IT Division
1. Background
As part of the restructuring process of the power sector in Bhutan, Bhutan Power Corporation Ltd. (BPC) was launched as a public utility on the 1st of July 2002 with the mandate of distributing electricity throughout the country and also providing transmission access for generating stations for domestic supply as well as export. One of the reasons for the corporatization of BPC was to remove the conflict of interest and reconcile commercial, social and policy objectives, and also to accept worldwide trend of restructuring that was happening in the power sector and accept the best practices.
2. ICT initiatives in BPC
One of the key reforms undertaken as part of the restructuring process was the automation of various processes of BPC. The restructuring process resulted in formation of a separate IT Unit/Division at the corporate office which has the mandate of overseeing the over all ICT policies and strategies of the company and also realizing it through implementation.
Prior to the formation of BPC, only ESD – Thimphu was having a computerized system and all the processes were done manually. The IT Division of BPC now takes pride in successfully implementing and managing the following IT initiatives in BPC:
2.1 Information systems
- Implemented ERP system on SAP ERP platform which will automate the entire processes of BPC on SAP ERP platform viz. Purchase, Inventory Management, Financials (Budgeting, Business Planning and Consolidation, Accounts Payable, Accounts Receivable, Cash and Bank, General Ledger, Fixed Asset), Project Systems, Human Capital Management, Payroll, Energy Data Management, centralized Billing and Collection with meter data management, Customer Relationship Management, Customer Financial Management for utilities, Business intelligence (BI), with proper change management and training process.
- Implemented VPN connectivity through various ESDs & ESSDs.
* BPC is pioneer in the entire South Asian Region for having successfully implemented the spot billing and collection system in all the districts of BPC.
2.2 Infrastructure
- 600 Sq. feet Tier III (99.982% availability) data center in the corporate head office
- Dedicated mail, web, ftp, bill online servers in the bpc.bt domain locally hosted at BPC premises
- LAN in all the divisions of BPC
- 2 mbps leaseline internet connection at the corporate office with shared broadband internet connection in all the divisions of BPC.
3. Approved Organogram of BPC IT Division
IT Division is headed by an IT manager and has the following IT Governance structure which as per the newly undertaken OD exercise have placed it under the Corporate Services Wing:
| IT Division | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | IT Manager | |||
| Information System Unit | ||||
| 1 | Information System Manager | Rinchen Wangdi | Bachelors in Technology (Electrical & Electronics) | Thimphu |
| 2 | Database Administrator | Sonam Dhendup | B. Tech (Information Technology) | Thimphu |
| 3 | Database Administrator | Bhimraj Chhetri | B. Tech (Information Technology) | Thimphu |
| 4 | Senior Programmer | Tashi Dorji | Bachelors in Computer Application | Thimphu |
| 5 | Senior Programmer | Sangay Dema | Bachelors in Computer Application | Thimphu |
| 6 | Data/Record & Documentation Officer | Sonam Dhendup | Bachelors in Computer Application | Thimphu |
| Infrastructure Unit | ||||
| 1 | Dy. Manager- Data Center | Anand Acharya | B. Tech (Information Technology) | Thimphu |
| 2 | Hardware Engineer | Sonam Tobgye | Bachelors in IT | Thimphu |
| 3 | Network Administrator | Ugyen Tashi | Bachelors of Science in Information Technology | Thimphu |
| 4 | Technician | Karma Tshering | Certificate in Computer Hardware and Networking | Thimphu |
| 5 | Technician | Kinzang Namgyal | Certificate in Computer Hardware and Networking | Thimphu |
| Regional Office (South) | ||||
| 1 | Regional IT Manager | Sandeep Rai | Bachelors in Technology (Electrical & Electronics) | Phuentsholing |
| 2 | Technician | Ugyen Tshomo | Certificate in Computer Hardware and Networking | Phuentsholing |
| Regional Office (S/Jongkhar) | ||||
| Help Desk and IT Support | ||||
| 1 | Helpdesk Staff | Tandin Pem | Class XII | Thimphu |
| Web Unit | ||||
| 1 | Web Administrator | Ugyen Dorji | B. Sc (Computer Science) | Thimphu |
4. IT Division’s way forward:
Based on the various ICT initiatives that is currently undertaken and having undergone a long journey of ICT automation in BPC, the following are the some of the ICT enabled business opportunities which BPC is planning to venture into in addition to meeting the ICT requirement of the company:
- Data Center business which will include data center consultancy, building, operating and maintaining and leasing it. The managed service will include providing cloud computing and management of IT services for companies within Bhutan and internationally.
- Unified communication services which will include IP telephony (IPT), VOIP and Video Conferencing services
- ERP shared services
- Implementation of fiber optic connection through various ESDs & ESSDs.