Oracle Utilities Industry | Utilities Applications

The Route to Efficient Waste Management Executive Summary The waste management industry operates in a highly regulated and competitive business environment. There are low profit margins, few upsell or cross-sell opportunities, and a lack of differentiation between providers. Companies know it is imperative for them to establish stronger relationships with their customers to provide unique products and services that meet customer needs offering exceptional service, while driving down costs. Add in the complexities of waste management today, being a very internationalised sector requiring new supply chain and collaborative models, and the case for effective process and information management is clear. Only integrated processes and e-business systems, allied with industry-specific business applications, can provide the efficiency required to meet all stakeholder expectations. Oracle and our specialist partners are able to provide the integrated solutions needed – covering automated business processes, e-business architecture, industry applications and data management. Tried and tested in EU and global markets, the Oracle solution provides the command and control needed: from the interface with waste producers through to the sale or disposal of processed outputs meeting the needs of companies and municipalities alike. Download

The Route to Efficient Mobile Field Service Executive summary Mobile Field Service is at a crossroads. The pressure to achieve workflow efficiencies is now overwhelming. Practices based around paper and personal knowledge are not sustainable in today’s electronically enabled world. The time when repair, maintenance and inspection were left to manage themselves is coming to an end. But finding the right integrated business solution may seem easier said than done. Not any longer. In this document we look at the operational and business issues from a practical perspective: what kind of system will provide a complete, cost-effective solution relevant to the real world in which utilities operate? We demonstrate that there is a solution to deliver rapid ROI while ensuring that ongoing costs of system support and development are as low as possible. We also examine strategic business dimensions and opportunities for growing the field service function in new customer-led ways. There are potential revenue streams beginning to open up. The business model we propose is one that addresses the real world issues managers face. The solution we describe is straightforward. Implementing it releases the potential of the most powerful and well designed technology available, which integrates data for a single view of each activity, and a total view of overall activity. It is time to undertake the journey. Download

Reducing Risk in a Rapidly Evolving Market with Oracle Utilities Customer Care and Billing for Energy Distribution BUILD A STRONG FOUNDATION Energy distributors are at the epicenter of an industry in flux. A shifting regulatory environment, rising demand in the face of uncertain supply, and rapidly escalating prices all contribute to the difficult business decisions you must make every day as you strive to effectively service all your stakeholders. As the intermediary between energy producers and suppliers, you must meet the needs of your retailer customers as well as help them effectively manage their own consumer, business, and industrial accounts. To compete in today’s quickly evolving energy markets, it’s imperative that you implement the right businesses processes—and the software infrastructure required to support those processes. Oracle Utilities Customer Care and Billing for Energy Distribution helps you accomplish this. By providing comprehensive system support for all customer- and billing-centric operations, it enables you to manage these multifaceted relationships, respond agilely to regulatory and marketplace change, and minimize the risks of competing in an industry in transition. Download

Safeguarding the Interests of Coop Members with Oracle Utilities Customer Care and Billing for Electric Cooperatives ADJUST TO CHANGING DEMOGRAPHICS For more than a century, energy cooperatives have provided electricity to rural members and safeguarded the economic welfare and growth of their communities. Today, however, radical shifts in market conditions and a transformation of your member base present major challenges. Oracle Utilities Customer Care and Billing for Electric Cooperatives lets you respond positively and productively to member needs no matter how your market evolves. By providing comprehensive system support for all member- and billingcentric operations, it enables you to manage multifaceted relationships, respond to regulatory and marketplace directives, and minimize the risks of competing in an industry in flux. MIGRATE TO FLEXIBLE BUSINESS PROCESSES Rural populations are becoming increasingly suburbanized. This means that you must swiftly adapt to meet new demands from new type of members. Escalating energy prices are forcing you to implement demand-side and demand-response management programs that conserve energy and help your members maintain competitiveness. You may even be facing the all-important decision about whether to join other utilities to transition to a competitive market. Oracle Utilities Customer Care and Billing for Electric Cooperatives allows you to meet these challenges by changing direction quickly (sometimes overnight), expanding your service offerings, and making rate adjustments without having to implement cumbersome coding changes to the system. Download

Oracle Customer Hub for the Utilities Industry INTRODUCTION Accurate and complete customer information is both critically important and hard to get. According to a recent study by the Data Warehouse Institute1, poor data quality costs businesses billions of dollars every year in misdirected resources and billions more recovering lost or dissatisfied customers. Everyone knows how important good customer information is. But over the years, so many point applications have been deployed, each with its own definition of a customer, that reconciliation became impossible – until now. To excel, a utility must consolidate its operational customer data, clean it, enhance it, and connect it to the enterprise. Oracle has created a Customer Hub solution to allow utilities to do just that. The Customer Hub is part of the foundation for the entire Oracle E-Business Suite. It employs an open, standards-based architecture that consolidates data from Oracle and non-Oracle applications and allows for a consistent definition of customers, suppliers, partners, and employees across the entire enterprise. The key elements of the Customer Hub are: A customer data model that actually models your business Customer data management utilities to clean, enhance and leverage the customer data in the data model Seamless connectivity to the enterprise through hub and spoke integration technology Download

