In highly competitive Utility markets, efficient communication between you, your competitors and your service providers is essential.

With customers continuing to exercise their freedom to switch suppliers combined with increasing competition and technology change, the data transfers within markets are becoming more complex. Not only does this increase your administrative costs, but in an environment where customer retention is already challenging, these transfers put data integrity at risk, and can lead to a poor service, customer frustration and inevitably churn.

We offer a full range of consultancy services encompassing data management, AMR/Smart Metering and Market Messaging for both supply and distribution businesses.

With our Data Transfer Solution, DTS, we’re out to optimise market competition - for the industry and for your business. We offer a powerful, scalable and robust solution to underpin the management of data flows between businesses, smart metering, and SAP ® industry compliance. This significantly lowers costs, improves the integrity of your customer data, and ensures enterprise systems remain compliant.

Services - Overview

Our consultancy services have been created for use in the following types of organisations operating within competitive utilities markets:

• Gas, Electricity, Supply and Distribution Companies

• Unbundled Metering Companies and associated roles

Our services address the key issues related to the impact of regulatory, environmental and technological change on data quality, business processes, and existing infrastructure:

• AMR/Smart systems review – End to end advice on component architectures from requirements fulfilment, metering head-end technology, telecommunications protocols, data unification and synchronisation, and efficient enterprise integration
  
  

• Industry systems health check – We understand how fit-for-purpose and future-proofed your existing systems for market messaging and data transfer are, and identify issues for short, medium and longer term action
  
  

• Industry data audit – We understand where data issues can arise and their impact on the business performance. We deliver clear identification of these issues for incisive management action
  
  

• Bureau service for improved industry data performance – Utilising DTS as a bureau service, we can help you understand the issues, costs and value of improved market communications, from back office operations to customer service
  
  

• Industry compliance for SAP ® – We help you understand how to architect rules relevant to your roles within the industry and how to get the best from your infrastructure investment. Our experienced consultants lead process workshops, identifying and mapping out the most efficient and effective approach for competitive success
  
  

• Integration roadmap – With more than 15 years experience of developing and executing integration strategies, we are able to offer our roadmap service for migration to an appropriate integration tool set. We couple this service with practical advice and experience of the pitfalls and advantages of alternate data migration approaches
  
  

• Reference architecture – Understanding the existing IT landscape, it’s constraints, and how it needs to adapt to meet future business challenges is the purpose of this service. Combining all necessary logical components within a single reference model demonstrates clarity of vision and intent, and serves as an essential communication tool for gaining consensus and managing internal and external stakeholders. Scenario planning activities also form part of this offering
  
  

• Technology blueprint – Building upon the reference architecture, we advise on how best to achieve the vision in a structured and managed approach given financial and environmental constraints. Our experiences of consulting in different utilities and our ability to cut through the technology hype enable us to offer strategic advice of demonstrable value to our clients
  
  

• Data quality management – Our experience of engaging and managing cross industry bodies on this topic, and our practical and research findings enable us deliver a comprehensive data quality management service. Building upon our data audit service, we benchmark and drive data quality improvements across the business. With in-depth knowledge of best practice, we can support the achievement of end to end performance indicators

DTS - Features

Our data flow management solution, DTS, has been created as an application for use in the following types of organisations operating within competitive utilities markets:

• Gas, Electricity, Supply and Distribution Companies

• Unbundled Metering Companies and associated roles

DTS addresses a number of operational problems relating to data quality management:

• The end-to-end management and tracking of market message / data flow transfers between internal systems and between market participants
  
  

• The management of multiple file formats from different market participants from different regions including the transformation of files to a standard ‘internal’ file format
  
  

• The control of data integrity – internal and external
  
  

• Handling of exceptions resulting from poor data quality and process breakdown
  
  

• Change Management - internal and external
  
  

• The provision of accurate end-to-end management information
  
  

• The management of low and high volume AMR/Smart Metered data in a single platform
  
  

• On-going industry compliance for SAP within evolving markets

DTS Business Benefits

Better maintenance of data quality – Improved data integrity through a centralised store of secure and valid data to support all of business processes, including AMR/SMART.

Reduced cost of Sell and Serve – Reducing the levels of manual intervention to process market messages and manage exceptions reduces operational costs and maximises the benefits from campaign creation and management. DTS removes the need to make costly changes to internal systems e.g. SAP to handle industry specific market messages.

Improved portfolio reconciliation – Basing energy data calculations on actual meter readings as opposed to estimates reduces the risk of energy imbalance and can improve organisational performance.

Better integrated infrastructure – Facilitates an ‘open’ and highly scalable enterprise platform for support of multi product, multi supplier or distributor operations. Provides flexible capabilities for existing and future IT infrastructures and support for major data migration requirements and industry change.

Improved visibility and control of industry processes – Increased visibility and control of the end-to-end processes allowing timely and accurate responses to queries. DTS enables tighter control of processes resulting in improved process cycle times. The solution also gives greater control of commercial contracts and non contractual relationships between participants and improved visibility of participant performance.

Improved client service – Effective management of customer data enables call centre operators to provide a professional and enhanced customer experience.

Improved and maintained brand – Accurate billing based on good quality data, combined with excellent customer service and a reputation for an efficient business operation maintain and strengthen brand loyalty – vitally important in a competitive environment.

Reduced client complaints – Getting customer service right first time, and knowing exactly where a customer is within an industry process such as a move or gain process is essential in the reduction of customer complaints.

Improved client retention – Churn and the effects of churn are often expensive to resolve. Gaining new customers and achieving loyalty with existing customers is the organisational life blood. DTS and its business rules can help to ensure the customer experience is smooth and efficient and maximises campaign value through efficient registrations.


Key Modules

DTS Core – The baseline solution for organisations who only have to manage a small number of energy data flows and market messages but require rigorous validation across single or multi-region energy supply or distribution.

Business Rules – In addition to the baseline solution, DTS provides a powerful rules capability, enabling users to develop business based validations, process checks and as a means of automating business processes and exception responses.

Industry compliance for SAP ® – Provides a full suite of business rules relevant to the category of business participant and infrastructure being employed.  For users of SAP CRM and IS-U the solution is embedded within the NetWeaver suite to provide seamless end-to-end industry process control for organisations running SAP.

Industry compliance - With powerful integration to ERP and other back office systems, achieving industry compliance and improved customer service via relevant business rules and enhanced process status and exceptions visibility is realised.

Standard and High Volume AMR/Smart Metering – The challenges of AMR/Smart Metering are overcome with DTS. Utilising our standard or high volume solution we manage and control increased data volumes and apply rules for standard and threshold validations, event management and automation aligned to energy data management, billing and CRM process.



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www.amt-sybex.com or email us at
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The Spirella Building, Bridge Road, Letchworth Garden City, Hertfordshire, SG6 4ET, United Kingdom
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