The SAP Enterprise Asset Management solution, together with the SAP Environment, Health, and Safety Management application, enables maintenance organizations to drive toward zero risk exposure for workers. The software supports maintenance planners in setting up effective safety measures efficiently and consistently to help prevent injuries and damage. By communicating information from risk management systems to the shop floor, the software promotes an effective safety culture.

Learning Objectives:

• How to reduce EH&S penalties by using a systematic tool to identify, analyze, and control risks
• How to Improve employee engagement level by providing clear instructions to workers so that they can take proper action to control risks
• How to reduce outages and avoid in-/or accidents by proactively identifying and mitigating safety risks

 
Registration for Customers
Register Wednesday, May 18, 2016 9:00 AM - 10:00 AM ((GMT+01:00) Amsterdam, Berlin, Bern, Rome, Stockholm, Vienna)

Hard to believe sapphirenow 2016 has come and gone, and that Sapphire 2017 (May 16-18, 2017) will soon be here.

This year was extremely exciting with Bill McDermott kicking things off discussing how SAP software is powering modern business helping the world to Run Live, Run Simple.

Hasso Plattner wrapped up the conference challenging everyone to run like a start-up company and SAP as their partner, providing the platform for transformation.

Utilities was a focus industry this year with a key partnership announcement with Apple, being featured in the showcase center, an executive discussion panel on digital transformation within the industry, and a dedicated demo station featuring the entire portfolio offering including Multi-Channel Foundation for Utilities, the Asset Intelligent Network, Business Analytics and Cloud Solutions for Utilities (SuccessFactors, hybris, Fieldglass, Ariba and Concur).

If you missed the opportunity to attend sapphire2016 this year, or were too busy attending sessions with ASUG, you can always view the key sessions by visiting the replay center.

Don't blink now, as Sapphire 2017 (May 16-18, 2017) is just around the corner.

Last April took place the annual SAP for Nuclear Infodays. In its 6^th edition the sessions were  hosted by SAP Czech office at Prague, located just in front of CEZ Headquarters, the largest nuclear power energy producer of Central Europe. The aim of these annual sessions is to establish a networking activity where to share knowledge, experiences and updates on the understanding of SAP solution portfolio and  strategy for Nuclear together with a deep dive into Partner Services and Solutions for nuclear specific business processes:  Use cases, Strategic Keynotes, Interactive - business focused sessions with experts and Network with peers and experts in a collaborative learning environment. Previous editions took place in Bratislava, at the Headquarters of Slovenské Elektrárne, Brussels, hosted by GDF Suez Electrabel (now Engie), SAP Labs at Sophia Antipolis and SAP Headquarters in Walldorf (twice). With an average of 60 participants, attendees at each edition are mostly IT managers from companies with Nuclear Power Generation Facilities, Regulators and Governmental institutions, Nuclear Engineering companies and other organisations and business of the Nuclear value chain such as Radio Waste Management, Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) Construction or Nuclear Fuel processing combined with Service and technology partners related with the Nuclear value chain.

6^th SAP for Nuclear registration website http://events.sap.com/cz/nuclear-infodays-2016/en/home  (contains detailed Agenda)

Combined with this activity focused in bringing together our community of customers and partners to present case studies and discuss openly on how IT can support and improve Nuclear specific needs we have set up a Web Site with the purpose of establishing  a knowledge repository to share all these experiences and case studies collected among our nuclear ecosystem. It has also a dedicated focus to the contribution of Partner solutions for nuclear specific business processes and requirements such as the PWC Template of Nuclear Power Plants, successfully implemented in plants across the world, WCM IT application content, Opentext and HANA start-ups such as Futuroware.. In addition exists another repository for SCM4Nuclear, focused in Decommissioning of Nuclear Power Plants and Radioactive Waste Management. Access provided on request to Raik Kulinna (raik.kulinna@sap.com ).

SAP for Nuclear Jam site. Access is provided on request at Miquel.carbo@sap.com

Dates of the Infodays use to be coincident with the International SAP for Utilities Conference in order to assure the attendance of relevant overseas persons and therefore the quality and interest of the sessions and enable this year the participation as keynote speaker of Henry Bailey  (Global Vice President, Utilities IBU) as well as relevant experts from the US such as Rory Shaffer (Nuclear EAM expert, Utilities IBU) or Jeffrey Briner (PWC).  Together with these experts we had Strategic Keynotes from NuGen ( http://www.nugeneration.com ) a UK nuclear company which is a joint venture between Toshiba (Westinghouse) and ENGIE (formerly GDF SUEZ) to develop a new generation nuclear power station of up to 3.6GW, EDF UK (https://www.edfenergy.com/ ) and use cases from Slovenské Elektrárne (https://www.seas.sk/homepage-en ), Commissariat à l'énergie atomique – CEA (http://www.cea.fr/ ).  Partners contributions were from PWC (nuclear template and PricewaterhouseCoopers Nuclear Information System) , Osisoft (PI connector for HANA), Opentext (Enterprise Content Management), WCM (Mobile WCM – Lockout/Tagout ) Scalers & Victors ( Data Quality ) and Futuroware (HANA start up with a Fire Protection Essentials application). Together with Customers and Partner content there were two deep dive workshops, mobility and  HANA as well as strategical contributions such as Asset Intelligence Network and Radioactive Waste Management and Nuclear Decommissioning with SAP.

NuGen keynote at SAP for Nuclear Infodays. Cover slide

After six years of successful networking meetings seems clear that the activity will smoothly continue. A network of interested contacts and a solid partner network can assure the progress of this activity and the enrichment of the knowledge repository.  Location for next year is not yet decided and the idea would be to bring experts and discussions to the premises of any company of the nuclear value chain interested to take advantage of the outcome of two intense days of networking, solution discussions and product update. Discussions on extending this activity to other regions exist as for the interest of Asia Pacific companies and organisations which traditionally send delegations. This year attended a representative from the Japan External Trade Organization – JETRO.  We also think on expanding the scope of the sessions to other areas of the Nuclear Value Chain beyond the Power Generation, with dedicated focus to Radioactive Waste Management and Nuclear Decommissioning. 

Contributors to the SAP for Nuclear Infodays: Jeffrey  Briner, Barry Middleton, Paul Person and Brian Williams (PWC), Claudia Travin (Opentext), Robert Calzaretta and Dave Crane (FuturoWare),  Ali Syed (Scalers and Victors), Jürgen Gebker (Osisoft), Rory Shaffer, Bernd Keller and Miquel Carbó (SAP).

Need more info? .

Reach for overall SAP for nuclear Rory Shaffer (US, Canada, Asia Pacific and Japan) and Miquel Carbo (Europe, Middle East and Africa, Latin America)

Raik Kulinna for Radio Waste Management and Nuclear Plant Decommission

Reimagining Business Models In The Utilities Industry

Henry Bailey

Technology is transforming many aspects of our lives. Smart technology optimizes everything from our phones and cars to our utilities and cities. We generate Big Data. We store our information in the cloud. And we accept hyperconnectivity as a normal part of daily life.

The rise of non-traditional business models

Additionally, hyperconnectivity is changing the traditional business models of a number of industries. It enables a two-way exchange of information and services between providers and consumers. Consider the following well-known examples of successful, non-traditional business models:

AirBnB is a website that connects travelers with lodging via an online platform. The lodging usually consists of rooms in people’s homes. Users pay AirBnB a small fee when they confirm a reservation. AirBnB doesn’t own any of the properties, which reduces both its costs and its liability.

