September 2010

Power Reply and Oracle Utilities Partnering in Smart Metering implementations

Power Reply and Oracle Utilities

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Scenario

Today’s utilities are faced with increased pressure to deliver cost effective and sustainable solutions. Energy managers are seeking new ways to control and reduce energy use, remain competitive with volatile energy prices, and improve their carbon footprint. The growing need for companies to comply with Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC) legislation also means that accurate data and usage control is now even more vital for utilities.

Utilities are investing time and money into new environmental proposals and in modern environmental initiatives and as such, the uptake of smart technologies has significantly increased. Technologies such as smart grids and smart meters can help utilities increase energy efficiency and meet government energy regulations, including those relating to carbon reduction. Being one of the largest contributors of CO² emissions, it is necessary for utilities to revaluate every aspect of their business from supply to consumption.

Employing new strategies and embracing sustainable forms of technology for these organisations is not a straightforward task. Legacy infrastructure and the introduction of new systems all present complexities, but adoption is necessary if utilities are to overcome challenges. Together, Oracle Utilities and Power Reply have teamed up to provide the expertise and products to address these issues, easing pressures on utilities so they do not have to face them alone. Oracle Utilities and Power Reply provide the software infrastructure to unlock the technology solutions which deliver substantial business benefits, such as improvements made to their green credentials.

Background

Oracle Utilities is dedicated to software application development and professional services specifically for the energy, gas and water industries. Its track record spans more than 30 years and 2,600 utility customers. Due to its acquisitions to date, Oracle Utilities is able to offer the most innovative end-to-end solutions available in the energy and utilities market to help businesses achieve competitive advantage, business performance excellence and lower total cost of technology ownership. Solutions include Oracle Utilities Meter Data Management (MDM), Oracle Utilities Transaction Management, pricing and billing software and competitive energy operation support modules.

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Power Reply's mission is to support customer businesses in the process of optimising IT investments, by offering innovative solutions and services oriented towards introducing greater efficiency into processes. With ten years’ experience in the energy and utilities sector, Power Reply has the necessary expertise to fully understand the challenges facing utilities. Power Reply’s parent company, the Reply Group, is an European leader in IT and business consulting services, and in providing innovative technology solutions for all market industries. Reply’s organisational model is based on a network structure composed of subsidiary companies, each focused with specific industry expertise. This model means Power Reply is able to combine the capacities of a large entity with the flexibility, specialisation and dynamism typical of small structures.

Since their relationship began in 2006, Oracle Utilities and Power Reply have worked closely together to develop solutions specifically for utilities. By leveraging their capabilities in IT and business consulting, the two companies are currently working together on IT projects at major European utilities including ENI, SNAM-Italgas, ESB, Centrica, Veolia, Terna and ACEA. The projects have included processes design, system design, implementation and integration in the following areas: pool market operations, forecasting and pricing, billing, energy data management and MDM. The relationship delivers organisations a flexible and innovative implementation process and solutions which are scalable depending on business needs. Sharing their combined experience, Oracle and Power Reply enable utilities to remain responsive and competitive in this ever-changing market.

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Power Reply Business Benefits

Power Reply provides Oracle Utilities with:

Access to vertical expertise, knowledge and a successful track record in the energy and utilities market

Knowledge and tools for system integration for its customers across Europe

High level of expertise, technology and skills. Power Reply has made significant investment in the training of its employees, particularly Oracle specific training and its 50+ team of Oracle Utilities specialists

An organisation designed for and completely dedicated to the Oracle Utilities World; in 2008 Power Reply, set up DCC@Power, its delivery and competence centre for Oracle Utilities technologies

Deep-rooted culture of flexibility, innovation and effectiveness in its organisation and mind-set, which makes the joint approach tailored to specific customer needs while always being reliable and cost-effective

High quality standards, IT and Program and Project Management (PPM) methodologies coupled with customer oriented approach

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Access to the Power Reply Demo Center in Milan, where it will be possible to have hands-on experience of Oracle and Power Reply joint solutions

The Reply network which spans multi-industry expertise and across technology capabilities

Oracle Utilities Business Benefits

Oracle Utilities’ capabilities allow Reply to:

Offer and implement a complete product package with software choices including complex billing and forecasting, and technology to support smart grid and smart metering – all supported by Oracle middleware

Deploy and utilise third party applications with existing systems, using Oracle’s standards for integration to reduce the time and cost of integration and staff training

Strengthen expertise in delivering solutions in an international environment with a standardised set of unified processes and collaborative tools

Improve its global strategy and secure strategic deals with global customers with advanced technical knowledge and operational know-how

Utilise detailed Oracle market insight and fully prepare for the technological innovations expected in the industry

Industry Challenges

When evaluating the business challenges for smart grid and smart meter adoption, one area of concern is the increased volumes of data created by smart meters. In order to overcome this businesses need a flexible and scalable solution that can manage the data overload and transform it into usable information. Oracle Utilities Meter Data Management solution cost-effectively addresses data requirements by delivering accurate, timely, and detailed meter data. The software provides most —and possibly all — of the functionality needed out-of-the-box and is flexible enough to adapt to evolving MDM requirements.

