The FINANCIAL — On November 6 Oracle Utilities announced it is bringing the benefits of cloud to D.C. as part of the inaugural Cloud for Utilities Summit.
The conference offers Oracle Utilities, one of the leading providers of cloud applications to utilities, the opportunity to put its cloud imperative into practice: that vendors and utilities must collaborate to deliver on the promise of the cloud—a new, two-way, customer-centric utility of the future.
With over 100 SaaS clients worldwide, Oracle Utilities delivers one of the largest platforms of Software as a Service (SaaS) applications for utilities and is rapidly expanding its cloud suite, which already includes applications for work and asset management, AMI, smart meter and device management, and analytics. And, with the acquisition of Opower in 2016, Oracle Utilities further expanded its cloud platform with SaaS utility customer engagement and energy efficiency solutions.
While some major technology providers’ cloud applications require buy-in to large, hosted technology or data platforms that are not truly SaaS, Oracle Utilities has taken a different approach—delivering targeted, true cloud solutions that address utilities’ most pressing challenges, while being flexible and modular to support utility evolution and growth, according to Oracle.
“We are not going to simply put a cloud stamp on hosted solutions, that’s not what our clients expect from a trusted and committed technology partner. It’s important that our utility clients have access to true SaaS applications that will deliver the greatest benefit, and that they have our support in defining the best cloud strategy that takes advantage of all cloud options available,” said Rodger Smith, senior vice president and general manager, Oracle Utilities.
Oracle Utilities is committed to delivering the cloud benefits its clients need quickly. In the past year alone, three brand new SaaS applications were released to meet clients’ needs: Oracle Utilities Work and Asset Cloud Service, Oracle Utilities Operational Device Cloud Service, and Oracle Utilities Digital Self Service (DSS). DSS was born in the Cloud as the first joint application with Opower and allows utilities to deliver deep digital customer engagement while connecting seamlessly to back office systems.
“This is just the beginning, we’re about to change the SaaS CIS market, too,” Smith added.
Oracle Utilities Customer Cloud Service is set to release in the next 12 months, and it will be the first truly SaaS, market-leading customer information system built for the utilities industry, with a comprehensive meter-to-cash-to-customer solution, standardized implementation and Oracle-delivered solution maintenance. This service is set to tackle some of the biggest challenges for utilities by lowering both risk and costs for implementation projects and technology maintenance.
“We continue to hear from the industry that true SaaS solutions are increasingly attractive,” added Marisa Uchin, senior director, regulatory affairs for Oracle Utilities. “As the utility industry continues to transform into more customer-centric and data-driven, digitized businesses, we are seeing a recognition by both utilities and regulators alike that true SaaS solutions provide the responsiveness, agility and customer-centric benefits needed to master this transformation. We are excited to continue our close work with utility partners and regulators to facilitate cloud adoption in a way that delivers benefits for both utilities and customers.”
Rick Cutter, Managing Director, Cloud for Utilities, said, “We are very happy to have Oracle as a partner in this endeavor. Oracle continues to lead in technology and business models for the utility industry.”
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