Efforts to upgrade utility information systems should be started early on in the compact term to account for the length of time required for successful rollout, adoption, and continued system support. During the Power Sector Reform Project, the procurement of a management information system (MIS) for Electrical Supply Corporation of Malawi (ESCOM) was temporarily held back in the second year of the program in order to incentivize broader management-level reforms across several of the utility’s business units. Even with this modest delay to the timeline, the design and deployment of the system ultimately moved forward and was able to launch within ESCOM during the final year of the compact. However, despite this initial success, the evaluation found that overall delays to rollout of the MIS left inadequate time for further implementation. Consequently, various challenges and deficiencies emerged shortly after the original ‘go-live’ date whereby critical modules did not function properly, uptake across ESCOM teams was inconsistent, and critical financial data could not be reliably produced. Given the common challenges of upgrading the information technology (IT) of many complex organizations, the design of any similar system should account for the substantial time and effort required for all phases of the project, including design, training, rollout, and longterm support. Further, such initiatives would benefit from a more realistic assessment of the absorptive capacity of the host institutions for the large-scale change associated with major IT projects. The introduction of new IT systems requires, among other issues, strong buy-in and focus from leadership which is commonly in short supply. In such cases, project teams should consider a more limited scope and/or an incremental, modular approach to strengthening the IT environment rather than an enterprise-wide effort.
MCC is applying this lesson by working to complete the needs assessment, identification of requirements and design of IT projects, if any, prior to the entry into force of the compact, and ensuring that the utility contracts not only for the installation of an IT project but also the long-term support for it.