Over the last few weeks there have been signs of rejuvenation
in the customer information system (CIS) sector. The strongest
sign of this rejuvenation is the significant numbers of deals
that have been recently signed. Alliance Data Systems, Conversant,
Accenture, Indus International, Peace Software, Orcom Solutions,
Advanced Utility Systems, and SPL WorldGroup have all recently
made noteworthy agreements with utilities.
Recent research conducted by UtiliPoint International suggests
that for utilities, functionality is very important when selecting
a CIS. In a survey of over 300 utilities, functionality was
ranked as the most important determining factor in the selection
of a utility's current CIS.
So what are utilities currently looking for in
the functionality for CIS? For answers we turned to some of
the leading CIS providers in the sector. Specifically, UtiliPoint
asked CIS providers what functionality their customers and prospects
were requesting the most.
Respondents had a wide-range of views. Douglas Thompson, CEO
of Open-c Solutions replied, “In addition to the standard
functionality included in a full-function CIS that most customers
and prospects require to support their business, we see them
asking for customer self-service, online bill presentation and
payment capabilities, automated workflow tools, and complex
rating and billing capability. From an overall solution perspective,
the requests we see most often is that the solution must be
a product (rather than a custom solution), must be implemented
with no or minimal modification, must be flexible, and must
use current, open technology. Driving these requests are three
key issues. First, the Internet revolution has made the customer
aware of the scope of information and services available and
the speed with which they can be delivered, in all aspects of
their lives. Utilities are simply struggling to meet customer
expectations. Second, utility IT departments are supporting
legacy systems that were custom solutions designed and implemented
in some cases over 15 years ago. These are costly to modify
and in extreme cases so delicate that any change is risky. So,
the legacy CIS can be a bottleneck to introducing new products
and services. Third, utilities are looking for ways to reduce
operating costs while improving customer service levels. Legacy
CIS systems often require significant support for daily operations.
Upgrades are painful and costly.” Open-c Solutions provides
both in-house and outsourced CIS solutions based on its Open-cIS
platform.
“Our client base spans regulated IOUs, public utilities
and competitive retailers,” said Brian Peace, Chief Executive
Officer of Peace Software. “They share the same retail
function of selling the energy commodity directly to the end
consumer. As a result, our clients have similar functional requirements
around the basic cash flow cycle and we are constantly developing
new innovations to further streamline core areas of billing
and operational CRM. Our competitive energy retail clients and
prospects are particularly focused on streamlining business
processes and operations in areas of customer acquisition and
enrollment. They are also venturing forth into the realm of
analytical CRM with the objective of turning data into knowledge
for strategic value. In addition, our large clients continue
to be focused on scalability and multi-market/multi-jurisdictional
functionality. They support millions of customers across diverse
markets and they need the system flexibility to support their
entire customer base on a single CIS platform in order to maximize
cost efficiencies and deliver consistent service across the
board.” Peace Software provides a browser-based CIS package,
consisting of eight components that can be deployed individually
or as a total customer management solution.
“For many years, at the request of our customers, we
have added and continue to enhance the multi-service and multi-company
capability of our software,” noted Paul Kluba, Chief Operating
Officer of Daffron and Associates. “More recently we have
added flexibility and functionality to easily bill utility customers
for unlimited products, such as cable, Internet, home security,
labor services, and any other product or service that the utility
may diversify into. In three areas (Ontario, Texas and Virginia)
Daffron customers have been active market participants as electric
distributors in open deregulated markets. Other areas of the
country are also preparing for competition. We have had special
requests in the Texas market for providing software for the
utility to act as the retailer in addition to, or separate from,
the distributor. In fact, a third party will use the Daffron
system to fulfill the role of competitive retailer and interface
with two distributor's legacy systems. This allows the distributors
to participate in the deregulated market without interruption
to their current staff for retraining or customizing their current
system. Although electric deregulation has been a major focus
for Daffron in the last few years, it has allowed us to add
huge amounts of functionality and even more flexibility to the
system that all customers, including gas and water utilities
are taking advantage of.” Daffron & Associates provides
customer care solutions to 116 electric cooperatives, 37 municipalities
and 7 IOUs, with an e-bill option being provided via an outsourced
model.
“Our clients require a solution that that will allow
them to make rapid changes as their business needs evolve,”
said Chris Hamilos, Chairman and CEO at LODESTAR. “With
our Customer Choice Suite (CCS), companies can quickly and accurately
analyze their customers in order to design, build and test new
rates and products. Flexibility is a key asset in being able
to manage change, and the architecture of the CCS allows for
this. Our clients have unique business rules that are seamlessly
integrated into every component of the CCS.” LODESTAR's
CCS is a component-based software solution for energy companies
that addresses information management.
Carl Kloeckner, Executive Vice President at NirvanaSoft replied,
“Our clients are looking for a solution a solution that
allows them to expand their business through two primary vehicles:
to provide new products and services with agility and without
great expense, and to enter new markets rapidly and in a cost
effective fashion. New product offerings will expand and shrink
as the market continues to evolve. They require the flexibility
and open architecture that will accommodate the expected consolidations
and mergers.” Nirvanasoft provides software to enable
complex billing and provides it as an outsourced option via
the Energy Services Group.
“Our clients and prospects are looking for a few things,”
said Steve Derrickson, President of Utility Solutions. “From
a functional perspective they are looking for a flexible billing
system that supports any combination of product, services and
rates that a utility chooses to deploy, effective call management
capabilities that promote high service levels, and self service
capabilities to drive increased customer satisfaction and lower
cost of operations. The second half is that they are looking
for a flexible system that can quickly empower the end user
to change their process as the need arises without relying on
the vendor to enable that change, and finally the importance
of integration with external systems that help streamline business
processes, and reduce cost of ownership.” Utility Solutions
markets InSight CIS, a customer care and billing solution.
“Each client is unique, and needs vary greatly,”
said Phillip Playfair, Chief Marketing Officer at Advanced Utility
Systems. “Over the past twelve months budgets have grown
tighter, and there is a focus on functionality that can enhance
revenue, and control costs. Many actions can build revenue,
but at the core they desire the ability to add new products
and services quickly and easily. Introduce a new service and
then track how this service is received. Our customers want
more and more information through enhanced filtering and reporting
to identify what their customers are seeking. The control of
costs is also a broad area, but staying on-top of collections
activity is very important—identifying problems before
they become too large and then developing solutions that both
the customer and the utility find beneficial.” Advanced
Utility Systems focuses exclusively on the CIS sector through
its core product of CIS INFINITY.
While each executive had a unique take on the subject of CIS
functionality, a common theme that was touched upon by almost
all executives was that energy companies want the ability to
easily introduce new products and services. With energy companies
increasingly focusing on the core utility business, this is
not surprising. Utilities view the offering of new products
and services as a way to increase customer satisfaction. As
a result, I expect CIS providers to continue to add functionalities
that make it easier, quicker, and more affordable for their
clients to add new products, rates, and services.