Uber uses an app to connect passengers with taxis or private cars. These vehicles are owned by independent citizens as well as professional taxi drivers. Uber provides the software that connects passengers with drivers in their area. The company’s revenue comes from charging a fee for its service.

Neither of these companies would be able to even exist without the Internet and mobile phones. Since most of us now have Internet access 24/7, these business models can thrive.

Business models in the utilities industry are also changing.

The smart grid connects large power producers to retailers. These retailers then distribute the energy to consumers. If there’s excess energy, they store it in storage plants for use when demand rises again. And advanced computer systems in the digital control center balance supply and demand.

But this isn’t the only way in which the smart grid is reinventing the way we generate and consume energy. A growing number of households produce energy themselves with solar panels and wind turbines. Two factors motivate these so-called prosumers: cost savings and conservation of the environment. They can keep their utilities costs much lower than when buying energy from a retailer. Moreover, solar and wind energy is renewable energy and doesn’t harm the environment.

As energy-generating equipment becomes more affordable, more and more consumers will become prosumers. Also, some prosumers will produce more energy than they consume. And that’s where the opportunity for new business models lies. Consumers will be able to sell their surplus energy back to the utilities retailers.

This means that a new kind of relationship evolves, one in which prosumers can assume one of two roles. First, prosumers can become competitors of energy retailers. And second, they can become partners.

In the first scenario, those who generate a lot of power can sell their energy to their neighbors. In the second scenario, prosumers sell their excess energy to power retailers. In both of these scenarios, prosumers will need to install metering and communications systems. These systems will track how much energy prosumers produce and sell.

Requirements and regulations

Of course, private citizens and companies can’t just become producers or sellers of power. Local, state, and national governments need to create and enforce regulations. This step of the process is still in flux. Experts continue to research the best ways to enable these new business models.

With a growing number of prosumers, prices of equipment and power will drop. Power retailers won’t be in the position to fix their prices anymore. Why? First, they’ll have to match the rates of local prosumers. If they don’t, they’ll price themselves out of the market. And second, because consumers can easily become prosumers. That means they’ll end their dependency on large power companies.

Conclusion

The digital energy network forces utilities companies to rethink their traditional business models. They need to determine what value they can offer consumers in this new system. At the same time, prosumers can become independent sellers or partners to established retailers.

Learn more about digital transformation for Utilities. Reimagined for the new economy.

This blog was originally posted on the Digitalistmag.com on May 4, 2016

Last month Japan`s electricity sector opened up to full retail competition. Japan`s ten regional electric companies can now compete with each other for customers and with new entrants. In a similar move in April 2017, Japan’s gas market will also open up to full retail competition.

What does the Japanese gas market look like today and what kind of impact will the open market have on the sector? In this first article I will focus on the current environment.

Pipeline Japan (JPDO) has a fragmented national transmission pipeline network. Japan does not have any overseas pipeline connections to continental Asia. Though there is a project underway to connect a pipeline to Russia, for now the country relies on its LNG terminals for the import of natural gas.

The transmission and distribution activities are partially privatized. The three largest gas companies are Tokyo Gas, Osaka Gas and Toho Gas. These companies have operated their transmission networks under a regulated third party agreement for large volume supply since 1999.

The upstream sector is partially privatized. Domestic production is negligible however, as approximately 97% of the total demand is met by LNG imports. All three companies are vertically integrated private companies.

The downstream sector is partially privatized. Most of the LNG imports are used for electrical power generation or as feedstock for petrochemical plants, while the remaining third is used for domestic consumption.

A majority of Japan’s urban areas are not served by a natural gas distribution system. Private companies represent 97% of the market. The remaining 3% is supplied by publicly-owned companies. Main private players are:

-Tokyo gas (75%)

-Osaka gas (36%)

-Toho gas (8%)

There are 215 city gas business entities in Japan, 20% of which are run by municipalities (as of September 1, 2005). 90% of the investor-owned city gas utilities are small companies, half of which have less than 10,000 customers each, which is a significant difference from the electric power utility industry in the country which is dominated by big 10 investor-owned companies.

The major source of city gas is dominated by LNG, which represents 85% of the total city gas supplied in Japan. The remaining 15% is divided into domestic natural gas (5%) and petroleum products (10%) including LPG.

There are 28 million city gas customers and 26 million LPG (which is distributed in cylinders) retail customers in Japan. In terms of sales volume, the city gas businesses sell 30 billion m3, nearly twice as much as LPG businesses.

Thus the reader might observe that while the ten Japan electrics differ is size markedly, with Tepco at one end with 29m supply points and Okinawa at the other with 875k, this is nothing compared to the differential between the largest gas supplier, Tokyo Gas, with around 10m supply points and the average City Gas supplier with only 130k supply points.

Most gas and electric companies with retailing ambitions are eyeing the lucrative dual fuel contracts that require a capability in both electricity and gas sales, the next 2-5 years promises to be an interesting time in Japan`s consumer energy market.

How Will We Power 10 Billion People By 2050? 

Henry Bailey

The utilities landscape is changing. Experts predict that the global population will increase to 10 billion people by 2050. Entire countries depend on the constant availability of power. We need to create groundbreaking, resilient strategies to safeguard energy flow. That’s why organizations continue to search for alternative energy sources and develop new ways to distribute energy.

At the same time, the balance of power in the utilities industry is also changing. Environmental and cost concerns drive consumers toward renewable energy sources. Changing laws and novel opportunities are attracting new companies to the industry. Although the path might seem complicated, it is navigable.

The growing role of technology and digitization

In this digital economy, technology is one of the most important drivers of innovation. Thanks to our application of technology, a digital energy network is emerging. It connects established and new power producers, retailers, consumers, and prosumers. Energy is no longer produced at one central point. Instead, it’s produced at many different points that are located close to consumers.

The following elements make up the digital energy network:

• The smart grid monitors and regulates the supply and demand of power. It also communicates data about the supply and demand to the digital control center. Robust technology enhances the flow of energy and allows the exchange of information in two directions. Real-time in-memory computing provides the capacity to track and control current usage. It also predicts future bottlenecks by analyzing and interpreting data.

• The digital control center tracks the supply and demand of power. Based on data input, it either distributes power to consumers or stores it for future use.

• Energy storage facilities can be new construction or retrofitted plants. They store surplus power until the grid taps into it during peak demand times.

• Power originates with a variety of power generators. These include fossil power, hydropower, wind power, nuclear power, and solar power generators.

• Transmission systems deliver power from various generators to distributors and retailers.

• Distributors and retailers deliver electricity to consumers.

• Consumers are industries, smart cities, smart homes, and EV charge points. They send back data via the smart grid to the digital control center.

There are also independent communities of prosumers who generate their own electricity. These prosumers don’t rely on the smart grid for their power. Nonetheless, they form a part of the digital energy network. They rely on retailers to provide the equipment and systems they need to generate their own power, and some sell power back to retailers.

Continuous improvements needed

In this digital energy network, utilities companies need to optimize new business models based along the four different types of operations in the field: energy generation, distribution, demand/supply balancing, and omnichannel retail.

