Growth and green ambitions demand a strong partner: freeing up time and resources
By Sanna Bernhardt, XaaS Program Manager at Kamstrup
Despite a history of self-reliance, X-as-a-Service (XaaS) models enable utilities to meet today's many challenges while focusing their resources and competencies on their core business. But finding the right service partner will be key to unlocking value creation.
Challenges Reshaping the Utility Industry
The utility industry is currently undergoing a transformation that would exhaust anyone. A multitude of challenges are increasing the sector’s complexity, including resource scarcity, the green transition, new governing legislation, the need for increased energy efficiencies, transparency for end-users to track consumption, increased competition, ambitious growth targets and fast-paced technological development.
In addition, the utility industry struggles with workforce constraints and attracting the right competencies to match this new reality. Even so, utility professionals are expected to continuously do more with less. But as their workdays are often consumed by constant prioritization, business development and optimisation are far down the list after daily operations and putting out fires.
As a result, more utilities recognize the potential of data and digitalization in solving their challenges. However, adopting the necessary capabilities can seem like a monumental task, especially for utilities with limited resources. This makes the trend towards 'Anything as a Service' or XaaS a momentous change in the utility landscape.
Services – a new paradigm
XaaS fundamentally shifts the dynamics by enabling utilities to buy a pre-defined outcome or availability. This gives them access to what they need, when they need it, but leaves it up to a partner to deliver.
Within XaaS, there are various levels of services that enable utilities to streamline their operations by offloading tasks and responsibilities to partners. A partner may deliver and manage a number of assets – whether it is smart meters or communication network infrastructure. Alternatively, the partner can provide a complete operational solution – handling everything from asset delivery and management to utilizing data analytics for optimising efficiency.
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Handing over management of assets could be a suitable choice for utilities to quickly and efficiently deploy new assets and create a solid foundation of data, whereas a complete service solution might better serve those aiming for a more holistic operational overhaul involving both asset management and data analytics to create business-specific value from e.g., resource optimization and end-user engagement.
Particularly for smaller and mid-sized utilities who have traditionally handled everything in-house, leaving parts of their business to an external partner of course represents a major change. But in return, they gain the necessary flexibility and agility to stay competitive.
Growth demands focus
In addition to removing tasks from their table, letting an external specialized partner e.g., rollout, operate, monitor, and maintain their data collection network, means that utility professionals can spend their time, resources and competencies utilising their data rather than collecting it. And with no upfront investment or unforeseen costs, it provides an attractive alternative to investing in your own infrastructure – especially as demands for both frequency and quality of data increase.
Moreover, utilities also benefit from their partner’s knowledge and expertise as those tasks might be solved even better. Plus, in highly regulated areas such as district heating, and with infrastructures that are as complex as they are business-critical, advanced services can be a crucial part of risk management as they ensure compliance in environments undergoing rapid changes.
Finally, by leaving your infrastructure in the hands of a partner, you do not have to worry about how the technology landscape looks five years from now. You simply pay for the output – releasing resources and money you can invest in developing your business long term. But this makes it even more critical to choose the right partner from the start.
Choose the right service partner for the long run
Services differ from simple business transactions. It therefore goes without saying that your choice of service partner should be someone experienced with a reliable track record, domain expertise, a solid business, and a relevant portfolio. That said, services will never be an off-the-shelf kind of product because the value they create depends on your business needs.
We also see a trend of utilities opting for fewer suppliers in exchange for closer collaboration and higher expectations. Several of our customers want a strategic business partner that will help them reach business goals from proactive end-user services to reduced costs, new business models or sustainability targets.
Ultimately, transferring selected responsibilities to an external supplier requires a tremendous amount of trust, so choose someone willing to invest the effort and time necessary to earn yours. Because the ideal partner is someone who knows your business well enough to be able to challenge your perception of its potential.
With competence comes responsibility
Kamstrup is already recognised as a reliable and solid player within hardware and software. With +75 years of experience, an industry-leading R&D department, continuous investment in innovation, and a globally respected voice in clean technology, we have made smart metering our home turf.
But with competence comes responsibility. And the challenges utilities face today demand that we not just develop innovative solutions but also commit to delivering their optimal output. That is why we offer services tied to both assets and business efficiencies – striving to be an integral part of our customers’ value chain to help them allocate resources more efficiently, reduce costs and risks and empower them.
But more important than what we do is how we do it. In developing our services, we always imagine being responsible for the entire chain. This requires us to gain an in-depth understanding of each process, task and step our customers must complete, which is why we have worked closely with them to improve our offering and ensure attention to every detail.
From service provider to strategic partner
A co-creation mindset has always been part of Kamstrup’s DNA. But now more than ever, a joint effort with ambitious and strategic partners is what will enable utilities to unlock their full growth potential no matter their starting point – and we are confident this is only the beginning.
