Hydro-Québec is the largest electric utility in Canada and when three major divisions of the company recently standardized on Open Plan, Hydro-Québec also became one of the largest Open Plan users in Canada.

It all started early in 1991 when senior managers at Hydro Québec started tackling a problem that had plagued them for years. How could they standardize on one project management software? The answer came in two words: Open Plan.

"Before Open Plan, each group used to work with different planning software on different platforms," explains Gaston Bonin, Division Head of Management Information and Strategic Planning.

"Accordingly, top management would receive reports with different formats from the various groups. Open Plan allowed each group to follow its own format for its internal reports, yet use standardized reports for its communications with higher management."

To assist with the initial analysis and implementation plan, HMS Software, the Canadian distributor of Open Plan was called in. "We placed several of our technical people into Hydro Québec early in 1991." says Don Gillis president of HMS. "Our mandate was to see how Hydro was currently planning projects and to advise their management on what advantages they could expect from implementing Open Plan.

"We chose Open Plan because it is one of the most flexible products on the market," says Mr. Bonin. "The Dbase source code is included, which allows us to better integrate it with the company's existing systems. The graphics capabilities were also a factor."

Within a few short months, Hydro Québec went for Open Plan in a big way. "Hydro-Québec is responsible for some of the largest projects in Canada," says Chris Vandersluis, Vice-President of Marketing for HMS "We now have about 150 users there with more coming on board all the time.

"Three divisions (known at Hydro Québec as 'vice-presidencies') have made Open Plan their planning tool of choice, " says Mr. Bonin "these are the Generating Stations and Building Division, the Transmissions Division and the Grid Management Division. Open Plan is also in use in our remote offices for management of local projects."

"We have been working with some of Hydro Québec's sub-contractors for years including SNC/Lavalin and the SEBJ Corporation. I'm sure that Open Plan's success within those companies helped HydroHydro Québec make its decision." says Vandersluis "Our major concern with installing so many copies of the software at once was that the users would be adequately trained and would receive proper technical support."

HMS's response to those needs was multi-faceted. Assistance to Hydro included the translation of the Open Plan basic course into French, translation of all the Open Plan standard reports and data-entry screens into French as well as additions to HMS's support personnel.

"We've beefed up our Technical Support Department in the last 6 months." says Brian Mair, Director of Technical Support for HMS. "We've added two new support technicians who speak both french and english to assist our french speaking users in Québec and we've started to work with outside consultants who can provide additional consulting expertise to the client."

"To help us ensure the success of the implementation" says Mr. Bonin "our division contacted a local consulting firm. MKS Informatique had consultants who were long time users of Open Plan and who knew both the computer side and the planning side of Open Plan. MKS is assisting Hydro with our long term consulting needs by providing on-site Open Plan and planning expertise to Hydro's users. We also appreciate the close relationship that exists between MKS and HMS Software."

Although Vandersluis is responsible for the Hydro Québec account he claims no credit for the sale: "Open Plan sold itself. What is particularly noteworthy about the Hydro Québec situation is the methodical approach to the implementation of the software. Each step was planned carefully and Hydro was cognisant of what resources would be required to make the implementation a success."

"We're working with a number of utilities in the country." says Vandersluis. "Ontario Hydro, Manitoba Hydro and BC Hydro are all using Open Plan for their major projects and we're delighted to now count Hydro Québec among the ranks of Open Plan users."