For established companies, this means a drastic rethinking and restructuring of their business models. It also means they must reassess how to generate revenue from their products.

For new companies, there’s a wealth of opportunity to break into the market, from providing renewable energy to developing new applications for distribution improvement to energy monitoring opportunities. And there’s the need to provide sustainable and affordable solutions for the end consumer.

Companies need continuous optimization because technology evolves at a rapid pace. Also, according to Harvard Business Review, the adoption rate for new technology is increasing. As soon as a company rolls out one application, developers get to work to improve upon it. Companies that don’t invest in continuous optimization are likely to fall behind their competition. Those who do optimize will likely create market opportunities and offer value to customers.

In conclusion, the digital energy network is a growing, evolving structure, and it will keep developing as the market responds to internal and external pressures.

To learn more about digital transformation for utilities, view Utilities. Reimagined for the new economy.

This blog was originally posted on the Digitalist.com on March 29, 2016

SAP Multichannel Foundation for Utilities (MCF) has been eagerly embraced around the world with more than 50 Utilities opting for MCF to enable digital self-service. If you are new to MCF you can fill your boots here. Essentially MCF delivers a library of utilities industry functions from SAP ERP/IS-U and SAP CRM as restful services with sample User Interfaces (including IOS and Android apps) and supporting functions for user registration, channel preferences and the like. It offers a great way to get digital self-service up and running fast. It is also an approach that aligns with the buzz surrounding “microservice” architectures and APIs that are a hot topic again.

A question that regularly comes up is why might you need Hybris Commerce when MCF is available? Here are some reasons for you to consider why MCF might not be enough.

You have abandonment Issues

The Chief Marketing Officer of a retail utility once explained to me that the behaviour of consumers on their site resembled a “curly pig’s tail”. Consumers would come on the site, look at their rate packages and then go away. Often they would circle back again to look at the rate packages, then go way again. This might repeat 3 or 4 times before this circling around comes to an end. What they needed was way to intercept these habitual site abandoners and proactively try to convert them into a customer. This is where SAP Hybris Marketing Convert can help. It allows you to target consumers based on browsing behaviour or purchasing abandonment with contextualised messaging. This might be an immediate email reminder from a customer service mailing address “We see noticed you are interested in our Home Super Energy Package. You can sign up here in 3 easy steps. If you are having problems signing up here is a 30 second video and you can always live chat with an agent or call this number…” followed by a further reminder 24 hours later, followed by a specific promotion incentive in 6 days time. Done poorly this comes off as a bit creepy. Done well, consumers perceive remarketing as proactive high quality service. This approach to remarketing is not just about converting customers in deregulated markets. In regulated markets, remarketing is a way to provide proactive customer service and capture customers in lower cost digital channels rather than have them resort to call centers in frustration.

SAP Hybris Marketing Convert is a SaaS solution that can work with any website and is simple to set up.  It does not require the broader SAP Hybris Commerce platform, as it is based on the acquired solution See Why – who were long recognised as market leaders in remarketing.

In other industries like retail, Hybris Marketing Convert customers typically see a 10-30% improvement in their website conversion rates by triggering real time follow ups with website abandoners using email and social media.

To be clear, SAP hybris Marketing Convert is in no way a replacement for MCF – but a simple way to give you digital channel a lift.

You are selling more than water, gas or electricity

Most Utilities offer products and services to complement delivery of their core commodity. For many regulated Utilities, “selling” might be oriented towards offering products and services that help customers with efficiency, conservation or safety. For other Utilities in rapidly changing deregulated markets, developing new energy products, services and marketplaces is an existential concern.  In recent years consumers are displaying increasing interest in a wide range of additional products and services. This was confirmed in Accenture’s definitive longitudinal research on utility consumer trends: The New Energy Consumer. Consumer interest is not exclusive to electricity with the highest percentage point increases in the area of “Natural Gas and/or Water”.

While some Utilities have physical storefronts (or have abandoned these in the past), digital channels provide a flexible lower cost option to offer energy-related products and services. Accenture’s research also finds that “Digitally engaged energy consumers are significantly more interested in signing up for products and services”.

Clearly a digital first approach is key. However selling energy-related products and services is beyond the scope of MCF.

This is where, in the realm of microservice architectures some IT teams are tempted to source all the separate components required to build an online store and stitch it all together. Hybris Commerce simplifies this by providing an end-to-end commerce platform that you can enrich by adding microservices to if required (SAP Hybris has invested in YAAS, a microservice market place to make is easier to find and subscribe to microservices).

SAP Hybris Commerce provides the market’s best end-to-end commerce solution. Some key features include:

• Product Content Management – empowers business users to enrich ERP product/service information to make it “commerce ready”. Integration with SAP ERP is unrivalled.
• Web Content Management - manage site content and layout and create highly personalized experiences across all channels.
• Advanced Personalization – dynamically tailored content to provide consumers with a individual experience.
• Bundling - empowers business users to created product and service bundles. This is especially attractive to Utilities that are not using the Product Modelling (PMU/PFC) functionality in SAP CRM7.
• Open Development Environment – Unlike other enterprise grade commerce platforms based on proprietary technologies, SAP Hybris Commerce is ideally suited to get new Java developers up to speed in a few weeks, giving you flexibility to in-source development and drive rapid innovation.

Personalization

In markets where Utilities are being challenged by new and non-traditional competitors, presenting a personalize and consistent user experience across all channels is an important factor in attracting and retaining customers.

SAP MCF supports self-service transactional activity: view invoice, pay bill, view consumption history, change billing plan etc. However MCF does not include any dynamic personalization capabilities. You can wrap MCF with a 3^rd party Content Management System and try to leverage insights from 3^rd party marketing tools and you soon wind up with lots of moving parts. While Utilities often have lots of tools in this space, the real challenge is closing the loop from insight to execution.

SAP Hybris Commerce simplifies personalization by having out-of-the-box integration between the Hybris Web Content Management System (WCMS) and SAP Hybris Marketing.  In the WCMS you can create customer segment rules that verify the membership of a customer to a SAP Hybris Marketing campaign or target group. This means that the look and feel of the site can be intelligently tailored to consumers according to your marketing team’s segmentation rules.

Additionally SAP Hybris Commerce can display recommendations generated by models that are created in SAP Hybris Marketing Recommendation. The recommendation models in SAP Hybris Marketing use the big data insight and predictive capabilities of HANA to suggest intelligent cross sell and upsell products.

Digital goes beyond your consumers

The Multichannel Foundation is intended to cater for end consumers. This is reflected in the 55+ OData services that cover typical utilities self-services processes. This is also reinforced by the license model for MCF that waives additional named user licenses for active users who are end consumers “an individual performing transactions solely on his or her own behalf as an individual”.

Most Utilities have important interactions beyond the end consumer with stakeholders such as property developers, building contractors, equipment installers, inspectors etc. Typically, these participants require a digital portal allowing them to complete application forms online, submit plans, pay fees, monitor the status of approvals.

Hybris Commerce offers a single platform that supports B2C, B2B and partner portal scenarios. There is a flexible forms engine for easy to use, validated applications. You can upload files, review the status of application forms and pay fees. SAP Hybris commerce simplifies the digitizing of application form processing. This delivers benefits for the Utility in reducing errors by validating data at the point of filling in an application, reducing errors by eliminating re-keying data, improved transparency and workflow by eliminating paper, reducing postal costs. Stakeholders also benefit by simplified dynamic forms that can hide irrelevant sections, increased transparency of application status, assistance features like map integration and live chat support.