Providing Superior Service to Your Community with Oracle Utilities Customer Care and Billing for Municipal and Public Utilities RESPOND POSITIVELY TO CITIZENS’ CHANGING DEMAND For more than a century, municipal and public utilities have safeguarded economic welfare and growth in communities around the globe. Driven by a clear mission to serve, they provide citizens with reliable, safe and not-for-profit energy and water at reasonable prices. They build infrastructure vital for the wellbeing of local communities while generating revenue that contributes to providing and expanding community services. Today, however, municipal and public utilities find themselves hampered by aging infrastructure insufficient to keep up with the citizens’ changing demands, including: New payment procedures such as direct debit, online, and prepayment Bills with more information to help customers conserve energy and reduce their costs Better use of the distribution grid through programs like demand-side management and demand response Support for growing populations without major staff increases Optional services like broadband, cable, or “green energy” Oracle Utilities Customer Care and Billing for Municipal and Public Utilities helps you respond positively and productively to the demands of your constituents, no matter what changes you face. With the comprehensive support for all customer and billing operations provided by Oracle Utilities Customer Care and Billing for Municipal and Public Utilities, you can not only continue to fulfill your mission of serving the local community, but expand the services you offer to them—all without increasing your operating expenses. Download

Meeting the Demands of a Transitioning Market with Oracle Utilities Customer Care and Billing for Integrated Utilities EVOLVE AS THE MARKET DOES For more than a century, energy utility companies have been an integral part of local economies, ensuring a stable and reliable source of gas and electric services for consumer, business, and industrial customers alike. Today, however, although some utilities continue to engage in traditional business activities, many are being forced to adjust to the demands of an industry in the throes of revolutionary change. Throughout all the disruption currently taking place, there is one constant: the customer. Keeping customers satisfied and continuously improving quality of care directly influence your ability to shorten billing cycles, compete in recently deregulated markets, and maximize cash flow. Oracle Utilities Customer Care and Billing for Integrated Utilities enables you to do this, by providing comprehensive system support for all customer- and billing-centric operations. DESIGN FLEXIBLE BUSINESS PROCESSES With so many energy markets in a state of flux, you need to be able to respond to changes in competitive and regulatory conditions swiftly and efficiently. By implementing Oracle Utilities Customer Care and Billing for Integrated Utilities, you can design business processes that are extremely flexible and that enable demand-side management and demand-response programs that conserve energy and help commercial and industrial customers maintain competitiveness. Additionally, many utilities are facing the formidable challenge of making the transition from a regulated to a competitive market. Regional authorities routinely expect existing full-service utilities to make sweeping changes according to unpredictable and constantly evolving schedules and to help customers understand often-radical changes to their service options. Download

Delivering Superior Value to Retail Customers with Oracle Utilities Customer Care and Billing for Energy Retail EXTEND MARKET REACH To be competitive, energy retailers must put customers first. This means providing outstanding service, supporting flexible rate and billing structures, and offering promotions and special incentives to attract new customers while retaining existing ones. Oracle Utilities Customer Care and Billing for Energy Retail allows you to accomplish all these things quickly and at the lowest possible cost. By providing comprehensive systems support for all key operations, Oracle Utilities Customer Care and Billing for Energy Retail enables you to segment your customer base and analyze the profitability of each segment. You can then more-precisely target sales prospects by offering tailored products and delivering service that correspond to each customer’s value to your company. Furthermore, by putting into place billing processes that shorten the time between delivery and payment for products and services, you maximize revenues while minimizing the risks of launching new strategic initiatives. Download

Effectively Managing Change with Oracle Utilities Customer Care and Billing for Water Utilities WATER: THE OIL OF THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY? Escalating population growth and rapid industrial development are increasing global demand for water. At the same time, utilities throughout the world are struggling to generate sufficient revenue to fix deteriorating infrastructure and comply with ever-changing regulatory requirements. Oracle Utilities Customer Care and Billing for Water Utilities allows you to respond swiftly and effectively to these challenges. By providing comprehensive system support for all your customer service and billing needs, Oracle Utilities Customer Care and Billing gives you the flexibility to adapt your internal processes to the way you do business today—no matter how that varies from what you did yesterday, or what you will do tomorrow Download

