Utilities at the Crossroads
An accelerating energy revolution, ongoing digital transformation, and upcoming disruption of parts of the industry push utilities into a new data driven future. This forces the implementation of a completely new and data-driven IT infrastructure.
Utilities that continue with their outdated, aging and grown IT landscape will become a mere operator of a commoditized infrastructure and will eventually disappear.
Utilities have to make a choice:
- Being an operator of a commoditized infrastructure and with that face inevitable disruption and neglection in the future energy system.
OR
- Being an operator of a platform for innovation and with it take the driver’s seat position in the energy revolution.
Utilities need to grab this strategic opportunity to drive innovation by integrating energy data across the entire value chain in a holistic way.
Utilities need to realize that integration is not optional. They need to accept that integration is no longer a cost of doing business. Utilities need to understand that integration is now at the heart of their business and core to their success or failure.
Classical System Integrator Models slows down Innovation
The traditional system integration approach harms and slows downs utilities` digital transformation. It is like dancing on a high wire: Extremely risky, low tolerance for failure, low flexibility to changing requirements, highly impacted by bad decisions and very dependent on stable conditions. For utilities, the traditional SI approach means:
- High investment costs in infrastructure or licenses
- High risk for delays, low quality or budget cracks
- High operational efforts to operate, manage and maintain the solutions
- Low scalability related to business success or growth
- Limited access to platform experiences or competency
- Low agility and slow development cycles for new requirements or new connected solutions
Orchestration-as-a-Service as Foundation for the Digital Grid
Accelerating the digital transformation requires a modern data driven IT infrastructure enabling utilities to benefit from:
- Short Time to Value
- Fast Innovation Cycles
- Low Risk regarding Implementation and Operations
- High Agility and Speed of Change
- High Ability to Scale
Domain specific iPaaS (Integration Platform-as-a-Service) or OaaS (Orchestration-as-a-Service) is the new paradigm to overcome utilities’ integration challenges.
