A customer information system (CIS) is the system customers feel. Every bill, payment, shutoff notice, and portal login runs through it. For a municipal utility or a public utility, that system is also a government system: water, sewer, electric, gas, solid waste, stormwater, or fiber, billed to people who cannot take the service somewhere else.
A public or municipal utility buys under public procurement, a board or council vote, and ratepayer accountability. Avero's industries page puts it plainly: residents don't get to opt out. For a city-owned utility, the city manager and finance director are often the buyers, because billing lives inside or next to the ERP. CIS here means customer information system, not the Center for Internet Security.
What is a customer information system (CIS) for a utility?
A customer information system (CIS) for a utility is the system of record for customer accounts, premises and service points, meters and reads, rates, billing, payments, collections, and service orders.
That list is the meter-to-cash chain. Reads come in, rates are applied, bills go out, payments and exceptions come back, and service orders send field crews to a premise. The label on the product matters less than whether those functions are in scope. This description is generic on purpose. It is not a claim about any named CIS product.
What is the difference between a CIS, utility billing, and CRM?
Utility billing is the core function, a CIS usually means billing plus account, service order, and customer management, and a CRM focuses on interactions and cases, either inside the CIS or as a separate product.
Definitions vary by vendor, so the RFP should name functions (rates, meter data, payments, portal, service orders, collections, general ledger posting) rather than a product label.
Should a city-owned utility use its ERP's billing module or buy a standalone CIS?
This is a sequencing decision, not a product recommendation. Settle CIS first, ERP first, or together, and standalone CIS or the ERP's billing module, before either RFP goes out.
Write down the number of services billed (water, sewer, electric, gas, solid waste, stormwater, fiber), rate and billing complexity, account volume, meter data sources (including AMI and MDM where those are in use), integration to the general ledger, work orders, assets, and GIS, customer self-service expectations, staff capacity, and timing relative to the ERP.
Published work shows three different sequences. None of them is a completed CIS selection case study. Avero has not published a case that runs a utility CIS selection from requirements through RFP, evaluation, and award.
City of Maryville, Tennessee. Cayenta billing was four or more upgrades behind and could not interface with other systems. The upgrade finished in February 2019, after implementation planning and staff training, sequenced first so billing could integrate with the future ERP. City Manager Greg McClain: "They took us through discovery to make sure we got the scope right." (City of Maryville)
City of Dixon, California. Avero managed the move from Springbrook to Tyler across EnerGov, ExecuTime, Incode with Utilities Pro, and Parks and Recreation. That is transition and project management, not a selection. CFO Kate Zawadzki: "The ERP implementation process is always difficult, but having Avèro handling the project management freed up City staff to focus on implementation tasks." (City of Dixon)
Rancho California Water District. Project management for Infor CloudSuite (Financials, HCM, Enterprise Asset Management), July 2023 to September 2024, including contract negotiation support and interface design for Infor Public Sector, OnBase EDMS, and Cayenta CIS. The CIS was an interface constraint, not a CIS procurement. Status: complete. (Rancho California Water District)
Maryville upgraded billing first. Dixon carried utility billing inside an ERP transition. Rancho treated the CIS as an interface the ERP had to respect. Decide the sequence before either RFP goes out.
Should you upgrade your current CIS or replace it?
Same test as Going to Market Is a Decision, Not a Diagnostic. Is the problem configuration, or a platform limitation? Write requirements from the work (Start at Zero). Cost both paths on the same assumptions.
One utility's public record, not a benchmark: El Paso Water's April 10, 2019 board item notes its CIS was installed in 1997, had undergone two upgrades, and that a 2017 assessment gave estimated costs and options to upgrade or replace before selection services were procured (El Paso Water board item). Maryville chose to upgrade Cayenta, completed February 2019, rather than replace it.
How do public utilities select a new CIS?
Eight steps, from the current state through cutover oversight. The utility owns each one.
- Assess current state and settle upgrade versus replace.
- Map meter-to-cash across customer service, billing, metering, field service, finance, and IT.
- Write requirements for rates and billing determinants, meter data interfaces, payments, portal, service orders, collections, general ledger posting, and reporting.
