SAP Connects Meters to the Back Office

SAP has announced the immediate availability of tools aimed at the Smart Grid market.  The first, SAP AMI Integration for Utilities software, lets utilities manage data from meters, including reading meter data, performing remote disconnects and reconnects, report outages, and support dunning. The software also helps integrate meter data with back-office systems to help control costs.  The second is a packaged dashboard utility, developed in cooperation with SteamServe, lets utilities monitor costs associated with customer service and provide models on reducing costs and environmental impacts through reduced CO2.

Quick Take:  AMI has long promised to provide utilities with information and powerful two-way communication with customers. But AMI by itself doesn’t provide a lot of value without some software to manage the data.  As we predicted some years ago, more and more players are converging to provide this vital link between utilities’ operational side and their back office systems.  Oracle recently announced its utility solution, and now SAP is doing the same.  The real milestone will come when standards are in place that let data from multiple vendors’s products interoperate and communicate with one another.

The arrival of a dashboard product is also a welcome sign.  Lockheed announced a similar tool last February. The industry certainly needs a product that gives executives the big picture of their operations. We look forward to future contributions to this category.

Full disclosure:  Lockheed is a sponsor of SmartGridNews.

   T&D article on SAP utility software

   SAP AMI Integartion for Utilities press release

   SAP for Utilities site

   SGN report on Oracle’s announcement

   SGN report on Lockheed product