From data silos to actionable insights: Innovating within legacy constraints for the digital enterprise
Market View
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Interview with
Asif Aziz
HEAD OF ASSET INVESTMENT AND DATA
CADENT
about
Asif Aziz
Asif Aziz is Head of Asset Investment and Data at Cadent, where he leads the asset investment planning function within Cadent's London network. He manages approximately £150 million in annual investments to maintain a safe and reliable gas distribution network, balancing cost, risk, and performance considerations. With extensive experience in asset management and data utilisation, Asif drives strategic initiatives to modernize investment decision-making while working within established infrastructure constraints.
How are you approaching the challenge of extracting value from data while working with legacy systems?
As a business with a 200 year legacy, we have incredibly rich data, but it comes with the complexity of different formats and systems. Our primary focus has been consolidating this data into a single, accessible pool. Whilst many organisations talk about data lakes, we're concentrating on organising our data to maximise its potential value. We're developing internal visualisation capabilities while partnering with external experts to capitalise on our available data more effectively.
A simple but powerful example of this approach has been our adoption of Power BI. It's transformed our reporting process by centralising data from various sources and democratising access to information. Instead of manually sending reports via email to hundreds of people, we now have a self-service model where users can access centralised dashboards containing everything from HR reporting to sophisticated asset management processes. This has been a game-changer for our teams, though we recognise we're still not fully leveraging its potential.
What strategies are you employing to improve data quality and consistency across multiple legacy systems?
This is a significant focus area for us. Our central asset data team is conducting a comprehensive analysis of our asset data by class to evaluate quality and completeness. They've implemented data quality scorecards that help us understand where to prioritise our improvement efforts. The team is also exploring more intelligent, automated ways of identifying and correcting missing or incorrect data attributes where feasible.
One practical example involves our inspections on a particular asset type, which historically were recorded across different platforms and formats. We lacked a consolidated view of these assets and their inspection histories. Whilst we initially took a manual approach to integrate these data sources into a unified list, it provided us with a foundation to build upon. This consolidated view has enabled a step-change in our ability to effectively manage risks associated with these assets, allowing us to track and understand the evolution of asset condition by comparing historical scores with new survey results. The next phase involves implementing more automation and visualisation capabilities, which we expect will yield efficiency gains and significantly improve our maturity in managing these assets effectively.
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Without this consolidated view, it was challenging to confidently say we had a clear asset management plan in place that effectively prioritised required interventions.
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Organisations will need to embrace data literacy or risk falling behind in terms of performance. Those who fail to adapt risk being outpaced by competitors who effectively leverage their data capabilities and competence.
How do you balance integration needs with the risks of changing established processes?
This is particularly challenging when dealing with embedded Enterprise Asset Management (EAM) systems. We've identified valuable third-party solutions that could enhance our asset management capabilities, but integration obstacles often arise, especially regarding APIs and technical requirements. As a regulated utility business, there is inherently a need to consider traceability to core system data - unfortunately this can lead to risk-aversion when considering other applications which sit outside of the existing EAM system offering.
This approach can impact the quality or user experience we're aiming for. The existing EAM system offering might be the easier choice, but it may not provide the functionality or benefits that specialised solutions offer. It's about finding the right balance between operational simplicity and optimal business functionality. We're continuously working to bridge this gap working with our IT team and external partners, though it remains one of our more challenging areas from a business user's perspective.
What role does visualisation play in unlocking the potential of data stored in legacy systems?
Visualisation has been transformative, particularly in communicating risk assessments and investment decisions. The geospatial aspect has been especially valuable. When we can visualise data points geospatially, we identify patterns that wouldn't be apparent in a list format, such as clusters of issues in particular geographic areas.
A great example is our implementation of a new monthly dynamic risk process. Initially, we were daunted by the requirement to manage numerous data points monthly. One of my team members developed a Power BI solution that created a visualised view, automatically refreshing monthly with updated data. This transformed us from struggling with time-consuming manual data compilation to having immediate access to changes and trends.
Separately, the ability to layer different data sets, such as ground conditions with asset data, has enabled us to draw powerful connections and identify high-risk areas more effectively.
Given that we're running an energy network with a significant volume of linear assets, the geospatial component is crucial. There's a wealth of external data available, and rather than working things out in isolation, the geospatial approach offers a powerful way to combine these datasets and derive real value from them. For instance, when we overlay asset data with ground condition information showing areas of varying corrosivity, we can quickly identify high-risk areas and correlate them with where we've experienced faults or issues with pipes.
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When we can visualise data points geospatially, we identify patterns that wouldn't be apparent in a list format, such as clusters of issues in particular areas.
How are you addressing the challenge of data literacy across your organisation?
The level of data literacy or fluency is mixed within our organisation. Whilst the asset management community clearly recognises that good data is fundamental to effective decision-making, operational delivery teams might not see its immediate value. Our core challenge is helping people across all levels understand the broader business importance of data.
I'm a strong believer in the power of storytelling to drive this change. It's about communicating with people in ways that are relevant to them, demonstrating how effective data capture enables meaningful outcomes. This might mean showing how good data has helped save lives or enabled timely interventions on assets before serious failures occurred. We're also working to incentivise this behaviour in our supply chain contracts, emphasising the importance of receiving timely, complete, and high-quality data.
Looking ahead, with the rapid advancement of technology, particularly generative AI, I believe the nature of data literacy will evolve. We'll likely move towards more natural language interactions with our systems, but the fundamental need to understand and value data will remain crucial for organisational success.
about
Cadent
Cadent is Britain's largest gas distribution network, managing a 200-year-old infrastructure that delivers energy to 11 million customers. The company is at the forefront of transforming legacy systems through innovative data solutions, while maintaining its core mission of providing safe and reliable gas distribution. Cadent invests significantly in infrastructure modernisation and data-driven decision-making to enhance operational efficiency.
We are the global market leader in geographic information system (GIS) software, location intelligence, and mapping.
Esri UK is the exclusive provider of Esri solutions in the UK. We take a geographic approach to problem-solving, brought to life by modern GIS technology. We are committed to using science and technology to build a sustainable world.
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