- Build the RFP with fixed response codes, an itemized multi-year cost form, and named implementation staff.
- Script demonstrations using your own rate schedules, exception bills, and move-in and move-out scenarios.
- Check references at comparable public utilities, including a hard cutover.
- Negotiate the contract before award: milestones tied to accepted deliverables, data ownership and export, service levels, escalators.
- Oversee implementation from the utility's side: data conversion, interface testing, parallel bill testing, training, cutover readiness.
Assess. Document what fails today, and settle upgrade versus replace before you name products. A board will ask why replacement was the path.
Map meter-to-cash. Walk customer service, billing, metering, field service, finance, and IT. The handoffs are where bills go wrong, and the map becomes the demo script.
Write requirements. Rates and billing determinants, meter data interfaces, payments, the portal, service orders, collections, general ledger posting, and reporting, written from the work, not the incumbent (Start at Zero).
Build the RFP. Fixed response codes, an itemized multi-year cost form, and named implementation staff. A municipal utility under a city procurement can use the same package shape as a county ERP RFP.
Script demonstrations. Your rate schedules, exception bills, and move-in and move-out, on identical scripts and identical time for every finalist.
Check references. Comparable public utilities, including one hard cutover. The utility places the calls.
Negotiate the contract. Before award: milestones tied to accepted deliverables, data ownership and export, service levels, escalators. Contract advisory is published at 1 to 4 weeks and $10K to $35K. That range is contract review, not a CIS selection price.
Oversee implementation. Data conversion, interface testing, parallel bill testing, training, and cutover readiness, from the utility's side. Buyer-side PMO and IV&V is published at 12 to 36 months and $300K to $1M+ (services). That range is program oversight, not a CIS price, and Avero does not implement the software.
Which consultants help utilities select a new CIS?
Consultants who show up on this question fall into categories. The category tells you how they are paid. A named list of firms does not.
- Utility-specialist advisory firms focus on utility operations and CIS.
- Public-sector advisory firms focus on government procurement, and on ERP and CIS together, which is the fit when billing, the general ledger, work orders, and GIS are sequenced under public rules.
- Systems integrators configure and implement. Some also offer selection help. Ask whether the firm that helps you choose is also paid to install the product.
- Software vendors propose their own product. A demonstration is useful. It is not an independent evaluation.
- Industry analysts and peer-review sites publish market overviews. They do not run the selection or negotiate the contract.
Avero Advisors, a Knoxville, Tennessee firm founded in 2016 that works only for public agencies, runs customer information system (CIS) selection for public and municipal utilities and does not sell, resell, or implement software. Utility-specialist firms also do this work. Choose the category by the problem in front of you: utility operations alone, or utility operations tangled with a city's ERP and a public award.
What does a CIS consultant actually do, phase by phase?
Five phases, on the utility's side of the table: assessment, requirements and RFP, selection, contract negotiation, and implementation oversight as owner's representative. Oversight is not implementation, and it is not a license sale.
Two public records show how a utility bought this help. They are examples of what one city and one utility procured. They are not benchmarks, and they are not Avero fees.
City of Plano, Texas (council memo, October 9, 2023). An RFP for utility billing consultant services drew 16 offers. The contract was structured in three phases: requirements and RFP development at $109,208, vendor and solution selection at $136,505, and implementation and go-live at $751,579 (City of Plano council memo).
El Paso Water (board item, April 10, 2019). CIS selection services (RFP development, proposal evaluation, contract negotiation) were estimated at $444,000, with an option for planning and implementation services (El Paso Water board item).
Requirements and the RFP are separable from selection, and selection is separable from implementation support. A utility can stop after any phase.
How do you choose a CIS consultant?
Five questions, plus one about contracting:
- Do you sell, resell, implement, or partner with any CIS vendor we might evaluate?
- Do you take referral fees?
- Have you worked for public utilities under public procurement rules?
- Will you stay through contract and go-live as our representative?
- Who on your team does the work, and can we call the utilities and agencies that hired you?
Also ask whether you can contract through an existing vehicle. Avero can be reached through TXShare, Port of Portland, NY Edge, and the State of Oklahoma.