SAP Multi-Channel Foundation or SAP Hybris Commerce? (the correct answer is both)

SAP MCF and SAP Hybris Commerce complement each other. SAP does not yet offer a Hybris Commerce industry accelerator for Utilities. SAP MCF effectively verticalizes SAP Hybris Commerce by providing essential utilities-industry content for self-service from SAP (through its OData service library).

SAP Hybris Commerce lets utility companies offer a consistent and personalized customer experience across channels. It provides a rich user experience for utility consumers and other stakeholders and combines self-services with online commerce of any product and service.

Takeaways

In summary, you might want to look beyond Multichannel Foundation for Utilities if:

• You want to provide proactive service for customers that abandon your digital channels
• Your customers are demanding energy or water related products and services
• You need to attract and retain customers with a personalized experience
• You need efficient communication with stakeholders like builders, contractors, installers and inspectors.

Is also important to note that MCF and Hybris Commerce are complimentary, working together to deliver the best user experience for Utility consumers.

More information on the full portfolio of SAP Hybris for Utilities 

Business In The Digital Energy Network

Peter Maier

Many organizations live in a state of digital awareness — but only a few have already transitioned to coherent execution of a digital transformation roadmap that is based on digitally reimagined business models, business processes, and people’s work.

Gartner argues that a successful digital business transformation needs digital business principles, a digital business blueprint, and a digital business execution plan.

SAP has published the Digital Utilities whitepaper. We believe that market trends and digital technology will transform the role and the business of utilities. We will see a decentralized digital energy network that connects energy service providers with “prosumers” — consumers who produce electricity on their roofs, fuel their electric cars, store it in their basement, or sell it to “the grid.”

A digital transformation roadmap starts with reimagining the business of the future. This process is a joint effort of business, IT, and partners in the digital energy network:

Innovative business models unlock new revenue and profit sources by offering innovative services around supply and demand side management, load balancing, and smart homes/smart businesses.

Business processes use digital technology to reach beyond the four walls of the enterprise and optimize business outcomes by converging information and operational technologies.

Wearable digital technology, automation, artificial intelligence, and learning on-demand will change the role and structure of the workforce.

Reimagining business models, processes, and work runs into limitations of traditional ERP and customer information systems. We need a robust in-memory platform to overcome limitations of combining business transactions with real-time information and Big Data streams.

In-memory computing makes real time real

For years, “in real time” has really meant “recently,” as most business systems operate in batch mode. That’s because real-time interfaces have been complex to create and maintain and haven’t delivered value to business processes that operate on data from past periods. Today, energy companies run their business processes based on real-time events and simulations and predictions of the future. This requires the convergence of information technology (IT) and operational technology (OT) systems, assets talking to assets, new ways to interact with business partners and customers. New digital practices shape the Internet of Things (IoT) and the connected digital economy.

The Internet of Things is one of these topics that are discussed everywhere these days. But what does it actually mean for utilities, and what is really new? After all, utilities have been analyzing data from grid sensors and smart meters for years. What is changing dramatically is the number of devices that deliver more and more granular data in shorter and shorter intervals. The data offer new opportunities and enable insights about asset health, grid load, and consumer behavior.

The network changes everything

Radicati, a U.S. market research firm, claims that the number of mobile devices has outgrown the number of people on the planet. 5.8 billion mobile users — 80 % of the world population — use 8.6 billion devices that connect them into a global people network.

By 2050, the global population is projected to reach 10 billion. Some experts say the demand for electricity, natural gas, and water will double or triple as billions of people join the digital economy, and the use of energy and water will grow while vehicles and mass transit go electric. One thing is clear: The global networked economy needs clean, dependable, and affordable electricity.

This should be a great outlook for power generators, distributors, and retailers, but de-carbonization, deregulation, and decentralization are disrupting the century-old utilities hierarchy. We see a “digital energy network” emerging that reflects new structures of power generation, transmission, distribution, and retail. It will foster new business models and processes and transform work in a competitive and collaborative digital economy.

The consequences are dramatic. Proven utilities business models based on trillions of dollars worth of plants and grids collapse. Rapid technical and social innovation puts new capital investments at risk while new market entrants, such as Google and Tesla, disrupt the value chain. Consumers, communities, and companies go “off the grid” with new wind, solar, and storage technology.

This environment needs ambitious and creative digital leaders to create innovative business models, design efficient, customer-centric business processes, and reimagine how their extended workforce delivers value.

Live digital

IT must match the pace of business innovators. Large-scale projects must yield to speedboats that squeeze through small windows of opportunity, because digital leaders “take it all.” We see a strong momentum towards cloud technologies that enable fast solutions without capital expenditures. This also fosters a “startup spirit” to reimagine the future and try out innovative ideas. I expect that this entrepreneurial spirit will shape the digital energy network that overlaps and complements the power supply system. All participants — utilities, consumers, and new non-utility players — will use digital innovation to anticipate real-time demand and supply, operate self-healing grids, and shape new customer experience.

SAP technology and cloud solutions around the digital SAP S/4 HANA core make business simple. Energy companies using SAP solutions play in real time in the digital network that enables new business models, innovative business processes, and novel ways to work.

To learn more about digital transformation for utilities, view Utilities. Reimagined for the new economy.

This blog was originally posted on Digitalistmag.com March 21, 2016

SAP Multichannel Foundation for Utilities and Public Sector delivers a UI template application with the theme: umc_bluecrystal, which was based on SAP standard theme: sap_bluecrystal.

You can modify umc_bluecrystal or create your own to adapt the visual appearance of applications using UI theme designer. Since umc_bluecrystal is not SAP standard theme, it is not listed on the start screen in the UI theme designer until you have made it available.

Create theme umc_bluecrystal

     Procedure:

• Start the UI theme designer.

Use transaction /UI5/THEME_DESIGNER in your NW GW system. On the start screen, select sap_bluecrystal from the theme list and click on ‘Open’ button.

• Add Target Pages

Add the link to Application and click on ‘Add’ button.

• Save theme

Click on Menu Themethen Save As… with Theme ID:umc_bluecrystal and Title: UMC Blue Crystal

• Publish theme

Click on Menu Themethen Save & Build.

Export theme

     Procedure:

• Start the Tool for Customer Themes Maintenance using transaction /UI5/THEME_TOOLin your NW GW system.
• Navigate to the umc_bluecrystal theme.

• Select Download and choose .
• Save the zip file on your local hard disk .

Import theme

• Copy UI5 folder from the foundation of our UI template application

Please see How to Set up Template Mobile UI Application for Local Development.

• Replace the UI5 folder in the previous zip file with the copied one from the foundation of our UI template application

• Start the Tool for Customer Themes Maintenance using transaction /UI5/THEME_TOOL in your NW GW system.
• Select Upload and click on Choose icon

• Select the zip file and click Yes for the following screen.

Now umc_bluecrystal is available on the start screen in the UI theme designer. You can start to edit umc_bluecrystal or copy your own theme using the theme designer.

Apply new theme to application

After performing “Save and Build” for the modified theme, you need to apply it to the application.

Procedure:

• Export theme from the theme designer to your local drive as a zip file
• You then have two options.

