It is critical to comprehend the significance of cloud computing for utilities. To begin with, moving to the cloud means exponentially increasing computing power and storage space. This is accompanied by a significant cost reduction. The cloud represents a decisive shift toward on-demand and pay-per-use computing, eliminating the need for costly investments in hardware, software (which becomes available as-a-Service), or data centers.

Then there are the enormous advantages of flexibility and scalability, which are especially important in today’s environment. These are just a few of the benefits of cloud computing.

Regardless of industry, the cloud has had a significant impact, unlike any other technology in the current landscape.

In this post, we will concentrate on the Utility Industry, a large sector that is important not only for the economy as a whole, but also for the individual customer, who has been undergoing unprecedented transformation in recent years.

The Digital Revolution Unfloding in the Utility Industry

The Utilities and Energy industry is undergoing unprecedented transformation. To begin with, the market has become more open to new entrants with a smart approach that is increasingly focused on all aspects and benefits of digital. Even the most established companies in the sector have had their processes and brand identities influenced by this.

In this sense, the new challenges involve marketing and customer service professionals, two fields that are now more intertwined than ever, particularly when it comes to services such as electricity, gas, water, Internet, and telephony, which have a real impact on the lives of customers.

Simultaneously, there have been significant changes in the sensitivity of public opinion (and therefore in the audience of potential customers). The emphasis nowadays is on energy efficiency and environmental sustainability. Individual customers are becoming more informed: they expect clarity, transparency, and ease of communication with businesses.

In short, the real revolution is here, in the changing role of the customer, who is now the true central figure. Companies in the sector are now committed to capturing their attention, retaining their involvement, and, finally, increasing their loyalty through operations that are as customized as possible.

According to a recent Bain & Company study, acquiring a new customer costs between 6 and 7 times more than retaining an existing one. The true motivator behind this paradigm shift has been (and will continue to be) digital transformation, which has enabled these changes. And, if we’re talking about digital today, we’re also talking about (and, in some ways, above all, about) Cloud Computing.

Consider the possibilities of personalization and one-to-one communication; it is thanks to digital and cloud-based data-driven optics that this approach can be put on track even for infinite audiences.

As a result, a company like Doxee, which focuses on personalization and cloud-based services, has been named to CIOReview’s list of the 20 most promising technologies for the world of utilities in 2018.

We conclude this section with a quote from Isabelle Kocher, CEO of Engie, one of the top ten global utilities and energy companies: “The term ‘transition’ falls short of the magnitude of the change we are witnessing: we are witnessing a true revolution.”

Cloud computing and the utility industry: a 5 point revolution

As previously stated, the challenges confronting the Utilities sector are numerous and complex. In addition to the challenges of digital transformation, the following are present:

Infrastructures are becoming increasingly obsolete, making it difficult to meet user demands.

National and international regulations are increasing the pressure on businesses to be more adaptable, agile, and efficient. This entails gradually abandoning energy sources that have a high environmental impact.

The expectations of users, who are evolving at a rapid pace and frequently rely on the most fluid, intuitive, rapid, and interactive interactions with companies in other industries.

Cutting-edge themes such as the internet of things (IoT) and blockchain technologies are also included. All of these trends will rely more and more on high-performance, well-designed Cloud Computing services-

However, we do not need to look too far into the future. According to the most recent estimates, the Utilities sector will invest approximately $4 billion in public cloud services in 2019. And when such large investments are made, businesses see even greater potential benefits. This is a foregone conclusion. That is why Cloud Computing is critical for the Utility Industry.

Now we’ll look more closely at these benefits, which we’ll summarize in five points.

Cost cutting (CAPEX and OPEX)

On-demand and pay-per-use optics underpin cloud services. As a result of utilizing them, utility companies can reduce both Capital Expenditures (CAPEX) and Operating Expenditures (OPEX) (OPEX). Furthermore, this decrease is accompanied by an improvement in performance.

Scalability and adaptability

Another benefit of migrating to Cloud Computing systems is the exponential increase in flexibility and scalability. This means lower investments with lower risk, as well as the ability to increase or decrease computing power or storage capacity as needed. To make the most of this flexibility, the best solutions may be Multi-Cloud or Hybrid Cloud.

Personalization and data-driven approach

According to GTM Research, data analysis investments in utilities companies will increase from $700 million in 2012 to around $3 billion in 2020, a more than 400% increase. Again, these are large investments with even greater economic return potential.

Analyzing a large amount of data entails learning as much as possible about your user base, segmenting it into clusters in order to increase engagement and loyalty through targeted and tailored actions (lowering the churn rate, which we will return to in the next point). Cloud Computing systems are critical for collecting such a massive amount of data from an omnichannel perspective.

Furthermore, thanks to personalization, it is now possible to go beyond segmentation and target individuals. This is a strategy that some of the industry’s most important companies, such as Enel and Engie, have already implemented, relying on the specialized services of a company like Doxee.

The effectiveness of addressing each person in a different manner based on their characteristics is easily understood. Consider the following data:

A well-documented personalization strategy is in place at 79 percent of companies that outperform their revenue targets.

75 percent of consumers are more likely to purchase products from a company that addresses them by name, knows their history, and suggests options based on previous purchases (source: Accenture).

78 percent of Chief Marketing Officers believe that personalized content is the way of the future (source: Clicz).

Reporting in real time

We discussed the importance of collecting and analyzing big data in the previous point, all the way up to the point of customization. We can push the boundaries a little further and implement strategies for real-time data analysis: this is what we mean by real-time reporting, beyond the technicalities.

Real-time reporting based on an efficient Cloud Computing architecture will be one of the most powerful weapons for businesses to get to know their users even better, interact with them “at the right time and in the right way,” and reduce churn, or the rate of abandonment. This is one of the sector’s major issues, which has become more pressing than ever in the current open market.

According to the Customer Experience Impact Report, 89 percent of users have switched to a competitor as a result of poor customer service.

Cybersecurity

The power of computing, analysis, storage, and collection of valuable data has increased significantly as a result of Cloud Computing. The natural result is an increase in the importance of security systems. With the implementation of the GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation), these issues have become even more pressing.

Cloud service providers are well aware of this, which is why they are unrivaled in this regard. In fact, they have the ability to update and respond to threats on all possible fronts of both internal and local systems.