Myron Hrycyk joined utility company Severn Trent Water at probably one of its most decisive moments in the history of the Midlands based company. As a new board of directors took control of the then Birmingham based company following a series of regulatory fines Hrycyk stepped on to the board as CIO and set about leading a significant change management programme with Severn Trent Water.

On the technology front Hrycyk has led a major adoption of SAP enterprise resource planning (ERP) across the organisation, integrated by IBM and introduced workforce management tools from ClickSoftware. The ERP strategy has included an aggressive decommissioning plan that has delivered savings to the company as bespoke legacy systems were switched off. The workforce management tools are part of a Severn Trent Water strategy to use its resources more efficiently. The application is reducing the mileage clocked up by engineers and maintenance crews and should ensure better customer service.

In early 2011 Severn Trent Water moved into a new headquarters building in Coventry. The building is one of the most environmentally friendly in the Midlands and with Hrycyk’s direction is designed for 120 per cent utilisation, allowed by the Citrix thin client system adopted and office design to create better opportunities for team working and collaboration.
Hyryck was involved in the strategic move to the new headquarters from the moment he joined the organisation and is clearly a key part of the leadership team. Like his C-level peers at Severn Trent Water Hyryck is a proponent of Six Sigma management techniques, which he learnt and adopted as an IT leader at logistics giants Unipart.

Judges Mike Altendorf and Mark Chillingworth disagreed over Hrycyk’s input into improving the experience customers of Severn Trent Water achieve, with the CIO Editor in Chief arguing that workforce management tools improve the visit and interaction with engineers and reduce costs, which should lead to lower utility bills.

Richard Sykes says; “At Unipart he turned the logistics into a demand driven IT service, so he’s a creative thinker and at Severn Trent he has re-written the sourcing side.”

Altendorf liked Hyryck’s belief that it is better to work for a CEO that gets technology. “So he’s clearly part of the innovation agenda,” he says.

All agreed he’d driven innovation as the company rediscovered itself and operates in a vertical sector the panel felt doesn’t always demonstrate great innovation.

Read the CIO interviews:

Severn Trent Water CIO’s strategy update

Severn Trent Water CIO Myron Hrycyk discusses the firm's total operational reorganisation

The CIO Questionnaire: Myron Hrycyk, Severn Trent Water