Nordics: Energy ecosystems at a turning point – intelligent IT platforms are essential

/in , /by

Utilities are under high pressure to take action, as a new report by Accenture explains: While there is less and less “for the taking” in the old utilities’ business areas, a huge market for sustainable energy solutions is emerging and there is shortage of corresponding product solutions. The report of Accenture sums it up: “The energy ecosystem is at a turning point in the transition to a decarbonized future.” What does this specifically mean for Scandinavian utilities? 

Eight billion euros by 2030 – that’s how high Accenture estimates the profit opportunities could be for European utilities arising from sustainable energy products and services including energy management, storage, e-mobility and similar. This corresponds to an increase of 25 percent in this segment compared to today, while the traditional commodity business is expected to show only one percent growth by 2030. As Accenture points out in its report “Delivering new energy experiences for future growth” in this context, the starting point is clear: “Utilities must move from experimenting with pilot programs to actually rolling out sustainable energy offerings – and do so quickly and on a large scale.”

 

Intelligent IT platforms are essential

The question is: How to create these new products as simply as possible and at the same time tailor them (meaning comprehensive customization) to the wishes of the customers? “We are convinced that intelligent platforms are crucial for this purpose,” says Almir Andrade, Senior Manager at Accenture Utilities in Norway, adding: “You have to differentiate three areas of the IT architecture: the front end as the interface to the end customer, the back end with all the functions related to customer management, market news, billing and payments, and the third area with all subsequent interactions connected to smart devices in real time.” In detail, these three building blocks must then meet a whole series of conditions in order to function in the new energy market:

  • The front end is all about customer engagement. It encompasses all channels, from the telephone to smartphone apps and web portals to chatbots, while ensuring a holistic customer journey through the interaction of these channels. Advanced customer analysis programs are running in the background. They are crucial for operating new business models and also influence customer journey management. This analysis then helps, for example, in identifying cross-sell and upsell opportunities and facilitating the entire sales process.
  • The backend – and this is exactly what powercloud provides – takes care of the digital heavy lifting at every utility, including billing, CRM, market communication, product management and configuration, enterprise resource planning and many more. Overall, this area must become much more flexible in the future compared to the outdated legacy IT systems of many utilities. There are several reasons for this: on the one hand, consumers are becoming “prosumers”, as Accenture explains in its report. They are thus both “consumers” and “producers” as they play a decisive role in the creation of new products. The backend must enable this development while radically simplifying precisely-tailored product development.
  • On the other hand, operational technology platforms are driving further development with the help of a variety of smart devices. However, this is not only a matter of managing large numbers of smart devices in practical use at companies and private households, but also coordinating their operation with the help of advanced algorithms. The end result, for example, could be a reduction in operating expenses and improved value creation.

 

download expert guide churn now

 

The associated modern IT architecture is cloud-based, modular, and interconnected with microservices. In our experience, leading utilities are increasingly reliant on a meta-architecture consisting of two or three different architectures coupled together. We aim to help companies develop modern architecture, and powercloud is one of the leading building blocks for billing.

Jens Skov Holm, Managing Director at Accenture Consulting in Denmark

 

powercloud is the leading platform for mid and back-office processes in the energy industry

The advantages of the leading cloud SaaS solution for utilities’ “engine room” becomes apparent as early as the implementation phase, which is very quick thanks to standardized best-practice modules and a modern integration layer that are tailored to the needs of the company using ready-made adapters and apps. The individual elements of this modular system are thoroughly tried and tested. Among other things, utilities then benefit from automated processes for billing, cancellation, start of delivery, etc., as well as free format adjustments based on new regulatory requirements. In addition to this, full automation allows those responsible to design a billable product and publish it ad hoc on the market in just a few clicks. Without the need to involve developers, it is possible to define a non-commodity bundle that goes far beyond the classic electricity-gas bundle for example. These benefits are absolutely key for utilities, and we are now working on also bringing them to the Scandinavian market, for example”, emphasizes Kris Timmermans from Accenture Industry Consulting in Denmark. “The time is more than ripe, with customer switching rates rising sharply in Sweden and Norway, as is the case throughout Europe.”