Option 1:

Upload new theme in a folder which is available in NW GW in public folder (/sap/public/bc/ui2/) and change the path of data-sap-ui-theme-roots in index.html of private application

      Option 2:

• Replace the UI5 folder from our foundation of our UI template application with the UI5 folder in the zip file
• Upload the foundation back to NW GW server

4 New Business Models For The Utilities Industry

James McClelland

The digital energy network is revolutionizing the utilities industry. New business models are emerging to meet the changing demands of the energy market. We can divide these business models into four groups that we’ll discuss in more detail below.

Prosumer partnerships

Consumers today are more invested in where their energy comes from. They want affordable power generation that sustains the environment, so it’s not surprising that the consumption of renewable energy is rising. According to Enerdata, since 2003, renewable energy consumption has increased throughout most regions in the world since 2003.

Since fossil fuels are becoming scarcer, this trend will continue. Established energy producers will need to diversify their products to include renewables and provide equipment for consumers to generate their own energy.

And that means there will be a growing number of prosumers, consumers who generate their own power with wind turbines and solar panels. But what happens when they generate more power than they consume? Simple: They can sell it back to the energy producers. Prosumers will likely become an important part of the utilities industry.

Advanced power storage facilities

The smart grid is an integral part of the digital energy network. It’s dubbed “smart” because it records and analyzes data to track and control the flow of energy, and balances the input and output of power according to demand. Most important, it stores excess energy for later use.

To do this, it makes use of advanced power storage facilities that can stockpile huge amounts of energy. Some of these facilities are former power plants, while others are new construction. They’re equipped with advanced systems that connect to the smart grid, which allows them to balance energy loads, shift demand, and increase reliability.

Digital control systems companies

The smart grid needs software systems to control the flow and balance of energy, and a growing number of software companies are developing programs that do just that. Because of the wide variety of energy sources, such as established power generators and new prosumers; and of power consumers, including industries, smart cities and infrastructures, and power storage facilities, there is no “one-size-fits-all” software solution.

It’s easy to see how a software system that regulates power usage in a city won’t work in a storage facility. That’s why software companies are developing a wide range of effective yet adaptable digital control systems. They’re partnering with established power companies and governments to apply these systems. Over time, the systems will need to be adapted and fine-tuned according to other industry changes.

Cybersecurity companies

The world’s economy is completely digitalized. Power outages are inconvenient for home consumers, expensive for businesses, and for potentially catastrophic to stock exchanges. Our dependence on the digital power network makes it a prime target for cyber attacks. It’s one thing to deal with storm-related power outages; it’s another matter entirely when cybercriminals send viruses into the network and wreak havoc.

The digital power network needs to be as robust and resilient as possible. That’s why specialized cyber security firms will play a large role moving forward.

Conclusion

The digital energy network offers significant sustainable business opportunities, but it’s also vulnerable. The utilities industry must keep innovating to be both effective and resilient.

Learn more about digital transformation at Utilities. Reimagined for the new economy.

This blog was origianally posted on the Digitalistmag on May 10 2016

Simplifying Utilities Operations For Innovation And Digital Business

James McClelland

Does your utility company concentrate on quality of service for delivery of electrical power? Is it dedicated to sharing conservation programs? Does your company use smart meters?

If you answered no to any of these questions, your utility company has probably not created a digital energy network.

Five technology trends are bringing many companies into the digital economy: Cyber security, cloud computing, supercomputing, hyperconnectivity, and a connected world that is also smarter. Utility companies are tapping these trends to mine data and improve their services and efficiency.

1. The benefits of mining Big Data

Utilities that have shifted to digital energy networks are satisfied with the results. One such company is Alliander N.V., a utility company in the Netherlands. Jeroen Scheer, the company’s manager, task force energy transition IT, pointed out that a real-time data collection and analysis program also benefits consumers: “What customers can do is really change their energy behavior – and you can reduce your energy bill by 10% or even 20% per month.”

Rob Jansen, manager, Grid Information, Alliander N.V., added, “Ever since we learned about the data mining approach to improve master-data quality proposed by SAP’s Data Science organization, it has become a substantial component of all our data quality projects.”

Data mining and energy utilities

Big Data is not always good data. Much of it is duplicated not relevant to your needs. Sorting through this much information is a time sink, but data mining software offers solutions. There are three legs to the data mining stool: tatistics, artificial intelligence, and machine learning. Machine learning involves the use of algorithms that learn from data in order to make predictions.

Data mining and analysis tools allow companies to sort out all the disordered and duplicate data, which enables utility companies to understand data relevance and use that material to forecast likely results. As data mining eliminates unneeded information, the rate of informed decision making is faster.

“The most dramatic change in the digital economy will be driven by hyperconnectivity and Big Data science. These will transform nearly every utility business model.” – SAP

Here are some ways that big data mining can help utilities:

Improve operational performance

Creating a digital energy network gives utility companies a new way of managing assets using the Internet of Things (IoT). In this new reality, transmission and other equipment is fitted with sensors that constantly monitors the equipment’s health. If the equipment goes offline, it will reach out to experts who maintain the system to create a recovery plan, and come up with temporary workarounds. A digital utility also can request and schedule repair services, as well as tap 3D-printed services for spare parts.

For a power grid that is more than 100 years old, this information could not be more welcome. Some utility experts believe that almost 60 percent of the nation’s electrical grid will need replacement in the next 20 years.

2. Asset management

Harnessing Big Data for asset management is one way that utilities improve operational performance. Operational analytics helps improve operations in a number of ways, including efficiency, economics, safety, and reliability. Using collected data, utilities improve their business in many ways, including integrating distributed energy sources and smart consumer meters into the traditional ways that utilities operated in the past.

Reducing overloads and managing related risks

New sources of energy (renewables) and increasing consumer demand creates challenges in maintaining the right load balance on the distribution grid. One important use of analytics is to identify causes of overloads and outages and eliminate them before they create problems with the electric grid.

Better operational control and added flexibility

Analyzing data from all parts of a utility enables a utility to have better operational control and more flexibility. Data supports many functions, especially by accurate load profiling and weather sensitivity, while at the same time optimizing grid/infrastructure capacity. Predictive analysis enables a utility to plan for future growth, while data analysis helps monitor the grid and safely run important jobs such as switching.

3. Improved performance of electric generation

This sounds straightforward, but is not. Efficient operation relies on optimized efficiency of producing electricity and lower fuel and maintenance expenses. Less-modern methods of condition-based monitoring, asset management systems, and plant efficiency modeling present only singular views of a problem since they were designed with a single purpose in mind: to exist in either operations or maintenance silos. Today’s analytics enables coordination of these two views into a more meaningful representation of plant and asset health.

Ron Grabyan, manager of Business Intelligence Services, Southern California Edison, says this about analytics as it relates to stockholders: “SAP HANA is a game-changer for Southern California Edison. It allows us to be more agile and solve problems for our analysts.”

Another company that is utilizing analytics is MVV Energie. Sales manager Bernhard Schumacher said, “We want to grow by 10% year-over-year. This is what we expect on the revenue side as a key benefit of our project to run SAP CRM powered by SAP HANA. We think we can sell better now that our sales representatives can show energy-service scenarios using actual, real-time data on their mobile devices rather than relying on PowerPoint presentations.”

