well . “ It ’ s very difficult to replace devices or enact a big IT upgrade because our field workforce is truly field-based , meaning they never come to a Centrica office and they don ’ t have regional depots . The technology they ’ re now using means they can communicate with the
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