Automation specialist Vuram deploys Appian to Horizon Power

The Australian office of automation services specialist Vuram has secured a deal with Western Australian utility Horizon Power to deploy Appian software.

Horizon Power, which provides electricity services across WA’s regional and remote areas, tapped Appian and its low-code platform to be the foundation of its Utility of the Future transformation program, automating a range of processes.

The company worked with Appian partner Vuram to implement Appian, developing an automated platform to unify Horizon Power’s business processes and provide real-time visibility.

Headquartered in India, Vuram operates out of Australia through its Melbourne office. Some of its vendor partners include Alteryx, UIPath, BluePrism, Abbyy and Appian.

Horizon said its decision to move from traditional manual processes to automation aimed to support future business growth and provide improved experiences for internal and external customers.

Horizon Power’s manager for digital and data solutions Suresh Parimi said the company’s digital transformation program will “significantly change” the way its workforce works.

“With Appian, Horizon Power is moving beyond siloed operations and manual workflows that previously could see some reporting tasks take weeks to complete,” Suresh Parimi.

“Automating processes with the Appian Low-Code Platform will play a key role in us delivering the type of experience we want our customer to have.”

Horizon said its procurement team was the first department to benefit from the Appian implementation. A larger-scale rollout followed to address opportunities across the business.

Horizon Power manager for procurement and supply chain Michelle Hurdle said, “Anything we can do to reduce duplication and make workflows more efficient for our team will help make their work-life much richer and more rewarding. We currently find ourselves in a restricted labour market where it is a challenge to attract and retain people.”

“Introducing the Appian platform and automating our heavily manual processes will help us increase employee satisfaction and encourage our team members to stay with Horizon Power.”

Apart from the automation itself, Horizon said productivity and decision making processes have been improved, while also ensuring relevant and timely information was supporting senior management and board reporting requirements.

Appian Asia Pacific regional vice president Luke Thomas said, “Horizon Power is driving innovation through digital transformation and we’re thrilled to be playing a key role in this exciting period of change for the energy retailer.”

“By automating processes intelligently, Horizon Power is set to benefit from enhanced efficiencies and increased speed across its entire business, which will help to meet the ever-evolving demands of the energy industry.”

Last year, Horizon Power awarded Perth-based managed services provider Empired a $15 million contract to provide services like networking cloud, security, infrastructure and core business applications.