Water & Wastewater Asia July/August 2020

18 5 MINUTES WITH
streamline our offer across industries and
geographies. Having a single brand to
wrap around this unique integrated offer is
the most effective way of delivering to our
customers and partners,” explained Frost.
By working closely working with a
specialist brand agency, the first phase
of the rebranding was research and
discovery, which looked into Ovarro’s
markets and current positioning, including
interviews with internal and external
stakeholders. This formed the basis of the
creative and brand development phase,
giving careful consideration to factors
such as how the name translated into
other languages.
“We wanted the transition to be as smooth
and clear for customers as possible,
and there has been little change to our
working relationships. Billing and payment
processes have not changed and there has
been no impact on products currently in
the field,” said Frost.
In fact, the organisation has received
positive feedback from customers and
stakeholders who said they are impressed
by the new look and feel, and understand
the ethos behind it.
THE SOLUTIONS PROVIDER
In the water and wastewater industry,
population growth and ageing water
networks are some of the most obvious
challenges. Alongside that, there is a
parallel growth in the industry that puts
additional pressure on the water supply.
“We have been looking to develop our
software to assist water utilities with
planning their infrastructure needs, all
the way from sensors that help detect
and locate failures in the water pipes,
through to the telemetry hardware and
software. We’re trying to make these
tools more accessible and cloud-based,
so users can access them from anywhere,”
Frost explained.
And one of the geographies they are
looking at is Asia Pacific.
Providing water utilities with the
information they need to continue to
provide potable water is a core purpose
of what Ovarro does. The brands behind
Ovarro have spent decades developing
solutions for remote monitoring, controlled
water supply and water quality, helping
customers keep their water supply assets
operating securely, which has never been
more relevant.
And with the COVID-19 pandemic across
the globe, it will change how business is
done.
“Water is such an essential resource that
while many industries were temporarily
shut, water authorities have continued to
operate in Asia and every other part of
the world. The challenges they face with
restrictions on travel, size of teams, how
to get expertise to site without physically
being there, all play to how a business like
Ovarro can support the market today,”
said Frost.
“One of our key focusses is reducing
leakage in the water networks. To achieve
that requires innovation and technology
and this is an area we will continue to
invest further in, enabling us to present a
broader suite of technologies to the sector.”
As growth continues in Asia Pacific, there is
a continuing need to address a wide variety
of water-related issues due to large parts
of Asia that are rural. While water may be
abundant, it lacks the infrastructure to pipe
clean water to every home.
“On the counter, there are modern, densely
populated cities with excellent telecoms
and infrastructure but they can be sitting
on ageing water networks, coming under
increasing pressure from a growing
population. Innovation is certainly at the
centre of how we can respond to the
issues the sector faces,” remarked Frost.
And this is what Ovarro is looking at:
expanding their partner network so that
with combined minds and expertise,
they are able to address some of the
specific requirements of the market. For
instance, communications technology
in China can be different to western
Europe, and Ovarro strives to partner
locally to better address these needs.
ADDRESSING THE COVID-19
PANDEMIC
With the COVID-19 pandemic circling
round the globe, Ovarro is not immune
to the impacts of the change.
“Our priority is the continued health and
wellbeing of our employees around the
world. Around 80% of our employees
are working remotely and will continue
to do so for some time. We were ahead
of the game in pre-testing our IT
networks, making sure employees had
the right equipment to work remotely
and access our systems securely,”
said Frost.
He added, “For our production teams
continuing to work in our facilities, we
have taken steps to protect them by
introducing all the official COVID-19
health and safety guidance. It is an
evolving situation but we have continued
to operate - not as normal because
clearly it’s not a normal situation –
but disruption to customers has been
minimal. With regards to our supply
chain, we continue to work very closely
with our key suppliers to make sure we
have continuity of supply by placing
orders through to the end of 2020. This
provides a level of longer-term security
for our suppliers.”
The organisation is now planning how to
come out of the lockdown and return to
a new normal, which will provide more
challenges.
July / August 2020 • waterwastewaterasia.com