How utilities can become data-driven organizations

As industry challenges continue to grow, the pressure on utilities to optimize their operations has never been stronger. From amplified pressure to manage customer relationships more effectively to the ever-present need to cut operational costs, utilities are challenged to accomplish more with less, and to optimize every area of the enterprise. Add to that the regulatory pressure of new rules requiring accurate and timely estimated time of restoration and the necessity of showing business value and results from investments in new technology and devices, and the utility has to navigate successfully through a progressively difficult path.

More frequently, utilities are finding that the best way to meet the aforementioned challenges is to expand the use of new sources of data as a base for planning, process administration, and strategic decision making—in effect, transforming into a data-driven organization, leveraging data analytics as a new strategic asset to operate, and to ultimately change, the utility business.