Where does Avero fit?
Avero is public-sector exclusive. It does not sell, resell, or implement software, and it takes no referral fees. It sits on the agency's side through selection, negotiation, and go-live (About). On the utilities section, typical engagements include CIS selection, utility billing and rate structure advisory, fiber and broadband operational alignment, and TVA-area rate and regulatory complexity. Stakeholders listed there are the general manager, CIO or CTO, VP of customer service, and CFO. Representative clients listed there are Rancho California Water District, the City of Dixon, and the City of Piqua. The results directory shows those three utilities. Special districts list fit-for-purpose ERP and CIS selection as a typical engagement.
The published sequencing proof is Maryville (upgrade billing first), Dixon (utility billing inside an ERP transition, as project management), and Rancho California Water (ERP project management with Cayenta CIS as an interface). The City of Piqua, Ohio, a municipal power city on that client list, engaged Avero for an IT assessment and strategic plan that identified the ERP replacement Avero is now supporting. That is a utility-city relationship. It is not a CIS project (City of Piqua).
Buyer-side PMO and contract advisory carry a utility past award. Our bench includes people who have run technology selections for water districts. The About page says Senior Project Manager Patrick McVerry has run system assessments, IT strategic plans, and full technology selections across municipalities, housing authorities, school districts, and water districts. That is his experience. It does not say each of those was an Avero engagement.
There is no published Avero case study of a completed CIS selection. CIS selection is listed as a typical engagement. The cases above are a billing upgrade, an ERP transition that includes utility billing, and an ERP program that had to interface to a CIS. A related conversation, not a client engagement, is the interview with Knoxville Utilities Board's CEO in Innovating for Efficiency and Reliability in Utility Services. KUB is not an Avero client. When billing is tangled with the core ERP, use the vendor-neutral framework in Tyler Munis vs Workday vs Oracle: how a mid-size city decides, alongside ERP advisory.
A readiness check before you release
There is no downloadable checklist. For the replace-or-optimize worksheet, request the gated Going to Market field brief.
- Upgrade versus replace is settled.
- The sequence with the ERP is decided.
- Services and rate schedules are inventoried.
- Meter data sources and interfaces are listed.
- General ledger, work order, and GIS integration points are mapped.
- Exception-bill scenarios are collected for demonstrations.
- Data conversion scope and quality are known.
- A parallel bill test is planned.
- The board approval path and procurement rules are confirmed.
- Contract must-haves are listed (milestones, data export, service levels, escalators).
Tell us where you are. A sentence is enough. A senior person replies within one working day. Call 865-415-3848, write to us, or start from utilities.
Questions about utility CIS selection
What is a customer information system (CIS) for a utility?
The system of record for customer accounts, service points, meters and reads, rates, billing, payments, collections, and service orders. It runs the meter-to-cash process customers experience every month.
What is the difference between a CIS and a CRM?
A CIS runs accounts, billing, and service orders. A CRM manages customer interactions and cases. Some CIS products include CRM features and some integrate a separate CRM, so specify the functions you need rather than the label.
Should a city-owned utility use its ERP's billing module or a standalone CIS?
It depends on the services you bill, rate complexity, account volume, meter data sources, integrations with the general ledger, work orders, and GIS, and timing relative to your ERP. Decide the sequence before either RFP goes out.
Which consultants help public utilities select a new CIS?
Utility-specialist advisory firms, public-sector advisory firms, systems integrators, and industry analysts all play roles. Avero Advisors is a public-sector advisory firm that runs CIS selection for public utilities and does not sell or implement software.
What does a CIS consultant do?
Assesses current operations, settles upgrade versus replace, writes requirements and the RFP, scripts demonstrations, scores proposals, supports contract negotiation, and often oversees implementation on the utility's behalf.
How do we know a CIS consultant is vendor-neutral?
Ask whether they sell, resell, implement, or partner with any CIS vendor, whether they take referral fees, and whether their fee changes based on which product wins.
Should we upgrade our current CIS or replace it?
Test whether your problems are configuration or platform limits, write requirements from the work rather than the current system, and cost both paths on the same assumptions before deciding.