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24 | 29TH APRIL - 5TH MAY 2016 | UTILITY WEEK Operations & Assets Market view A lthough utility companies handle routine business with complex enter- prise resource planning (ERP) and customer relationship management (CRM) systems, they are oen confronted with unexpected legislation, social or financial demands. When this occurs, it can require swi changes to accounting and customer service procedures, as well as the processing of many thousands or even millions of cus- tomers to stay in compliance. Whether utilities must suddenly accom- modate smart meter opt-outs, medical base- line mandates, energy savings assistance, solar credits or LED customer upgrades, the required changes can be quite a shock to the system. In such cases, comprehensive and accu- rate case management is required, whether by standard customer service document request or (in America) state Public Utility Commission (PUC) mandated programmes. As such, the primary challenge for util- ity companies is to effectively manage, document and centralise an influx of new, inbound applications, as well as verify if applicants qualify for certain programmes. Archiving of critical documents such as signed applications, change of address, complaints, bankruptcy claims and power of attorney is oen required. Proof of compli- ance is required by the PUC, other agencies and auditors, as well as for legal protection. Nonetheless, when unexpected chal- lenges arise, utilities have no choice but to deal with them. This leaves utilities with lim- ited and oen unpalatable options. The first is to throw labour at the problem. But hiring new employees and setting up call centres only raises operating costs and does little to handle the next shock to the system. The other option is to pay existing ERP or CRM providers to add on modules or pro- gramming to accommodate the required changes. However, this is oen an even more costly approach that can take many months and hundreds of thousands of pounds to implement. Because this approach addresses only the challenge at hand, additional costs are required the next time the utility faces an unforeseen challenge. Fortunately, there are electronic docu- ment management solutions designed to address just such a scenario that are already being used by major utilities. Shocks to the system Utility companies can require a fast response to market changes for a variety of reasons that create accounting or customer service challenges: When smart meter opt-outs became nec- essary due to consumer privacy concerns, by PUC mandate, one major energy utility had to give customers the ability to opt out within a 30-day timeframe. The utility not only had to manage a variety of forms, but also note that certain analogue meters must not be changed or schedule crews to replace smart meters with analogue meters if consumers opted out. In another example, when a medical baseline law mandated that utilities must not turn off consumers' power if they require life-saving machines even with unpaid bills, the implementation had to be flawless to pre- vent potential litigation. Documenting their efforts to reach consumers by a variety of methods was required for compliance. US state mandated energy savings assis- tance programmes can also require utilities to offer low-income customers a discounted utility rate based on a set of income criteria that must be verified. In states and munici- palities that mandate solar credits, the move to alternative energy can overwhelm both accounting and customer service with roof- top solar compatibility, charge-back solar credit issues, and the like. Faster, cheaper compliance The ideal process for responding to a utility market change that requires a fast response would be to collectively gather all the differ- ent document types into a centralised plat- form. The electronic document management solution would be flexible enough to import from multiple sources and create a workflow system that allows individual departments to easily follow documents wherever they go – for better management, control, service level tracking and compliance. Fortunately, the advent of secure so- ware-as-a-service (SaaS) solutions, tailored to the utility's unique workflow require- ments, is allowing seamless functionality with existing ERP and CRM systems. Because the soware suite is offered as SaaS and can be used by anyone with a browser, it does not require any capital investment, requires minimal IT attention, can be connected to existing ERP or CRM sys- tems, and can go from concept to implemen- tation in less than a month. To streamline utility companies' handling of abrupt marketplace shocks, the soware suite can be tailored to work seamlessly within the framework of each utility's work- flow and applications. This includes archiv- ing and indexing all documents, so they are easily searchable with time stamps for every step of the process. Unlike complex ERP soware that must be programmed, the soware suite is quickly adaptable to business process requirements, such as adding new offices, user groups, required authorisations and government reg- ulations. This flexibility is designed into the system because it is easily configured into an existing soware engine as definable param- eters, rather than programmed from scratch. While the electronic document manage- ment soware suite costs a fraction of ERP reprogramming and implementation, it is very secure, with built-in redundancies and backup power from tier IV data centres. For utility companies that must brace themselves for continual, unexpected market changes, the bottom line is that such cloud- based SaaS solutions will allow them to nim- bly adapt and remain compliant at a fraction of the time and cost. Chris Collier, vice president and director, KernEDGE Brace for the unexpected Chris Collier explains how utilities can ensure they are ready to resolve unanticipated accounting and customer service challenges not covered by existing enterprise resource planning systems. "When unexpected challenges arise, utilities have no choice but to deal with them. The first option is to throw labour at the problem"