4. Transformation of the customer experience

Bad debt

It is common for utility companies to write off millions in bad debt each year from customers who do not pay their utility bills. Unfortunately, either the utility’s customers or stockholders pay for this bad debt. This places utilities under pressure from regulators and shareholders to cut these losses while continuing to allow consumers unlikely to pay to get electricity. Shareholders want the losses cut as it is a high and non-productive cost to the company, regulators want the losses cut as a matter social policy – electricity is a basic necessity and borders on a right.

Smart meters

Many utility companies use smart meters, electronic devices that record electricity use at time lapses of 60 minutes or less and regularly send that information back to the utility for billing reasons. These intelligent meters offer two-way messaging between the meter and the utility’s central system.

As useful data becomes more common, utilities will find even more ways to utilize data in building a smarter, customer-centric, shareholder-pleasing electric utility.

5. Transformation of the utility network

Ericson Communications notes that several things are needed to transform the electric utility industry, including resource trading on wholesale markets, sustainability and lowering of carbon footprints, availability and security of the electricity grid, and market liberalization and competition. Here again, smart meter technology comes into play. As smart meters are deployed to more and more customers, the number of connections made to the meter management platform and the amount of data collected explodes to at least 100 times more than at present.

Grid operators find this information valuable. They use data from the smart meter that gives information about grid faults to implement cost-effective and efficient local energy efficiencies, and they use meter and grid data to create more efficient market mechanisms at the wholesale and local markets.

Learn more about digital transformation for utilities: Utilities: Reimagined for the new economy.

This blog was originally posted on the Digitalistmag on May 10, 2016

How The Internet Of Things Helps Utility Companies

Henry Bailey

The Internet of Things (IoT) played a huge role in helping Public Service Electric & Gas (PSE&G) use data to do active asset management. In 2001, the company began a plan for a computerized maintenance management system referred to as CMMS. The point of the plan was to create a system that uses active condition-based management (CBM) that can help forecast equipment failures before they happen.

For the last 14 years, the PSE&G found the program helpful in performing the right maintenance at the time it is needed.

Intelligent assets and a smart grid

Physical assets of PSE&G connect to more than the Internet. They also connect to other machines on the grid, as well as other systems and people monitoring the system. Also, their assets become smarter as software and analytics are now often used to check asset conditions. This plays a key role in keeping the utility running with less downtime. All the information flowing into other systems causes great amounts of data to be gathered—this is the Internet of Things (IoT).

But too much data is as bad as not enough data – much of it is not relevant or redundant. To use the data effectively, a great analytics program is needed.

One issue PSE&G is working on is determining the length of time a substation transformer remains useful. Each minute, the transformer analytics sends to operators key measurements about things such as top oil temperature load, fan loads, and cooling loads. The information is then analyzed and used to optimize maintenance of equipment.

The cost of monitoring the utilities grid and equipment is falling as more suppliers make sensors embedded in their equipment, ending the cost of using more expensive third-party sensors. The new equipment is more reliable and less expensive – exactly the result hoped for when PSE&G began its CMMS program. They enjoy the same benefits as 80 percent of companies that invested in IoT: increased revenues.

Peter Middleton, director at research firm Gartner, said this about falling costs of connecting devices to the IoT:

“By 2020, component costs will have come down to the point where connectivity will become a standard feature, even for processors costing less than a dollar. This opens up the possibility of connecting just about anything, from the very simple to the very complex, to offer remote control, monitoring, and sensing.”

Other benefits of a smart grid

A smart grid offers other benefits to utility companies, such as detection of energy theft or loss, outage management, an efficient balance between energy demand and supply, and improved demand response.

How the Internet of Things actually works for utilities and its customers

Utility companies can promote smart, programmable thermostats that can be accessed by smartphones, allowing customers to adjust their thermostats to a more cost-effective setting while they’re away and reset it to a more comfortable temperature before they arrive at home.

But the intelligence of a smart grid begins with smart consumer meters. Smart meters allow for two-way communication between PSE&G and consumers. This enables the company to identify outages quickly and take care of other service issues, often without having to go to the customer’s home.

Utility companies such as Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) believe that a smart meter program is the beginning of the creation of the smart grid. Companies like PG&E and PSE&G know that it takes more than smart meters to make a smart grid, but they see smart meters as a “toe in the water” before making a total commitment. Achieving a smart grid will happen incrementally and in small steps, and connecting with IoT makes it easier for utilities to connect to equipment and technologies not yet in existence.

The future of IoT and utilities

Speaking at a session called “How Sustainable is Your Big Data Investment for Tomorrow’s Need?” at the Utility Analytics Week Conference in New Orleans in fall 2015, Jeffrey Akers, chief strategist with Hewlett Packard Enterprise, had this to say about the amount of data flowing into utilities:

“There’s a lot going on with analytics, but we continue to just build more and more silos of information.We need to start homogenizing it all. It all has to be integrated into the systems that will help run the utility of the future.”

Mr. Akers is correct, and the IoT is the force that can help do this.

To learn more about digital transformation for utilities, see Utilities: Reimagined for the new economy.

Image credit: PG&E

this blog was originally posted on the Digitalistmag on May 3 2016

(Tradução do blog original The Change for Energy: A Call to Regulators)

Em um blog anterior, fizemos um breve resumo em relação ao ponto de vista do cliente de utilities juntamente com a forma vista da energia do consumidor mudou. Essa mudança de dispositivos de auto geração, a geração de casa, e novas opções de armazenamento coloca o utilitário em uma situação difícil de como manter os clientes que têm um desejo de consumir energia barata e de baixo impacto ambiental. Este é o lugar onde os reguladores, especificamente as Comissões de Serviço Público, podem ajudar com este modelo de transição de negócios para utilities.

Com clientes em crescente demanda por dispositivos eletrônicos eficientes, a prevalência crescente de sensores e monitoramento eletrônico (Internet das Coisas), bem como a demanda por energia limpa e renovável, traz uma pressão sobre uma utilidade para apoiar o cliente em um ambiente em mudança. O modelo regulatório atual está aquém de abraçar a necessidade de uma utilidade mais ágil. Vou simplificar a interação, a fim de criar uma base para a discussão: utilitários recebem a sua receita a partir do pagamento das contas dos seus clientes, cujas taxas são decididas e aprovadas pela Comissão de Serviços Públicos. Assim, a receita é bastante plana para uma utilidade, a menos que haja um aumento da população no território de serviço. A fim de investir em seu próprio negócio, levantar capital, empresas da indústria de energia questionaram se podem aumentar as taxas de seus clientes. A PUC olha para a validade das melhorias de infraestrutura planejadas juntamente com os níveis de satisfação do cliente, e então decide se o utilitário pode levantar capital, aumentando as taxas de um cliente. Os clientes recebem maior cobrança, e pode-se oferecer uma energia mais eficiente, confiável e mais abundante, algo que o cliente é exige. Mas aqui é onde ele cai. O que acontece com a satisfação do cliente quando um utilitário levanta suas taxas? Ela vai para baixo é claro. O que acontece na próxima vez que o utilitário pede um aumento da taxa? É uma luta mais difícil para obter capital para a eficiência e de melhorias na infraestrutura, o que também diminui a satisfação do cliente. Se você tomar essa estrutura e adicionar a velocidade e agilidade em que a economia de energia está se movendo, um utilitário tem uma mão amarrada atrás das costas.

