Spark completes $200m upgrade of customer service platform

Wednesday 29 June 2016 09:47 AM

Spark completes $200 mln upgrade of customer service IT platform

By Paul McBeth

June 29 (BusinessDesk) - Spark New Zealand has completed a $200 million programme upgrading the backend for its customer service IT platforms putting all of its clients on to a single system and making it easier for the company's front-line staff.

The four-year programme retired 52 legacy systems, 41 systems consolidated and more than 100 million customer inventory records migrated into one platform, coming in on time and under budget, Spark said in a statement. The spending came under Spark's capital expenditure 'Re-engineering of IT systems' programme, which began in the 2013 financial year and totalled $214 million as at Dec. 31.

"The completion of this IT systems upgrade, known as our 'Re-engineering Programme', has completely modernised the engine of our customer management systems 'under the hood' and is a foundation for future delivery of new and improved services to customers," chief executive Simon Moutter said. "It gives us significantly better customer management capabilities, with all our customers now on one system and our front-line staff having much better visibility of their products and services with us."

Spark's capital expenditure on the 'Re-engineering Programme' was $42 million in the six months ended Dec. 31 out of $216 million total capex in the half, and the company expects to spend about $380 million on capital projects in the 2016 financial year.

The company's shares last traded at $3.52 and have gained 7.1 percent so far this year.

(BusinessDesk)

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