Umeå Energi’s new IT manager: “The challenge for energy companies to manage … – IDG.se

He has worked with IT in the finance industry for fifteen years – as application owners, project managers and developers at Lehman Brothers, Nomura and Stockholm now Cinnabar. Now Magnus Torrekulla moved to the energy sector as an IT manager at Umeå Energi.

– After working with IT in finance for fifteen years I felt that I wanted new challenges and see a new industry. When the ad from Umeå Energi showed up, I felt that the energy industry is an exciting sector where there is great change and great demands on the IT systems! he said.

Magnus Torrekulla is Head of IT at Umeå Energi. On the CV stands financial institutions like Lehman Brothers.

After fifteen years in the finance industry – what’s different in the energy industry?

– The financial industry has been probably been better at managing customer needs and automate much towards the end customers. There is something I see as a challenge for energy companies. We are not quite there yet.
 
What does your new IT department at Umeå Energi out?

– I am responsible for the Group-wide IT support. On the IT department, we are 12 permanent employees, and then there are a number of people who work with it, but that does not sit on the IT department. We also have some consultants who are inside to grab specific areas.
 
 - Much of my work involves finding strategies for the future and keep track of the laws and regulations that will affect our business and IT support. It is about delivering solutions for our employees, ERP, billing systems and the like.
 
 - It is also about gathering data and statistics and give out the right information to our clients. In this area there are increasing demands and more customers are asking for smart meters and equipment that helps them get better control of their energy consumption. We have to be responsive to customer demands and stay ahead.
 
What will be the focus during your first time at Umeå Energi?

– Now , the focus is on reviewing our data centers and examine how we store our data in a good and systematic manner, so we can use it to provide better service to our customers, better control over our operations and so on.
 
 - Soon we will also start looking at billing system and CRM. We have a system we must consider whether we should change or whether it is possible to upgrade. But in the end it is important to automate and ensure that customers get better service!