 

download expert guide churn now

 

EWII, the first customer of powercloud in the Nordics

A first customer has already emerged from this successful collaboration: EWII, the digital multipurpose utility company from Denmark. Lukas Winter, Sales Manager Nordics at powercloud, has a very clear vision of the utilities of tomorrow: “Everything will focus on the customer in the very near future. You have to understand this phrase radically in order to prevail in the 21st century. The customer experience will be more important than the product going forward. Utilities thus need an all-round view of their customers and the products that suit them. Every interaction in the energy-industry economic area must be designed with this purpose in mind. And that’s precisely what we ensure with powercloud specifically for the Scandinavian utilities”, he summarizes.



powercloud and hsag Heidelberger Services AG: Strategic cooperation and brandnew chatbot as powerApp

/in , /by
  • Consultancy, system integration, app development and service/BPO for utility companies in focus
  • Boost for digital transformation of utilities
  • Special utilities chatbot optimizes customer service  

 

(powercloud, Offenburg, March 9, 2021) A strategic partnership has been agreed between hsag Heidelberger Services AG and powercloud for the bundling of competences. The energy services supplier, with representation all over Germany, will work closely with the cloud provider in the fields of consulting, system integration, app integration and services/BPO for energy utility companies in order to provide still better support for public utilities and energy suppliers adapting to the digital transformation.

 

In recent years the market has changed significantly. Innovation and competitive pressure, partly from the entry of new market participants, some of them from outside the industry, are calling for a rethink to processes and systems. Heightened customer expectations with regard to service quality and customer experience are adding further to the pressure on companies in the utilities sector. This is exactly where the partnership intends to act. Working together, powercloud and hsag will offer energy utilities sustainable, successful service and BPO-solutions that provide a highly attractive cost to serve, opportunities for entry into new business and sales models and outstanding customer service.

 

Additionally, hsag will make its Isa chatbot available to powercloud customers as an out-of-the-box solution via powercloud’s powerApp Store. “Isa” is short for “intelligent service agent” and uses artificial intelligence to answer over 10,000 different questions on some 220 typical customer concerns.

As a result, public utilities and similar organizations profit from a minor service revolution: customers can send text-based questions regarding tariffs, meter readings, moving home, deductions, and energy utility services round the clock. Not only does this initiate a communication that is targeted accurately to the question, but the data from the conversation is also assigned to the customer in the backend and processed through to conclusion. In addition, the shared use of this SaaS solution can be extensively analyzed and used for marketing purposes. The opportunities opened up by this innovative approach can be seen from a typical sales example: if the customer asks about a cheaper tariff, the bot assists with a targeted search for a suitable offering – and specifically on the basis of the data requested of the customer specifically required for the search. For over 30 utility companies already using Isa, this resulted in an increase in conversion rate of five per cent. Simultaneously, thanks to the bot, use of the customer portal increased by an average of 12%.

 

 

We can point to a whole series of comparable successes. Our language model has been perfectly trained, it functions smoothly and will be further trained by our NLP experts – and all this without further outlay by the utility company. Customers are reporting significant reduction of the workload for customer services and a far better customer experience.

 

Dr. Carl Heckmann from hsag Heidelberger Services AG

 

At the same time, the bot is perfectly compatible with powercloud since both allow SaaS solutions to be implemented and adapted without major outlay. Users profit subsequently from regular updates in the background.  Even larger new requirements are implemented in an agile manner and are quickly available for use. Additionally, as a powerApp listed in the powerApp Store, Isa can be connected very easily to the open interfaces of powercloud. Major IT projects involving the bot, which for example can be configured individually in terms of its speech and regarding the service processes required, are therefore not necessary for powercloud customers.

 

 

Download powercloud / Accenture / Salesforce White Paper now

 

 

“Given this background, we are delighted with this cooperation. It matches our philosophy,” says Thayabaran Thanabalasingham, Head of  Partner Sales for powercloud. “We are able to offer our customers a comprehensive cloud solution that can be expanded with further options. This flexibility is an essential condition for utility companies since their markets are in a state of flux. New products and services are appearing all the time, for example, and powercloud is perfectly designed to accommodate these. Working together with hsag Heidelberger Services AG, we intend to develop sustainable, complete solutions in the coming years, including service operations, which will assist public utilities and other utility companies with their digital transformations. Isa is an outstanding example of this.”

