Oracle(R) Utilities Applications Enable Industry Leaders to Improve
Operational Efficiency, Customer Service and Conservation
More than 65 Global Utilities Selected or Implemented Oracle Utilities
Software in 2007
TAMPA, Fla., Jan. 22 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- DistribuTECH -- Oracle
today announced that more than 44 utilities have implemented and 22 utilities
have selected Oracle(R) Utilities industry-leading software over the last year
to help them adapt more nimbly to deregulation, meet ever-evolving customer
demands, enhance operational excellence and deliver on commitments to
environmental sustainability. The Oracle Utilities portfolio of proven
software, which includes Oracle Utilities Customer Care and Billing and Meter
Data Management, integrates industry mission-critical functionality with the
capabilities of Oracle Applications, Oracle Fusion Middleware and Oracle
Database.
(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20020718/ORCLLOGO)
Since Oracle's strategic acquisitions of SPL WorldGroup in November 2006
and LODESTAR in April 2007, Oracle has extended its ability to meet utility
customer needs, providing the industry's only end-to-end set of
business-software products. Organizations that have selected and/or
implemented Oracle Utilities applications in 2007 include Abu Dhabi Water and
Electricity Authority, Aurora Energy, City of Las Vegas, ESB Networks,
Hawaiian Electric Company, Las Vegas Valley Water and Southwest Water Company.
"Utilities are demanding greater value from their technology providers as
they seek to improve service, efficiency and conservation, and adapt to a
rapidly changing industry," said Quentin Grady, senior vice president and
general manager, Oracle Utilities. "Oracle is uniquely positioned to provide
a rich, integrated set of world-class applications and infrastructure software
that offer valuable business insight and empower utilities to respond to the
industry's unique business drivers. The fact that more than 65 customers
selected or went live on Oracle Utilities applications in just the past year
indicates the belief in our end-to-end vision."
Customers and Partners Validate Oracle Utilities Meter Data Management
Offering
Oracle has partnered with leading advanced metering infrastructure (AMI)
vendors including Cellnet+Hunt and Elster Integrated Solutions to deliver
advanced, end-to-end metering solutions to the utilities industry. By working
with these strategic partners, Oracle can help utilities customers detect
outages and issue work orders more quickly, verify service restoration through
remote meter readings and prevent needless dispatch of repair crews and
equipment.
With the proliferation of smart meters and demand-response programs,
utilities have access to data that allows them to detect outages more quickly,
drive energy-efficiency initiatives and provide more accurate billing
information to customers. Oracle has incorporated into its Oracle Utilities
suite the former LODESTAR's enterprise-class meter data management application
suite, which allows utilities to enable effective demand response by more
effectively managing and analyzing high volumes of meter data, while reducing
the data delivery time to users. Customers, including Ameren and Duke Energy,
use Oracle Utilities Meter Data Management to support the loading, validation,
editing and estimation (VEE) of meter data. The application suite is designed
for the highest levels of automation and scalability to meet utilities'
current and future needs.
"In order to meet the requirements of current and future demand response
programs within our Energy Delivery Suite of Applications, we have integrated
Oracle Utilities Meter Data Management application to provide a flexible,
scalable solution that allows us to translate high data volume into actionable
information," said Joe Solari, IT development manager, Ameren.
End-to-End Suite Meets Utilities' Mission-Critical Needs
The Oracle Utilities suite also provides industry-leading applications for
customer care and billing, mobile workforce management, outage and
distribution, and work and asset management, pioneered by the former SPL
WorldGroup. With Oracle's standards-based applications, utilities have the
flexibility to choose to implement one application, several integrated
applications or the full suite, depending on their unique needs. Customers
such as Southwest Water Company (SWWC), a water provider to more than two
million customers across the United States, see the value of the integrated
Oracle Utilities suite. SWWC became an Oracle customer in 2007.
"Southwest Water has grown through many acquisitions and, as a result, we
have acquired a number of outdated and disparate IT systems. We are entering
a period of reinvention and unification to improve our operational efficiency
and provide superior customer service," said Mark Swatek, chief executive
officer and chairman of the board, Southwest Water Company. "We selected the
Oracle suite to gain a single platform to streamline our business processes,
improve customer service, maximize workforce efficiency and optimize our asset
management strategies."
Additionally, with its common technology platform and industry-standards
based applications, Oracle helps utilities establish a cohesive application
integration infrastructure to improve visibility into business data,
accelerate decision-making, reduce IT costs and improve service to customers.
Oracle's Application Integration Architecture - an open, standards-based
platform based on Oracle Fusion Middleware - helps utilities streamline
business-process management by delivering pre-built integrations across Oracle
ERP, Oracle's Siebel CRM and Oracle Utilities applications.
"With unprecedented demands being made upon them by global warming
concerns -- which are forcing critical limitations on fossil fuels --
utilities no longer have the luxury of solving one problem at a time. Their
technology must be tightly integrated across their enterprises to enable them
to be flexible and quick in adapting to these rapidly evolving conditions,"
said Warren Causey, vice president, Sierra Energy Group.
Oracle solutions experts will provide live demonstrations of Oracle's
end-to-end utilities suite - including Oracle Utilities Network Management
System, Oracle Utilities Mobile Workforce Management, Oracle Utilities Meter
Data Management, Oracle Utilities Work and Asset Management, and Oracle
Spatial -- at the Oracle booth #1320, at DistribuTECH in Tampa, Fla., January
22-24, 2008.
About Oracle Utilities
Oracle Utilities delivers the proven software applications that help
utilities achieve competitive advantage, business performance excellence and a
lower total cost of technology ownership. Oracle Utilities integrates
industry-specific customer care and billing, network management, work and
asset management, mobile workforce management and meter data management
applications with the capabilities of Oracle's industry-leading enterprise
applications, business intelligence tools, middleware and database
technologies. Oracle Utilities enables its customers to adapt more nimbly to
market deregulation, meet ever-evolving customer demands, and deliver on
commitments to environmental conservation. For more information, visit
http://www.oracle.com/industries/utilities.
About Oracle
Oracle (Nasdaq: ORCL) is the world's largest enterprise software company.
For more information about Oracle, visit our Web site at
http://www.oracle.com.
Trademarks
Oracle is a registered trademark of Oracle Corporation and/or its
affiliates. Other names may be trademarks of their respective owners.
SOURCE Oracle Corporation
Caroline Yu of Oracle, +1-650-506-8920, caroline.yu@oracle.com; or Janice
Hazen of O'Keeffe & Company, +1-770-938-4753, jhazen@okco.com, for Oracle
