Mainframe Partnership Enables Faster IT Transformation For California Energy Provider

Customer Profile

This California-based company is one the largest electric utilities in the United States, delivering power to 15 million people throughout the state. With a growing awareness of sustainability and the state’s changing energy needs, the company is focused on delivering energy more efficiently while giving customers more control over their individual consumption

Industry

Utilities

Location

US

Products

IBM® MQ
IBM® Rational
IBM® WebSphere
IBM® ID Management
IBM® Z mainframe

Company Size

Large

The Problem

Satisfied Origina customer faces growing challenges with mainframe support

Origina’s relationship with a key utility company in California started in 2019, when the company was struggling to find effective support for an older version of MQ. After Origina quickly resolved an issue that had been open for six months with IBM support, the utility company’s team was convinced. Shortly after, they moved support for a wide range of IBM® Passport Advantage products over to Origina.

The customer was very enthusiastic about the support Origina offered, except for one thing: the company’s services didn’t cover mainframe-based software. The utility company wanted better service and flexibility for more of their products and were under pressure to drastically cut mainframe maintenance spending. They knew that Origina could help on both counts, so they challenged it to expand their offerings.

Maintenance costs kept rising, taking time and budget away from a crucial transformation project. This major California utility company knew that Origina could help.

The Solution

Origina's mainframe expertise delivers savings and strategic support

Origina was keen to expand the relationship, and, in 2020, mainframe support services were rolled out, starting with this strategic imperative for the California energy provider.

Partnering with Origina gave the utility company confidence their entire mainframe environment was in good hands and freed up the necessary budget to turn their full attention to the company’s digital transformation plans. Because of previous experience with this valued customer, Origina was able to go beyond software support and acted as a trusted advisor while the energy provider successfully transitioned to newer systems.

The collaboration was a success from day one. The utility company’s technical team was especially impressed by the time and effort Origina’s experts spent on getting to know their entire mainframe environment. A few months into the collaboration, the energy provider extended the support agreement to include more mainframe products. By the end of 2021, they also entrusted CICS, one of the most precious tools in their entire estate, to Origina.

The Result

Origina’s expanded relationship gave the California energy provider exactly what they were hoping for — a capable mainframe partner who could help them speed up their digital transformation plans, empowering the redirect of their software maintenance budget to other key initiatives.

By moving a comprehensive selection IBM® Z mainframe software support and maintenance to Origina, the company was able to:

Consolidate more of their software support with a single trusted partner
Drastically cut costs for maintaining older software versions
Redirect more of their software maintenance budget to digital transformation projects
Transition away from their mainframe environment in a span of two years

"“If your driver is cost reduction, there’s no better game in town. The support is great, the relationship is great.”"