In 1880, the Edison Electric Light Company first discovered and produced a practical and affordable light bulb- carbonized bamboo. Since then, the utility sector has undergone a radical change, coursed through the giant strides of rising operational costs and growing population, and advanced with a sense of transilience.
Today, the utility transformation is marked by digital forces functioning as the centerpiece of many enterprise strategies. From rising costs and changing load patterns to multi-source renewables, newly feasible digital technologies, end-user power cogeneration, and disruptive digital solutions are revolutionizing the industry and driving it toward a new and different future. The distant future is bright only if the utility industry can overpower these market shifts sustainably and speedily.
Utility companies face unprecedented challenges and bottlenecks
Four significant forces are driving the change in the utility network. These include:
Source: https://www.siemens-advanta.com/blog/unearthing-value-your-utility-data
New digital technologies igniting a change across the utility sector
The utility industry is surrounded by novel digital technologies, accelerating the advancement toward innovation. Faster, cheaper, scalable, and flexible computing and connectivity solutions fuel the rapid deployment of viable technologies, such as IoT, artificial intelligence, robotics, advanced analytics, automation, cloud computing, virtual and augmented reality, and robotics to digitize outdated business models and create new value-added solutions.
These technologies embark upon the 4th industrial revolution, presenting utility companies with new opportunities and competitive risks to maintain the dominant positions in this disruptive market.
Evolution and volatility of the market
The market dynamics is a critical constraint that utility must handle. This, combined with the changing customer expectations and demographics, rising competition, increasing penetration of smart devices, and the desperate need to invest in intelligent analytics solutions, place the utility companies in a tight spot.
Digitalization of aging, legacy systems
During the 1990s, the utility companies adapted to the first generation of challenges but now face a new imminent threat- legacy modernization.
As more and more innovative full-scale digital start-ups emerge, unencumbered by scale, high costs, and legacy IT, long-standing utility companies must
- Boost capital spending toward upgrading aging infrastructure
- Strengthen against severe climate events
- Modernize process
- Safeguard against virulent cyberattacks
- Address the growing urgency for cleaner energy sources
Rapid advancements to drive growth and reduce business costs
Unbridled research has been conducted in verticals such as solar power, wind power, EVs, smart buildings, micro grids, battery storage, and more. Such capitalizing opportunities open doors for start-ups and new-age utility enterprises ungoverned by incumbent capabilities.
However, the reigning utility enterprises can turn this transition in their favor, invest in such solutions, and remain profitable and competitive.
Design analytics to further spark a widespread change
There has been an increase in considering a design-based approach to reduce operational costs and improve efficiency. Such propositions cast a fresh wave of opportunities to challenge the status quo and accelerate disruption.
Human-centered design, agile and scalable business models, modern trends shaping the future of workforces, the subscription economy, etc., are all means to conquer the digital vortex and amplify enterprise growth.
How HCLTech is triggering a disruption in the utility sector with digitalization
Although these disruptive forces are changing the utility industry's operation, it is, after all, for the best. The rise of digital technologies is simply an industrial revolution, ensuring profitability and sustenance.
Digital technologies are a way for incumbents to:
- Modernize their business models
- Offer differentiated experiences to customers
- Target prospects for advanced services
- Protect employees from harm
- Employ data analytics to remain ahead of the curve
At HCLTech, these innovative digital technologies form the core of the business model, reinforcing the technical foundation in a sustainable, secure, and scalable manner.
HCLTech builds a digital core comprising technologies, develops a digital grid to move from a supplier-driven model to a distributed model, and empowers field workers and customers with digital solutions. HCLTech dedication lies in boosting ROIs and incorporating the future utility network today.
Laying an agile foundation
A robust and flexible utility business model requires an integrated framework led by digital tools, processes, and capabilities. Such an infrastructure transforms the existing methodologies, drives KPI goals, develops solutions to boost customer engagement, incorporates top-notch cybersecurity protocols, and integrates with technologies such as AI, ML, and data analytics to ensure 100% grid capacity.
Constructing a tech-infused adaptable digital core
The new digital tech possesses a promising potential to stay well-versed with customer expectations, course through the dynamic waters of the market, and outpace the competition. Therefore, building a digital core consisting of IoT, blockchain, the cloud, RPA, mobility, and data analytics supports the ever-evolving utility goals, modernizes workforces, and introduces a digital-led field force.
Replacing legacy models with digital grids
The grid of the future is empowered with digital capabilities to reduce operational costs, incidents of outages, seamlessly handle increasing power demand, and ensure the safety of field workers and customers.
With solutions such as remote sensing, smart meters, energy storage, asset analytics and management, HCLTech envisions transforming the traditional grids. This, while keeping the profits margins intact or rising and replacing the aging infrastructure with outcome-driven digital capabilities.
Giving rise to a new digital-led workforce of field workers
An employee of the future is a new-generation, tech-savvy professional who relies on connected systems and often collaborates with technologies such as IoT, AR, VR, wearables, robotics, and AI to accomplish tasks.
With digitized and automated processes, employees don't have to travel to hazardous terrains for inspections, enabling them to focus on highly complex and customized tasks. HCLTech solution sets for field workers’ productivity while ensuring their safety.
Embarking a digital revolution in utility office spaces
Employee experiences have occupied a center stage in several industrial sectors, including utilities. Novel approaches such as design thinking and employee journey mapping allow utility companies to understand and improve employee experiences and boost satisfaction. Furthermore, traits such as agility, innovation, and collaboration reengineer the DNA of the utility ecosystem.
Offering uber-like personalized experiences across channels
Energy and utilities have struggled to ensure consumer satisfaction since time. Poor and delayed customer service, frequent outages, the absence of a connected tech solution, and reliance on outdated assistance methodologies have led to unsatisfactory experiences. However, HCLTech innovative platform provides a digital end to consumers that offers personalized, data-driven multi-channel experiences in real-time.
Stepping into the 'Utility of the Future' with HCLTech
HCLTech digital solution works toward three core utility facets: customers, employees, and assets. Dive deep into how HCLTech transforms, revitalizes, and strengthens your utility infrastructure with this whitepaper.
