Wessex Water offshores IT development to Xchanging Malaysia

Outsourcing deal will shift software consultancy and development services to Kuala Lumpur

Wessex Water has chosen services provider Xchanging to supply a "flexible and transparent IT infrastructure" in an offshoring arrangement that will see Xchanging Malaysia provide software consultancy and development services to the British water company.

The move follows the deregulation of the non-household water and sewerage services market, inaugurated by the 2014 Water Act.

Wessex Water claimed that it had identified Xchanging as a partner that could "demonstrate a long term commitment to excellence and collaboration, as well as deliver a strong roadmap for future developments to maintain its current high levels of service".

Phil Pike, group head of information services at Wessex Water, spoke of the company's "commitment to putting [its] customers first".

He continued: "We're investing in the technology, systems and processes to engage further with customers; hear and act on their feedback; and, improve the way we work with them to provide a quality service."

The 2014 Water Act deregulated the UK non-household water market, enabling businesses to begin choosing their own providers for water and sewage services. As such, Wessex Water claims that the Act has ratcheted up its requirements for a "flexible and transparent" IT infrastructure to meet the new regulations that will govern the separation of the wholesale and retail business.

"In Xchanging we have found a partner that shares our vision and has the right credentials and experience to meet our needs," said Pike.

"The proposed transparent programme delivery framework matched our requirements perfectly, with the integrated reporting and management dashboards presenting us with complete control over all our work streams."

Xchanging will chiefly be providing "resources and expertise" to drive the transformation of existing core IT services, as well as design, development and delivery of new solutions. The hope is to provide Wessex Water with "a comprehensive wholesale retail service".

Agile delivery will be employed across projects where "requirements gathering, development and testing" will happen concurrently, with both Wessex Water and Xchanging aiming to function in full collaboration.