Utility companies are facing multiple challenges, generated by a combination of industry requirements an changing customer behaviour and demand.
The second, and perhaps underappreciated, opportunity for digital transformation within utilities lies in reducing operational and maintenance spending. To date, this is an area where utilities have been slow to fully adopt digital transformation initiatives, mainly due to a traditionally risk-averse mindset.
Yet the irony is that digital transformation, if implemented the right way, can yield significant long-term cost savings by streamlining a vast array of legacy processes and systems that have in many cases been in place for decades.
Growing choice is generating increased competition within the market and piling more pressure on companies to be more innovative and cost effective. And as sector competition rises, so too are customer expectations. With switching becoming easier and more embedded within the mainstream year on year, and as renewable power becomes more popular and affordable, the business case for root-and-branch transformation is becoming impossible to ignore.
There are two key areas where digital transformation can achieve significant cost benefits for utilities companies. Firstly, and most visibly, by rolling out new, design-led self-service platforms that enhance customer experience and connect more meaningfully with how they manage their digital lives.