SaskEnergy Corporation

The province's natural gas distribution company relies on ISM Canada for client-focused people and high performance systems to provide document management services, helpdesk, database analysis, and more.

A provincial crown corporation, SaskEnergy is Saskatchewan's natural gas distribution company. SaskEnergy supplies natural gas to more than 325,000 residential, farm, commercial and industrial customers throughout Saskatchewan. The Corporation purchases natural gas from independent suppliers and transports it through its 65,000-kilometre distribution system to 92 percent of Saskatchewan communities.

The Corporation's history with ISM goes back to the 1980s. Prior to 1989, the gas and electric utilities were one Crown corporation - SaskPower. In the late 1980s, SaskPower entered into an outsourcing arrangement with ISM Canada (and formerly Westbridge) for its entire Information Systems department. In 1989, the gas utility became its own corporation, called SaskEnergy, taking with it a copy of the shared billing system. At that time, SaskEnergy signed its own contract with ISM Canada for digital document services (DDS) - and marked the start of a long, fruitful working relationship between SaskEnergy and ISM Canada.

"I have worked with ISM Canada for the last 10 years," says Lori Beale, Manager of Billing Services. "ISM Canada provides great customer service though timely and regular communication regarding our bill printing processes.  Escalation and disaster recovery processes have been established and implemented. ISM Canada is always receptive and willing to meet with me to problem-solve and provide support for future business needs."

In addition to DDS services, SaskEnergy uses contract resources from ISM Canada for helpdesk support, PC support and trouble-shooting, Lotus Notes, Powerbuilder programming, database analysis support, and support of its mainframe customer billing system.

"In my opinion, ISM Canada's key strength is its employees, who provide excellent customer service and are always willing to problem-solve with us," Lori adds. "They have given SaskEnergy 15 worry-free years to focus on our customers by using their expertise and technology to look after our bill printing."