Future Energy Delivery Information Technology Design and Strategies: A 2005 Vision

Over the past 12 months, significant worldwide utility industry news continued to focus on utility deregulation, corporate mergers and/or acquisitions, and strategies for addressing system problems that occurred during system outages caused by summer heat waves. Utility industry executives sought to address issues associated with these major headlines by focusing on improving operational excellence, keying on operating cost reductions, improving network infrastructure and infrastructure asset management, reallocating key financial and human resources, and improving or establishing trusted-provider relationships with their customers. Underpinning these key business issues was a focus on charting the course of organizations to move past Y2K issues by architecting the technology-enabled energy delivery organizations of the new millennium.

Utility Industry Issues, Practices and Challenges
Deregulation and growing competition are driving utilities to enhance the business of energy delivery as a means to improve customer satisfaction and confidence, as well as shareholder value. Technology investments are receiving increased scrutiny with heightened focus on IT system-related business cases including assessments of net present value, improved rates of IT system return, and overall shorter IT system deployment times. Increased outsourcing of IT services is frequently being viewed as a cost-effective alternative to internal development, installation, and deployment of state-of-the-art business solutions. Configurable best-in-class solutions are beginning to drive productivity improvements associated with optimized work processes. Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems are helping utilities with maintenance of financial and human resources, materials management, continuing property record management, asset management, billing, and customer information management, although they are to a lesser extent enhancing the day-to-day business of energy delivery.