DIGITALIZATION | With a lean end-to-end software called “Stadtwerk365”, Leonberg-based IT Vision Technology GmbH (ITVT) wants to score points in the energy market from 2018. BWK spoke with ITVT Managing Director Jochen Klipfel and Marc Schütt, Principal Consultant & Managing Director of ITVT Consulting GmbH, about the market requirements and IT needs of the industry in times of energy transition and digitalization.

Gentlemen, you have your finger on the pulse of the energy industry. In your opinion, what issues are currently of particular concern to municipal utilities and energy suppliers? Where are the problems?

Klipfel: The mainstream topics of digitalization have arrived in the energy industry: Industry 4.0, Internet of Things, Big Data, Blockchain – to name just a few keywords. It’s about more process excellence, i.e. about optimizing your own value creation under increasing cost and efficiency pressure. At the same time, the digital maturity of customers is increasing. For example, the number of prosumers is increasing, who, as consumers and producers of energy, require completely different support and billing processes. Sales departments are also required to develop new energy-related products and services and to market them in combination with commodity products. All of this means that business processes are changing rapidly. “Target group-specific action required” Schütt: My perception is that, in addition, there is an increasing demand for differentiation options for different customer segments. This means that tasks such as acquiring new customers and retaining customers require action that is specific to the target group. A striking example: young people have different wishes than older people when it comes to offers, communication and communication channels. This means a balancing act for suppliers: on the one hand, the need for flexibility and individualization of products and processes, and on the other hand, the need to increase efficiency. This balancing act can be achieved with the aid of digitalization.

What does this mean for the IT landscape of municipal utilities and energy suppliers?

Klipfel: Today, companies generally work with a classic ERP system and a variety of other tools for CRM, EDM, calculation and market communication, for example. The systems have grown monolithically, are only inadequately integrated and are geared towards rigid processes. Operating these systems requires highly qualified clerks. Due to media disruptions, the processing times for certain processes and the error rates are high. These system landscapes are not fit for Energy 4.0. It will be essential to realign and integrate the systems, to design the processes consistently and to reduce manual interactions to a minimum. “Completely new market and process requirements” Schütt: The management of prosumers, to take up the example again, changes the processes. The electricity changes the sign, which means that for these customers, energy suppliers must be able to create consumption bills in the IT systems as well as bill the energy fed in by the customer. In this case, the customer is the service provider and the supplier purchases the service. Tenant electricity models also require special IT support. The industry is facing completely new market and process requirements. The motto is: away from data silos and individual case processing, towards workflow-based process processing. This requires a system that acts as a generalist in the background and supports the common standards in a highly automated manner along the entire process chain as an all-in-one solution, but at the same time offers a high degree of sustainable flexibility.

This is what your new product, Stadtwerk365, promises. But can’t other IT solutions do this too?

Schütt: We are taking a more consistent approach. Adapting existing systems accordingly is certainly more difficult and less effective than building a new system that is tailored to future requirements from the outset. We are taking the opportunity to build a new solution platform based on a technologically leading standard such as the Microsoft Dynamics environment. Since we relied on cloud-based services very early on in our previous products for the energy market, we are benefiting from the experience we have gained together with our customers. We are in close contact with them and are developing the new product together. We want to take the right steps and not generate reactive power.

So your message is that Energy 4.0 needs Information Technology 4.0?

<p Klipfel: That is precisely the crucial aspect. The energy market will develop with great dynamism as a result of digitalization. We will see numerous new business processes in the utility industry that require flexible software architectures and solutions. The IT system must support this dynamism with functionality and interface readiness – and not slow it down. “Mapping the essential processes in sales” </p

What is the basis for the new product?

Klipfel: We have been working for the energy industry for more than 15 years and have since then provided solutions based on CRM in the broadest sense. We have already come a long way towards the new energy market solution. For us, it is consistent and logical to now take the next step. This means expanding the process coverage to include functions such as billing, financial accounting, etc. and bringing an end-to-end solution to market, initially for sales organizations. End-to-end means: All essential processes are mapped, from sales and marketing-related components to energy industry processing and billing components. We build on the established Microsoft Dynamics standard, which already offers a lot of functionality, and combine this with our own developments. This means that users work on a platform that is widely used, with technology that they usually already have in-house, and benefit from future Microsoft innovations. Schütt: What we mean by end-to-end can also be seen in the fact that we operate our own ISO 27001-certified data center, through which we can provide Stadtwerk365 as software as a service, whether from the ITVT data center, from the Microsoft cloud or from the customer’s own data center. Ultimately, end-to-end also means that we meet the customer’s desire for a one-stop shop. The customer does not want to be on the go with a multitude of software solutions and providers that he has to coordinate and control. Rather, he wants a partner and a solution that supports him in a lean, highly automated and effective way in the flexibility he needs. For example, we rely on virtual assistants, chatbots and artificial intelligence, which relieve the energy company employees of process burden and complexity and enable them to devote themselves entirely to operational sales tasks.

You mentioned cost pressure. What valve does your solution offer on the system side?

Klipfel: Thanks to the all-in-one approach, our customers no longer need a whole range of IT solutions, but only one. This alone means significant cost savings. The cloud effect also reduces costs because the user does not have to worry about tasks such as system operation, maintenance and administration. We also offer a work-based billing system. The customer therefore only pays for the services they use and consume.

Which companies do you address in a market characterized by cutthroat competition and usually long paths to investment decisions?

Schütt: We are currently experiencing a great response from energy suppliers who come from other industries and are new to the energy market. Such companies often initially worked with external providers in order to avoid having to build up their own vertical integration for tasks such as market communication and billing. However, these companies are now realizing that their success on the market requires them to build up their own know-how in order to be able to operate with higher quality and the appropriate differentiating features. In addition, there are traditional municipal utilities and energy suppliers who are forced to consolidate systems in the wake of digitalization and increasing competition. And there are large, nationwide energy suppliers who are simultaneously building a new product line under a different label and need an IT solution for this so that they can bring it to market quickly. “Interested parties recognize the diverse benefits”

What is the response from the market?

Klipfel: We have now presented Stadtwerk365 at various events and have received a lot of positive feedback. Interested parties recognize the wide range of benefits, particularly in the area of ​​automation and the possibilities for customer interaction. The response is also good because we enable a gradual introduction. Often, people start with CRM, with the prospect of using the complete solution later. Stadtwerk365 was developed, tested and refined with several pilot customers.

Gentlemen, thank you very much for the interview.

Author: Jochen Klipfel & Marc Schütt Source: Article in BWK – The Energy Magazine 11/2017, p. 31-33; www.energiefachmagazin.de