Variance Monitor ensures accurate data. NRG and GenOn discover real power.

About the project

Mergers are inevitably a source of trepidation for data and system managers. Vast amounts of information from different systems must be relocated quickly and accurately; error is always a risk; and time, cost and expertise are invariably in short supply. The union of NRG Energy and GenOn Energy showed that the negative effects associated with mergers can be mitigated. This successful integration can be attributed in part to the use of Data Sync Manager™(DSM) and Variance Monitor™, both EPI-USE Labs’ solutions.

Merger of NRG and GenOn

When NRG acquired GenOn in 2012, the two companies were faced with the integration of two very different systems and processes. GenOn, the smaller company with about 3,000 people, was on a full SAP® platform using CATS; while NRG’s 6,000 employees were using ADP for payroll and a system called eTime for time entry. An interface to load eTime data to Infotype 2010 (which is the additional payment information) had already been built, and the plan was to convert the NRG population to CATS in three rollouts.

The payroll challenge

The first complication in the move to CATS was that time processing was determined by personnel area, and required extensive payroll schema modifications. Both the time processing and the schema changes would need to be tested, which would involve a huge effort as well as the analysis of thousands of payroll results to be sure that the changes had no negative effects.

DSM was used to copy the employee population on Production to the test system; then the old eTime data was deleted and the corresponding CATS data added back. Once this was complete, Variance Monitor was used for the payroll comparisons. At this point it became apparent that testing could be done based on a simulation run, which would speed up the testing phase significantly and, crucially, deliver 100% accuracy.

Variance Monitor plots the way forward

Variance Monitor incorporates Statistical Analysis reports. These were integral to managing the variation testing process because they create a graphic interface that is ideal for showing the total population of the employees under scrutiny, as well as the testing status, and how it was progressing. The reports helped track progress, and management could instantly see that the data was, for example, 80% correct, with a 20% variance that would need analysis. Variance Monitor made it easy to verify potentially hazardous changes to rules, schemas and configuration.

The project took three months and was delivered on time, thanks to Variance Monitor. Initially three parallel tests were planned, but because of Variance Monitor’s ability to show the completeness and testing through the reports, only two parallel runs were needed.

The benefits of Variance Monitor

Variance Monitor enables users to:

• see fluctuations and discrepancies in detail, which means that problems can be resolved before they happen
• create multiple rules to easily determine the course of problems on a large scale, rather than person-by-person
• easily repeat period-to-period runs; no need to reinvent the wheel each payroll
• run in a simulation mode for config changes; issues are identified and corrected before payroll is opened
• save time and effort

About NRG Energy

Headquartered in Houston, Texas, NRG Energy is an energy generation and retail energy provider with a diverse portfolio. The company’s retail electricity providers, which include NRG, Reliant, Green Mountain Energy, Cirro and Direct Energy, together serve about 7.3 million residential, business, commercial and industrial customers. As a Fortune 500 company with about 15,000 employees, NRG is committed to managing their business in environmentally responsible ways while offering products and services to help their customers do the same. Newsweek recently listed NRG as one of America’s most responsible companies.

GenOn Energy, Inc., was one of the largest independent power producers in the US with the capacity to generate more than 14,000 megawatts of power. The company was acquired by NRG Energy in December 2012.