Digital Scope For Utilities

Utility Industry

Traditionally, Utilities industry has been a slow-moving industry mainly because of its capital-intensive nature, regulatory restrictions, rising customer expectations, depleting natural resources and many other reasons. Though slow adopters, Utility industry has always embraced Technology. Technology was and would always be an integral part of this industry. Infact, Utilities industry has evolved many folds because of the advancement in technology right from design to products to software solutions. If we take a brief look at the complete IT landscape of any utility company as mentioned below, it will clearly reflect that the utility industry and technology are inseparable.

Utility Segments - Solutions

1. Network/ Grid Operations - SCADA, Data Historian, Load Forecasting, EMS, Load control & Config, Energy efficiency & Demand management, Distributed generation, Demand response, etc.

2. IT-OT Integration - Energy Trading (Trading, Risk management, Contract Management, Scheduling, Settlements), Use of Analytics, Mobility frameworks, Cloud technologies, etc

3. Smart - Smart Apps, Smart metering, Smart meter asset & operations management, Smart managed operations toolkit for utilities, Smart asset management, smart infrastructure capacity assessment, etc

4. Engineering - GIS, Design, Document Management, etc

5. Customer Service - Voice response, Meter reading, CIS, Service Requests, Billing, Customer information & billing (i.e., Customer account management, Billing & invoicing, Credit & payment, Service order management, Products & services), etc

6. Works - Dispatch Management, Field force planning & scheduling, Mobile design, Mobile GIS, Field data collection, Work Management, Schedule optimization, CPM scheduling, Construction standards, CU estimation, etc.

7. Asset management - Work generation, Work asset management, Asset investment planning, RCM analysis, Asset database, etc.

8. Supply Chain - Inventory, Online commerce, Purchasing, Contract management, etc.

9. Corporate - HR, Project Management, Financial management, Fixed assets, CRM, Enterprise asset management, Audits, etc.

10. Service management - Service catalog, Service level agreement, etc.

IT Business Disruption: Time and again all of us are hearing about traditional IT business models getting disrupted, Technology going Digital, Companies undergoing transformation, etc. There is lot of noise around Digital, but is Digital really disrupting the businesses or it is just the latest fad? To answer this let us take a step back and replay the evolution of IT thinking. Over the years, IT has evolved in three (3) phases, I would call it as Waves rather than revolution.

Wave 1: Software applied automation (Business processes)

Wave 2: Web applied consumption (Internet boom in late 90’s)

Wave 3: Technology applied consumption (Digital wave)

Let us take the example of Hotel Reservation. During the Wave 1 phase, Hotel reservations were done by dialing in or at the Reception Desk by the booking systems/ applications at the desk. After the internet boom (Wave 2), people started booking hotel rooms on the web. Now in the latest phase (Wave 3), people use Air BnB app.

We are at the brink of technological revolution that would fundamentally alter the way we live, work and relate with one another. The speed of current breakthroughs and the exponential pace of disruptive innovation is bringing a revolution which is characterized by unprecedented processing power, storage, access to knowledge and the blurring of lines between physical, digital and biological space. But What is Digital?

Digital Definition: Digital is not the collection of technologies or channels but creation of experience brought together by a design that is focused on bringing the best experience to the customer. Digital experience is seamless across multiple channels, products and services. Digital has four (4) dimensions, Technology, Digital experience, Digital process and Digital behavior. Digital disruption brings with it Simplicity, Omnipresence, Familiarity, Content, Immediacy, Experience and Intelligence. Digital builds an ecosystem comprising of Connected customers, connected workforce and connected assets.

Digital Scope for Utilities: The utility industry has one of the largest opportunities for digitization. A poll of more than 11,000 energy consumers in 21 countries revealed that 41 percent of digitally engaged consumers (people who have interacted through digital channels within the past year) trust their energy provider to help them optimize their energy consumption, versus 31 percent of non-digital users. Digital consumers are also happier with their service. Nearly 70 percent of digital consumers say they are satisfied with their energy provider i.e, 14 percentage points higher than those who do not use digital channels. In addition, 42 percent of digital consumers say they would recommend or promote their utility, versus just 13 percent of non-digital users. However, the challenge for business leaders is to harness the disruptive force of technology to increase efficiency and re-imagine to cater to an evolving millennial customers, who are from an era which is powered by mobiles, broadbands, social channels, deregulations, competition and increasing customer service pressures.

Keeping customer experience as the central theme, a utility can find opportunities for digital disruption in the following areas:

1. Customer experience management (segmentation, analytics, customer self-service, multi-channel customer service, Integrated customer communication, social media monitoring & analysis, etc)
2. Digital transformation framework
3. Digital employee experience
4. Marketing solution that delight customers and drive superior marketing performance across the full multichannel experience (Experience strategy & Design, Customer Marketing & Personalization, Content & Digital, Commerce & Customer service)
5. Field force automation, Content management, e-learning projects, etc
6. Digital power generation (Asset performance management for power & utility, Operations optimization for power & utility, Business optimization for Power & utility, Cyber security for Power & utility, Advanced controls/ Edge computing)
7. Digital renewable energy (Digital wind farm, Digital hydro plant)
8. Digital Utilities Transformation Framework: Digital utilities maturity assessment, Customer & Community experience, Customer interactions management (ensuring contacts across all channels, remote or self-service channels, connected devices, Robotic virtual assistance.
9. Digital Asset management, Digital utilities enterprise architecture, Digital industrial asset lifecycle management, Digital connections management for utilities, etc.
10. Robotic automation, mobility solutions, platforms for billing/CRM, account payable, collections & web chat, business process modeling, change management, analytics & insights, Online Forms, Web portal, chatbots, etc.

Conclusion: Many companies see the digital disruption as a threat to their business model, however massive opportunities await those able to transform themselves ahead of the curve. For utilities, Digital revolution is bringing along with it new capabilities, new opportunities, promise to reinvent business, improve margins, create new products and grow customer loyalty.

Disclaimer: The article is the independent opinion of the author and does not represent views of any organization