Energy firm powers growth and sustainability with new applications and Microsoft cloud services

Global wind and solar company Mainstream Renewable Power is firmly on  track to becoming a renewable energy major. Since its establishment in 2008, the company has developed assets totalling 6.4 gigawatts of energy capacity and has established a presence in 13 countries.

Award-winning digital strategy 

With a mission of leading the global transition to renewable energy, Mainstream is focused on rapidly growing its business in an environmentally sustainable fashion — including transforming the company’s IT infrastructure to align with business objectives and reduce its carbon footprint.

Partnering with DXC Technology and Microsoft, Mainstream embarked on a journey to rearchitect its entire technology platform and transition to a pure cloud  enterprise. Since that time, Mainstream has continued to innovate and automate processes to accommodate evolving challenges such as rapid market growth and  remote working models.

While many organizations were still adopting a wait-and-see approach to cloud, Mainstream undertook a 5-year “Sustainable Digital Transformation” cloud program commencing in 2014.

By implementing Microsoft Software as a Service (SaaS) and Azure cloud solutions, the company unfettered itself from physical infrastructure debts and gained a more flexible, responsive IT model.

The company was able to outsource commodity IT functions and transform its in-house Information Solutions team from a traditional IT function into a trusted business partner. While the company nearly tripled its headcount, it was able to do so without increasing the staff supporting technology.

“DXC has been a key partner in helping Mainstream achieve agility, operational efficiency and sustainability, supporting our efforts for innovation and  sustainable growth,” says Mark Kane, global head of Information Solutions (IS), Mainstream Renewable Power. “DXC’s deep knowledge of both technology  and energy industry challenges, plus their expertise as an early adopter of the Microsoft platforms on which we’ve built our transformation, are helping us realize the best value from our technology investments.”

Collaboration with DXC and Microsoft was key to Mainstream’s successful implementation and support of Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Finance and  Operations, which was the final technology pillar in the move from on-  premises to SaaS. DXC deployed robotic process automation (RPA) solutions to dramatically speed user acceptance testing of new releases and the day-to-day administration of the enterprise solution by Finance and IS, respectively.

A key component of the transformation was Mainstream’s decommissioning of its data center to become a pure Microsoft cloud enterprise, which resulted in a direct savings of €150,000 [$183,000] per annum and avoided an additional spend of €212,000 [$259,000] to replace the infrastructure. Eliminating this physical infrastructure, which DXC enabled by porting Mainstream’s historical financial data to Azure, also allowed Mainstream to realize its goals of dramatically reducing its carbon footprint from IT infrastructure.

In 2019, Mainstream won a prestigious global ICMG/Zachman Architecture Award for the innovative, sustainable and agile nature of its approach to transformation. 

Facing obstacles to growth

Mainstream and its technology partners have continued to innovate at scale with the Microsoft Power Platform. The company turned to DXC when facing challenges dealing with a complex onboarding process for new projects, to accommodate rapid growth into new markets.

Mainstream’s in-house Global Development Standard ensures that Mainstream projects are always developed to the highest international standards, even when local regulations do not require it. Mainstream is also committed to high standards of community engagement by engaging early, often working closely to understand local issues, and delivering long-term  benefits through community initiatives.

In practical terms, this meant that each of the projects needed to be set up as a separate legal entity, complying with local regulations and requirements. 

RPA speeds rollouts and upgrades

The on-boarding process became further complicated as it continued throughout the life of a project. Team members took on various roles that  changed as the project advanced through the development process from  procuring land and power to the final stages of building an asset.

“At Mainstream Renewable Power, we take our responsibility of transitioning the world to renewable energy very seriously,” says Robert Kennedy, head of Cybersecurity and Infrastructure, Mainstream Renewable Power. “We need our partners to be just as committed, and DXC proved to be exactly that partner. With DXC’s expertise, we developed an automated solution for establishing all project set-up requirements in D365, transforming what was a lengthy and laborious process into the simple click of a button — and we did it in record time.”

DXC went further still for Mainstream, combining the use of cloud and robotic process automation (RPA) with embedded artificial intelligence (AI) to simplify testing for new releases, upgrades and enhancements.

This solution reduces business disruptions, human errors, operational risks, costs and other factors that can negatively impact enhancements and upgrades.

DXC employed an innovative approach using RPA in both cloud and desktop modes, transforming a formerly lengthy and repetitive manual user acceptance testing process into a simple step with the click of a button.

“The key differentiator in DXC’s use of RPA for automated testing was our ability to verify new releases of D365 F&O together with the systems that it operates with, ensuring that not only the functionality of D365, but also the critical touchpoints with other technologies are verified prior to upgrade,” says Kennedy. 

Keeping up with change

When COVID-19 ushered in the move to remote working and other new models in 2020, DXC again helped Mainstream use the Power Platform to accommodate evolving business needs.

Mainstream deployed a Power App that allows colleagues to book  desks/parking for periodic visits to onsite locations, ensuring they were in line with local safety protocols and headcount limits.

Mainstream is continuing to introduce automation to other areas of the business for further improvements.

For example, DXC is working with Mainstream on a chatbot case resolution solution to cost effectively enhance the user experience.

“Technology and automation have played a major role in our transformation,” Kennedy says, “and DXC is a key partner through many years of change.”