 

 

About hsag Heidelberger Services AG 

hsag Heidelberger Services AG has been advising and supporting regional and supra-regional energy utility companies since 2005. The services spectrum offered ranges from the temporary leasing of personnel and execution of everyday business activities through process consulting to complete business process outsourcing (BPO) for utility companies. Additionally, hsag offers consulting, conception, coordination and implementation in sales and marketing plus chatbots and robotic process automation (RPA) for the digitization of business processes.

 

In addition to major energy groups such as E.ON Energie Deutschland GmbH, Innogy SE and EnBW Energie Baden-Württemberg AG, customers also include regional and municipal utilities such as Stadtwerke Heidelberg GmbH and SWP Stadtwerke Pforzheim GmbH & Co. KG. Changes in the market in this sector have led to further specialization by hsag in real estate business. Currently hsag employs over 280 people across its sites in Heidelberg, Essen, Munster, Gera, Chemnitz, Bremen, Munich and Walldorf.



powercloud launches own App Store

/in /by

Achern/Essen (energate) – The IT service provider powercloud integrates third-party services into its Software-as-a-Service platform. The company has set up its own App Store for this purpose, powercloud announced. In the “powerApp Store”, other providers could sell their services via the digital platform, while customers would benefit from a broader range of products.

Share instead of owning – with open source codes for success!

/in /by

It was a courageous step that no one had yet dared to take in this form. Instead of a secret recipe, we’ll have an open house. Every day. We stand against the black box that is common in so many companies by disclosing our source codes. Of course, not entirely unselfishly.

The “open source” strategy creates a classic win-win situation: We have effectively 250 additional employees on the customer side—our open platform is our USP. By publishing our source code, every new customer brings with them a new development team to work on the platform and continue to optimize it. This was the case, for example, with our large customer EnBW. The open architecture is our recipe for success. In this article, I explain how powercloud’s shared economy platform works, why it is so promising, and the pricing model behind it.

One for all and all for one: Shared Economy for product optimization

The powercloud SaaS solution provides the energy-efficient engine room for the utility industry. It maps all relevant regulatory processes, including market communication and billing. The solution is 100% cloud-based, and the digital core is the same for all customers. Basically, the architecture is open and the solution can be freely extended by anyone via interfaces and by using the event system. However, it is our goal, together with our customers, to constantly improve and expand the functionality. If a new requirement is not customer-specific and fits well with our overall strategy, we will incorporate the customer’s developments into the core, including maintenance. The approach follows the Sharing Economy principle. This means that when a customer implements a requirement, all users benefit from the solution. This allows everyone to contribute their expertise and to benefit from the fact that the community rounds off the result.

The community principle described above, in combination with the disclosure of the platform source code, is a unique selling point in the industry and enables all parties involved to grow particularly quickly and cost-effectively and to offer new solutions. With this approach, we are socializing the IT industry: we bring software providers and users together and let both parties benefit from the cooperation. The migration of the energy company EnBW from the SAP IS-U used for sales to powercloud, which was completed in 2019, meant that the teams from the individual departments of the utility company worked with us on the platform. Working with this principle, with every new customer we gain an external development team.

“Fair enough”: the pay-per-use principle as a pricing model

Our pricing model is based strictly on the pay-per-use principle, which is typical of the Cloud. In doing so, we charge monthly on a fair and transparent basis per active contract. This means that customers pay only for contracts that actually earn them money. This means that, compared to existing alternatives, there are no expenses for “indirect use” or costs per user. With our solution, we are aiming for an average cost-to-serve of 10 euros per contract, per year. Our entry threshold of 5,000 contracts is very low by industry standards. This means that our platform does not explicitly target only the large companies. Small and medium-sized companies, such as municipal and community services, can also participate in this open platform.

For the startups among our customers, we even offer entry with just 2,500 contracts in the first year. Depending on the size of the customer developments and the extent of the customer’s own contribution, there are also options to compensate for expenses by discounting the licenses for a period of time. Even if powercloud decides not to include a module in the core, the effort will not be in vain: companies have the opportunity to offer their own solutions in the powerApp store. Successful examples of this approach include power Analytics to create power BI-based analyses and reports, as well as chargecloud to manage and bill e-charging stations.

 

Published: it-daily.net | 03/13/2020 | www.it-daily.net/it-management/software-development/23713-teilen-statt-besitzen-mit-offenen-sourcecodes-zum-erfolg