ORACLE SOLUTIONS FOR UTILITIES ORACLE AND UTILITIES Around the world, utilities are under pressure. Citizens demand that utilities provide energy and water without undermining environmental quality. Customers seek choice and convenience, and regulators respond with new market structures. Financial stakeholders look for operational efficiency at a time when aging workforces and aging infrastructures need replacement. Pressures like these are forcing utilities to re-examine every aspect of the utility business, from supply to consumption. And no utility can address those changes alone. Oracle has positioned itself to become utilities’ software partner of choice in the quest to respond positively and completely to these pressures. To do so, Oracle brings together a worldwide team of utility experts, software applications that address mission-critical utility needs, a rock-solid suite of corporate operational software, and world-leading middleware and technology. The result: Flexible, innovative solutions that increase efficiency, improve stakeholder satisfaction, and future-proof the organization. Download

How can Utilities benefit from the power of geospatial information? In his actual presentation, Geoff Morton, Senior Director Utilities, Oracle EMEA, points out the challenges of the utilities industry, such as increasing competition, aging workforces, multiple environmental demands, demanding customers and capital & operational efficiency. His answer: Accurate, complete and timely information will be the cornerstone for all Utility businesses – based on geospatial system applications. Download

Gartner: Brand new study on utilities: Magic Quadrant for Outage Management Systems, 1H08 Executive Summary: This report features Oracle in the "Leaders Quadrant" for the second year running and is a positive assessment of Oracle in the OMS space by Bradley Williams and Zarko Sumic from Gartner. Key Quotes: "Oracle Utilities continued its leader status due to the combined effects of mature products resulting in strong functional capability and significant market share with R&D investment in a technology integration platform to enable a composite package application environment with customer care, MWM and DMS." Download

Utilities in a challenging environment Around the world, utilities are under pressure. Customers demand that utilities provide energy and water without undermining environmental quality. Customers seek choice and convenience, and regulators respond with new market structures. Financial stakeholders look for operational efficiency at a time when aging workforces and aging infrastructures need replacement. Pressures like these are forcing utilities to re-examine every aspect of the utility business, from supply to consumption. And no utility can address those changes alone. Oracle has positioned itself to become utilities’ software partner of choice in the quest to respond positively and completely to these pressures. To do so, Oracle brings together a worldwide team of utility experts, software applications that address mission-critical utility needs, a rock-solid suite of corporate operational software, and world-leading middleware and technology. The result: Flexible, innovative solutions that increase efficiency, improve stakeholder satisfaction, and future-proof the organization. Download

Big Event, Big Commitment: Oracle in the Utilities Industry IN THIS PERSPECTIVE This Energy Insights Perspective discusses Oracle’s recent OpenWorld event and Oracle’s level of commitment to the utilities industry. If there’s one thing that Larry Ellison understands it’s scale, and the recent Oracle OpenWorld event was no exception: 42,000 attendees, over 50 sessions for the utilities industry, and a small army of Oracle utilities industry business unit (IBU), global business unit (GBU), and related industry support staff. The level of commitment to the utilities industry at the event was impressive. As a research firm that has been publicly skeptical of Oracle’s commitment to the utilities industry, even after the announced acquisitions of SPL WorldGroup and Lodestar, we did our best to quiz Oracle’s utility customers, grill its executives, and get to the bottom of the question: Is Oracle in this business for the long term? The answer, we believe, is yes, and it’s all about scale. To illustrate this point, take the example of PG&E. Its smart metering project will collect data from 10 million electric and gas meters . daily data from gas meters and hourly or 15-minute data from electric meters. Implementing the meter data management system and associated data warehouse, and modifying the customer care and billing system, all running on Oracle databases, will encompass one petabyte of data and be the largest IT project in the company’s history. In fact, the first phase of the project was to move Oracle Utilities Customer Care and Billing (CC&B, formerly SPL) from an IBM DB2 to an Oracle RAC environment. Download

Upgrading a Customer Care and Billing System WHY THINK ABOUT UPGRADES? Your customers are always changing. New business models. New facilities. New technologies. To keep pace, you’ll need to upgrade your customer care and billing system. Vendors of packaged systems typically provide new software releases every 18 to 36 months. They add functions and take advantage of new technologies and industry standards. There are almost always costs involved in putting the new release into production. The size of that cost depends on your software’s architecture. By choosing a customer care and billing system architected to support fast, easy, low-cost upgrades, you will reduce the negative impact upgrades can have on staff productivity and day-to-day operations. You will also reduce total costs of system ownership over time. That’s why upgradeability should be a key decision factor when you select a new customer care and billing system. Download

Smart Metering for Water Utilities Should water utilities replace current consumption meters with “Smart Metering” systems that provide more information to both utilities and customers? This question is being hotly debated in today’s electric utility industry. It appears currently of less interest in the water industry. But as drought and population growth sharpen the focus on water issues, experts are increasing looking at Smart Metering as a possible contribution to long-term supply. Download

Smart Metering for Electric and Gas Utilities Should utilities replace current consumption meters with “Smart Metering” systems that provide more information to both utilities and customers? This question is one of the most hotly debated in today’s utility industry. It is complicated by the fact that there is no single definition of Smart Metering and that no single definition works well within all market structures. It is also complicated by differing views on the value of additional information to customers and utilities. Download

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