Tales from the (Data) Trenches: Experts Share Real-World Secrets in Jan. 20 Webinar

Who would you turn to if (heaven forbid) you had to undergo heart surgery?

·         An ivory-tower academic who had authored numerous theoretical papers

·         An eager young med school graduate eager for his first patient

·         A veteran surgeon who had performed many such surgeries out in the real world

Pretty easy answer when it comes to your health. Yet the health of your utility will depend in part on your ability to master the flood of data that will come pouring in as a result of the Smart Grid. Just as with heart surgery, you’ll be wise to seek help from those who’ve done it before.

So you won’t be surprised that we sought out real-world experts for our upcoming Webinar High Performance in Data Management – Moving from Overload to Insights, which you can attend for free thanks to the generous sponsorship of Accenture, the consulting company known around the world for its experience in the Smart Grid space.

The Webinar is on Wednesday, Jan. 20, beginning at 1:30 p.m. Eastern (10:30 a.m. Pacific). We still have space available, but hurry and register before we fill up. This Webinar is part of our new “Lessons from the Real World” series. As the name implies, the focus of these Webinars will be hands-on, tactical information you put to work immediately.

And that certainly will be true on Jan. 20, where we’ll feature a panel of experienced industry professionals who have actually built state-of-the-art Smart Grid data management systems. As promised, here’s more about them:

·         Randy Huston, Program Delivery Executive, SmartGridCity™, Xcel Energy. Randy has more than 30 years of experience in the power industry where he uses his extensive knowledge in the areas of asset management including GIS, OMS, WMS and mobile computing, advanced telemetry, demand management and pricing programs to apply technology solutions that drive transformation across the organization. Currently, the Program Delivery Executive for the SmartGridCity initiative underway at Xcel Energy, Randy is responsible for delivering Xcel Energy’s comprehensive vision of how a utility will manage its Smart Grid in the future. This vision starts at the premise with the customer and incorporates all aspects of the business including distribution, transmission, supply and commercial markets.

·         Dr. Jeffrey Taft, Global Smart Grid Chief Architect, Accenture. As Accenture’s Global Smart Grid Solution Architect, Jeffrey is responsible for developing and delivering Smart Grid architectures, development methodologies, and solution assets, and for supporting clients and delivery teams. He has been working on Smart Grid issues since 2001 and has a special interest in real-time power grid analytics and distributed processing for Smart Grids. Jeffrey holds a PhD in electrical engineering and has been involved in the electric power industry for more than 15 years. He also has an extensive background in digital signal processing and control systems.

·         Peter Belknap, Director of Fusion Middleware Product Management, Oracle Corp. Peter is currently focused on helping utilities apply service-oriented principles and tools to solve smart grid data and event management challenges. He came to Oracle through the 2008 acquisition of BEA Systems, where he was working on a complex event processing product which has evolved at Oracle into a key component of the Fusion Middleware stack, targeted at real-time automated processing of high volumes of events. Over a varied career, Peter has managed software development for academic, commercial and military data acquisition systems and spent 11 years at Sun Microsystems leading multiple system software projects.

Impressive credentials, don’t you think? So when it comes that tidal wave of data headed your way, don’t rely on academics or wanna-bes. Turn to real-world experts. Click the link for more details on the specific techniques that will be covered during our Smart Grid data management Webinar on Jan. 20, or to register for free.

Other articles on related topics:

   Why Your Grid Is Already Smart (and How to Unlock its Data Treasure)

   Smart Grid Data: How to Look Smarter in a Hurry

   The Coming Smart Grid Data Surge

   That Smart Grid Data Surge We Mentioned Earlier? You Can’t Ignore It

   How Privacy (or Lack of It) Could Sabotage the Grid