The regional utility in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) known as Etihad Water & Electricity (EtihadWE) is embarking on a new digitalization initiative to improve CX and achieve other goals, the utility said in a news release dated August 29 on its website.

EtihadWE is moving its business process workflows to the cloud platform of SAP in a shift that aligns with the utility’s digital transformation roadmap to provide best-in-class levels of excellence, said Mohammad Saleh, director general of EtihadWE.

“Thanks to our digital transformation with SAP, we can use real-time data to enhance customer satisfaction, manage assets and network optimally, increase automation, enhance employee experience and productivity, achieve economic growth, and support environmental sustainability,” said Saleh.

As part of the transformation, EtihadWE will transition from its current SAP Business Suite to S/4HANA, the lead enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution from SAP. By deploying the upgrade, EtihadWE will be able to leverage the solution’s built-in capabilities in artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML). A blog post from SAP explains in detail the advantages and benefits provided by S/4HANA compared to the Business Suite. For EtihadWE, leveraging S/4HANA will also help improve asset management, business processes related to procurement, and practices involving human resources.

EtihadWE was formerly known as the Federal Electricity and Water Authority (FEWA), a utility established in 1999 to serve the UAE’s four northern emirates of Ajman, Ras Al Khaimah, Umm Al Quwain, and Fujairah. Approximately 3 million people are currently served by EtihadWE in the northern emirates. Aside from EtihadWE, the UAE has three public utilities to serve each of the federation’s three largest and most populous emirates of Abu Dhabi, Dubai, and Sharjah.