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Found in: Case Studies

The River Walk, or Paseo del Rio, in San Antonio is one of the most beautiful destinations in all of Texas. Lined with rows of shops, restaurants and pubs, the 2 � mile stretch of waterfront truly comes to life at night. When the sun goes down, the River Walk lights up in a dazzling array of colors.

And like every other home or business in San Antonio, power to light the River Walk comes from CPS EnergyTM -- the nation's largest municipally owned energy company providing both electricity and natural gas.

Many municipal utility companies enjoy a monopoly on service delivery. However, recently passed deregulation legislation in Texas eventually could put CPS Energy in competition with other utility providers.

"The landscape for municipal utilities is changing, especially in Texas," said CPS Energy's Director of Information Technology Christopher Barron. "In the past we were guaranteed monopoly status within our service territory. With retail electric deregulation in Texas and a newly passed energy bill, we may opt to go into open competition or be required to compete."

Therefore, CPS Energy made a move to keep itself ahead of the pack: The company --through an intensely competitive bidding process -- chose Gateway as its provider for high-powered, cost-effective desktop and notebook PCs and servers. CPS Energy, which uses 4,000 desktops and notebooks to support its operations, decided Gateway could provide the right equipment at the right price.

Planning Ahead
CPS Energy had worked with Gateway for more than a decade, but most procurements were done on an as-needed basis. New laws and upcoming challenges led CPS Energy to form a more structured relationship with the company.

"Prior to last year, we'd been doing business with Gateway for about 12 years," said Barron. "But what was different going into this year than last year is we'd always done business with Gateway on an as-needed basis. We'd go to them for servers or PCs, but we really didn't have any type of enterprise agreement."

To remain competitive, CPS Energy needed to ensure its IT investments provided value, performance and stability. Choosing Gateway as provider of notebook and desktop PCs and servers has helped CPS Energy remain an exceptional value for its energy customers.

The agency uses Gateway� E Series and Profile� All-in-One PCs, with Intel� Pentium� 4 processors with HT Technology1, to meet its desktop computing requirements. Mobile users rely on Gateway� E-Series notebooks with Intel�Centrino? Mobile Technology and Intel� Pentium� M processors.

"We needed to have a better arrangement with our technology providers," Barron said. "Along with higher levels of service, we also need to have a predictable level of expenditures so that we can budget more accurately over a multi-year period."

CPS Energy decided that a lease and replacement program would best suit its needs. The program is aggressive. CPS Energy leases its Gateway� desktops on a three-year cycle and its notebooks on a two-year cycle. Barron decided the company's business needs dictated that it refresh desktop technology frequently instead of maintaining old machines.

For instance, CPS Energy's work force includes a number of professionals who rely on sophisticated computer applications. "We have a lot of users who are in engineering areas and require topnotch technology," said Barron. "We need to get them the best technology as soon as practical."

Intelligent Purchasing
Under the new arrangement with Gateway, CPS Energy works with the company to predict its technology needs. That allows Gateway to offer CPS Energy better pricing.