Esta estrutura regulatória força os utilitários para encontrar lucro na disciplina de economia de custo interno: o orçamento de Operações e Manutenção. Executar o seu negócio com menos sobrecarga parece ser uma grande filosofia, e é. Mas o efeito adverso é que eles são menos propensos a investir capital em ganhos de eficiência interna porque melhorar a eficiência não é sempre considerado um investimento. Eles muitas vezes não são capazes de explicar a depreciação como fariam um ativo, em um investimento em eficiente que atinge o seu orçamento. Por exemplo, o investimento em tecnologia para ganhar eficiência operacional precisa ser amarrado a um ativo físico para ganhar valor de depreciação.Esta abordagem não vive bem com serviços baseados em assinatura, como computação em nuvem que pode impulsionar o valor real e eficiência dentro da organização. Assim, um utilitário é menos propenso a investir internamente na melhoria da força de trabalho, tornando-os menos eficientes a logo prazo. Um ponto discussão saudável e debate seria exigir da PUC local, com base na eficiência de seus clientes, o aumento das taxas. Parece contra intuitivo no começo, mas o prêmio deve ser investido em geração renovável e otimização de rede.

Isto dá à energia uma participação no quão eficiente eles e seus clientes são, e não uma relação conflituosa com a eficiência energética. Isso incentiva o utilitário através da PUC local, para investir em geração de energia renovável com métricas auditáveis ​​específicas. Este prêmio de um aumento da taxa afetaria o consumidor negativamente no início, mas faria com que eles tivessem um maior incentivo para reduzir seu uso. Se o consumidor usa menos energia em casa, em seguida, o cliente receberia uma redução de impostos Federal diretamente quando as métricas de eficiência forem atendidas a fim de equilibrar o aumento da taxa. Esta abordagem requer um forte papel Federal ou Estadual, mas a atual falta de estratégia coerente não é manter-se com as exigências de agilidade do mercado. Claro que estas são apenas algumas ideias para discussão. O ambiente de energia de hoje exige mais flexibilidade, não necessariamente menos regulamentação, mas uma regulamentação mais estratégica com o objetivo final de ser confiável, renovável e segura.

Alliander NV Implements New Data Collection And Analysis Programs

James McClelland

In the Netherlands, Alliander NV is a powerhouse power distribution and electric generating utility that serves about 3.5 million customers. It has over 85,000 kilometers (52,817 miles) of electric lines and 37,000 kilometers (22,990 miles) of natural gas pipeline.

One major problem Alliander faced was the amount of data it collected. The data was so vast and disorganized that forecasts took nearly ten weeks to do – so the company did them only once every year.

Alliander decided to automate the data collection and extraction process by using custom algorithms to find and flag outliers and load shifts in the measurement data. Simultaneously, the company developed an intuitive user interface that made it easier to analyze and interpret data for calculating peak load needs.

Alliander also wanted to empower its customers so they could employ real-time data to make informed choices about their energy use. Being able to aggregate customer usage profiles enabled Alliander to forecast and better balance energy demand and supply requirements.

Already drowning in data, some relevant and some not, Alliander needed another 22,000 sensors to generate more than 3 billion records a year. Clearly, such a volume cannot be sorted and analyzed manually. The company chose to automate the process, and now it can deliver a business forecast in just 3 days – a 95 percent reduction in time. Simultaneously, the company saw a 60 percent reduction in IT resource and design costs.

Customer benefits

Alliander was very satisfied with the results, but how did its customers feel? They were pleased as well. Having real-time information on how they used energy and how energy costs differ by time of day, customers could alter their consumption profiles to save costs.

“At Alliander, customers who have real-time access to data about their energy usage have reduced energy bills by 10 to 20 percent per month. We need to help our customers at the household level to use their energy much more wisely.”

The new automated system has other benefits as well. Customers are helping the energy company reduce carbon emissions. Robin Hagemans, manager of grid information and control at Alliander, discussed the benefits of data collection:

…“ the utility’s aggressive goals of reducing carbon emissions by 20 percent by 2020 and boosting renewable energy use by the same amount. That goal can be reached only if consumers become more active participants in the process of conserving energy and balancing their energy use.”

The new data management system helps this happen.

More benefits

The new data analytics and data collection systems and processes Alliander put in place were a success. Since deployment, the company has implemented 85 new business models to analyze operations.

Alliander CEO Peter Molengraaf notes:

…“[We are] making the right choices for the future of our networks. Whilst continuing to maintain and replace our existing electricity and gas networks, we are also preparing for the radically changing energy landscape of the future. The impact of the energy transition is becoming increasingly visible. For instance, more and more renewable energy is being generated, and this will have major consequences for the networks in the long term.”

A 2013 survey by Tata Consultancy Services found that both utilities and energy/resources companies have the highest expectations for generating returns on investment in Big Data. The Alliander case shows how this can happen.

To learn more about digital transformation for utilities, click here.

This blog was originally posted on the Digitalistmag on June 14 2016

Making decisions is quite easy. Making the right decisions is the tricky part and basing your decisions on facts and insights is what we all strive for,

The Internet of Things revolution is driving vast amounts of raw data that need to be collected, put in context and analyzed in order to make sense. Some of this data is locked outside the boundaries of our organization and inaccessible to our decision making processes. Utilities are constantly challenged with optimizing operations, balance supply and demand, energy production with consumption and run a smart grid.

If you are interested in meeting peers facing similar challenges and jointly envision the future of IoT for utilities with us, join us for an engaging meetup in 1 of 3 locations:

June 27, in Berlin

June 29, in Madrid

June 30, in Rome

We look forward to meeting you and together envision the future.

Check out our One IoT discovery portal to look for interesting data feeds and insights. We are also happy to include new sources based on recommendations.

See you soon,

Amir.

Miquel Carbó comes from Barcelona and in accordance with family tradition lives with his wife and daughter in its gothic quarter, in

a building from the nineteenth century that incorporates both a palace from medieval times and ancient structures from roman times.

He has been with SAP for almost twenty years and is currently working in the Utilities industry business unit with an intense focus on Latin America. This has enabled him to develop a passion for this continent that started during his university studies.

Tell us about your career? Where and how did it start?

• It all started when I was hired by a company who were installing a new system called R/2, which was Henkel Spain in the early nineties. When R/3, this is the new client – server version of the system, appeared on the market in the mid-nineties, I joined a service company to support implementations as a consultant and in 1997 SAP Spain offered me  a position in its field service team. About two years later, I joined the local support team for the new industry solution created for Utilities (IS-U) and, since then I have held a number of different positions in the Utilities sector at SAP.

What are your daily tasks, current projects and ideas for the future?

• It is about finding a good balance between the different tasks. These tasks include field enablement, customer engagement and other knowledge support activities for Latin America countries, whilst retaining some deep focus tasks, such as the SAP for Nuclear focus group and activities.  

Tell me about yourself: What do you like to do in your free time?

• Family, watching football (in the stadiums, not on TV) and reading. I like reading so much that I used to travel with 3 books: the current one I am reading, a backup and another one in case I didnt like the backup … now I have an ebook! 

Where do you think the industry is going in the next 25 years?

• The software industry will become more commodity and globally consolidated in line with trends seen in other industries, such as the automotive or chemical industries.