Furthermore, Oracle Utilities’ smart grid software provides mission-critical applications and back-end technology infrastructure, optimising the value of smart grid components and supporting a transition to smart grid architecture with lower cost and risk. Oracle is supporting utilities in their smart metering and smart grid initiatives by enhancing efficiency and providing critical intelligence metrics that can drive better informed energy and water usage decisions for consumers and businesses.

Oracle Utilities’ complete set of applications and technologies, coupled with Power Reply’s expertise in IT consultancy and system integration, delivers an ideal opportunity for utilities looking to improve their IT systems and enhance their business processes. The two companies have been responsible for leading large and complex transformation projects within the utilities industry including Marketing, Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Trading & Risk Management, Automated Meter Management/Automated Meter Reading and Network Control. Oracle Utilities and Power Reply bring technology solutions, business skills and expertise to address strategic and organisational issues.

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Customer Benefits

Oracle Utilities and Power Reply can offer customers looking to implement smart grids and smart meters, with the advice and understanding of the complexity around smart grid initiatives and implementation.

By opting to utilise a solution from Power Reply and Oracle Utilities, businesses can be reassured of a quick implementation process, support by experts who are experienced in programme and project management, in addition to pre-sales support. The expertise both companies have means that customers can also expect cutting edge, utilities specific technology, which leverages utilities business processes and application development knowledge. The joint projects and relationship between Oracle Utilities and Power Reply has demonstrated their ability to manage end-to-end complex projects in all phases from requirements collections to system integration.

Moreover, customers are able to benefit from the team of 150 Power Reply technicians, who are experts in deploying and implementing utility solutions. The team of experts includes a 50 strong team of Oracle Utilities suite specialists who are dedicated to rolling out Oracle Utilities and Power Reply services to customers. Customers are not limited to this team when selecting Oracle Utilities and Power Reply solutions; in fact customers have access to the wider team at Reply, which has more than 3,200 employees across Europe, so that the most appropriate skills and expertise are available wherever and whenever necessary.

In addition, customers can greatly benefit from Power Reply Delivery Competence Centre (DCC@Power ). The DCC@Power represents a skill factory which provides capabilities to deliver the

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final solution, as well as train new joiners, provide opportunities for professionals to experiment and develop in-depth knowledge. Currently DCC@Power is working for remote development, supporting Projects and Application Management for several information systems (Oracle Utilities Meter Data Management, CRM and Billing). The DCC@Power provides the ability to, and works with customers, to execute training by leveraging ready-to-use environments. It also means that Power Reply can leverage its capability and delivery centre resources to scale the team, meet new requests, and manage emergencies and issues as a temporary step while waiting for new resources on-site.

ACEA Case Study:

In 2008, ACEA, a public utility leader in Italy, started to develop a new data system to be able to manage the increasing volumes of meter data being generated as a result of 1.5 million smart meters installed in Rome and in the wide roman hinterland area. In addition ACEA was looking for a new system to support its new Metering Business Unit within the company.

Following the European tender, Oracle Utilities and Power Reply were selected to supply the solution to support the increased data resulting from the smart meter installation roll-out, and to implement the system integration service and process engineering for the new business unit. The solution is based on Oracle technology and incorporates Oracle Utilities MDM, Oracle Utilities Transaction Management and Oracle Database.

Specifically, Oracle Utilities MDM was selected to replace the legacy solution, which was not able to handle the increased data capacity of the smart meters that had already been deployed in the region. The solution provided by Oracle Utilities and Power Reply was chosen not only for its capacity to manage high volume data from the automatic metering infrastructure but also for its ability to orchestrate the whole distribution process, from data upload to data elaboration, and for its flexibility to support ACEA users on punctual validation, reconstruction and profiling of consumption. Since its first implementation, ACEA achieved the scalability they needed to manage 1.5 million meters(of which at moment 1.400.000 smart meters already deployed), as well as the capacity to manage the data for an additional 30.000hourly meters for industrial customers.

Furthermore, ACEA wanted to manage the entire smart meter process and the functionality of the new Metering Business Unit. The aim of the new unit is to manage the different aspects of the measuring cycle, including: data upload, data elaboration and aggregation, data publication, commercial & technical entities management, smart meter remote control, fraud management, pre-billing, workforce integration and network balance. The trusted Oracle MDM technology helped ACEA manage separate business functions with a single solution. ACEA also reduces the costs of an expensive underlying infrastructure traditionally required for the management of the complete smart metering process.

The Oracle solution also enables ACEA to benefit from all smart metering potential such as remote meter control, flexible and on demand meter reading procedure, interval data curves management and the related consumption profiling.

Power Reply and Oracle Utilities

September 2010

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