What has been the biggest change in the industry?

• We are in a period of transition, where currently demand is driving generation, but at the end of this process´, generation will drive demand. This will result in the energy model being redefined.  This is not my personal view, but comes from a whitepaper written by the Smart Grid Program team of Eandis (Energy Distribution Company of Belgium) called “The Journey to “Green” Energy” about two years ago which had a significant impact on me.

How can SAP help the Utilities industry over the next 25 years?

• Definition is an ongoing process  and I think that SAP is moving with the industry and not going „ahead or behind“ it. I believe that energy companies see SAP as a strategic partner for this transition and we are collaborating with some of them to move towards the new energy model.

Thank you very much for the interview. I wish you a happy and successful future both within and beyond SAP!

Just recently the topic of nuclear power has been in the news again – Watts Bar Nuclear started up and is producing Carbon Free Energy after nearly 45 years of construction.

(source Wikipedia)

A victim of declining energy needs in the 80’s the plant’s construction was only recently restarted.  Couple Watts Bar with other US and foreign nuclear construction that is underway and one can see that a nuclear renaissance is underway!

Still on first glance and dependent on your point of view you may be cringing - but I’d offer you shouldn't and many others don't today.

With more and more of the emphasis being placed on Carbon Free Energy sources the realization that base load sources that are carbon free are essential to the global goals being met.  Solar and Wind are carbon free yet the challenge of day night cycles or times of low wind are not yet addressed with today's limited storage technologies. So past deniers of nuclear are coming around to recognize the contribution of nuclear to a stable baseload source of electricity in the grid.  As well nuclear power is the one source that has the unique characteristic of being highly compact and engineered for long life times.

One significant drawback to the nuclear industry has been the concern for fuel storage.  Most of the fuel from reactors is stored on site in wet or dry cask storage and will remain that way until the US resolves the science and politics surrounding long term storage.  The back story to that issue has to do with the decision not to reprocess fuel in the way that most of the world does and has for over 40 years.  The fuel from a reactor is consumed over a period of several fuel cycles.  These cycles are generally 1-2 years each and in the lifetime of a given fuel bundle it moves around in the core through 4-5 cycles to maximize its output and contribution to the physics of the overall core.  When it finally is removed from the core it has transformed it's very makeup into a host of different elements many of which are valuable to produce additional energy.

It has always struck me as strange as to why our national strategy has been to park this elsewhere valued resource in a wet or dry cask storage. It seems that concerns of security or proliferation of materials can be addressed here in similar ways as France and Japan have.  We stockpile our fuel on site and in essence we are increasing the exposure to redirection of materials –

So the next time you see a familiar cooling tower - don't think of the challenges of nuclear power, think of the Carbon Free Energy that nuclear power offers to the world and how you can influence change in the conversation.

Best Regards Until Next Time rds

Dear Utilities Community,

We are excited to invite you to the upcoming customer webinar where EDF Renewables will share their IoT journey and business benefit together with SAP.

What is it about:

Internet of Things (IoT) provides a connected world, improving business performance by connecting directly with customers and operating in real time.   Businesses can achieve greater visibility in identifying both new opportunities and risks.

Achieving this immense insight and turning it into immediate action is where SAP’s IoT strategy distinguishes itself from all others.

SAP support our customers in re-imagining their new business processes and delivering business outcomes that are necessary to compete in today’s high velocity environment.

You will get an overview on SAP’s IoT  Utilites Portfolio presented by Frank Ruland, Global Head of Ecosystem and Channels for Energy and Natural Resources Industries– and EDF Renewables will share with you their IoT journey with SAP, managing their wind turbines, measuring their output, speeds, maintenance costs and efficiencies with SAP IoT Connecter by OSIsoft.

EDF Renewables, based in San Diego, is owned by the parent company EDF in France.  They are SAP’s first utility customer to be live connecting IT/OT and geo-spatial data together using SAP IoT Connector by OSIsoft.  They run this on the SAP HANA Platform together with Advanced Analytics. EDF Renewables is also the recipient of this year’s 2016 SAP HANA Innovation Award.

Virtual Customer Webinar: Digital Utilities Best Practices

Watch it live, right from your office.

When: July 21, 2016

Time and dial in link will follow soon.

Here you can find the press release on how SAP Expands Its Internet of Things Offerings and Partner Ecosystem, including the EDF Renewable Energy example.

Please feel free to spread the word!

Best regards,

Melanie Fiolka

Follow me on LinkedIn :me@LinkedIn

Follow me on Twitter : @MelanieFiolka

Did you hear about the new partnership between SAP and Apple ?

What kind of apps will be built based on this partnership?

It will be native apps running on iOS iPhone and iPad. We call them enterprise apps for iOS as they will be integrated to HANA Cloud Platform and S4HANA.

How will they be built?

Using a new SDK for iOS on the SAP HANA Cloud Platform.

How will they look like?

Similar to the current Fiori apps. Keep in mind that Fiori started as the simplified SAP user experience a few years ago, then it was mostly browser based. In the meantime, Fiori has evolved to the new user experience design paradigm (https://www.sapfioritrial.com/). With this partnership we take Fiori further to native iOS.

Why do we need native apps going forward, can’t everything run in a browser now or soon?

No question, simpler apps can run in a browser and having a browser based app has a number of advantages including no app updates or the same app running on multiple platforms. However, special purposes and use cases require a better user experience including speed, more complex functions accessing services like the camera or locations, full offline capabilities and more. This can only be done well with a true native app. Just think about how you read e-mails or access your calendar on your phone or tablet. Theoretically you could also do this in a browser interface but no one does it. Because it would be slower, harder to use when scrolling and offline would be impossible. Even social media apps that were HTML for a while are back to native, just for the user experience.

Which key apps are we looking at first?

An app for mobile field service and asset maintenance workers is certainly on top of our minds and we plan to include features for geo-spatial, graphics, IT/OT integration, analytics, alerts, cloud services and much more.

Here is a preliminary ‘labs’ showcase app:

So stay tuned, there is a lot of exciting development.

Cheers,

Robert

Dear Utilities Community,

It's our pleasure to announce our presence at theEuropean Utility Week in Barcelona, the largest utilities conference in Europe bringing together up to 12000 delegates in one single venue taking place from November 15-17 2016.

SAP will be present as a Gold Sponsor alongside 4 partners within a big stand in Hall 3, boothnumber 3F81.

Beside the booth SAP will be represented in track sessions and discussion rounds. More info will follow in this blog.

Our key SAP Utilities Executives will be onsite to meet with you plus multiple Utility solution experts will address the SAP for Utilities Solution, tailor made content on Enterprise Asset Management, Energy Data Management, Customer Engagement & Commerce and of course S/4 HANA for Utilities.

A variety of Micro-forums taking place during the 3 days of the event presented by SAP and by our partners co-exhibiting. Details will follow...

Do not miss the opportunity of coming over and meeting our experts at the SAP booth.

We are happy to give you the possibility to register for free for the exhibition area or a discounted rate for the whole summit with the following LINK - Register NOW!

Follow this blog and ensure to get the latest news about this event.

Looking forward to seeing you in Barcelona.

Best regards,

Melanie Fiolka

Follow me on LinkedIn :me@LinkedIn

Follow me on Twitter : @MelanieFiolka