# Infosys Whitepaper 
Title: Assuring the digital utilities transformation 
Author: Infosys Limited 
Format: PDF 1.7 

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 PERSPECTIVE ASSURING THE DIGITAL UTILITIES  TRANSFORMATION Gaurav Kalia  Client Solution Manager 

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 With a multitude of industries embracing  the digital revolution, the utilities industry  is also rapidly moving towards this  transformation. A few key predictions that  give an insight into which direction the  utilities industry is heading towards in the  coming years are listed below: • By 2018, 70 percent of the utilities  industry will launch major digital  transformation initiatives that will  address at least one of these three areas:  omni-experience, operating model,   or information  • Data and analytics will play a key role  to drive greater results with energy  efficiency programs  1. Latest trends in utilities  • By 2019, 75 percent of utilities will  deploy a comprehensive, risk-based  cyber security strategy, representing a  maturation from a compliance focus to  security focus • The utility IT services spending is  expected to grow at a compound annual  growth rate (CAGR) of 5.9 percent from  2014 to 2018 • US$65 million will be spent by utilities  on gamified applications by 2016 to  engage consumers • In addition, utilities will be spending  US$57.6 billion on smart grid as-a- service from 2014 to 2023 • About 624 million customers  worldwide will use social media to  engage with utilities by 2020  • 75 percent of utilities will rely on  managed services and industry cloud  by 2019,  to predict asset failures or  recommend solutions; however, they   will retain control of asset optimization • 50 percent of the utilities in 2019   will spend five percent or more of  their capital expenditure (CapEx) on  operational technologies and the  Internet of Things (IoT) to optimize  distributed energy resources, field  services, and asset operations External Document © 2018 Infosys Limited 

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 • To compete in redesigned markets   and support new business models,   45 percent of utilities will invest in a   new customer experience solution   and 20 percent in a new billing system   by 2017 • Forced by extreme weather events in  2017, 75 percent of utilities will make  new IT investments to predict outages,  reduce their duration by 5–10 percent,  and improve customer communications • Internet sales is rising by 20 percent.  Providing reliable service at peak loads is  inevitable for businesses • Over 15 percent of the Internet users  worldwide are physically challenged,  which brings in the need for more  interactive websites • According to the International Data  Corporation’s (IDC) quarterly mobile  phone tracker report, vendors have  shipped 472 million smartphones in  2011 compared to about 305 million  units shipped in 2010. It touched 982  million by the end of 2015. On demand  access to the digital world means that  this segment of customers have very  different expectations • They learn through collaboration and  networks – the average Facebook user  spends 55 minutes on the site daily • They expect options and make decisions  based on peer recommendations – 78  percent of consumers say they trust peer  recommendations compared to the   14 percent who trust advertisements • They constantly give their opinions and  view products, services, and brands  online. There are over 1,500 blog posts  every 60 seconds and 34 percent of the  bloggers post opinions about different  products and brands External Document © 2018 Infosys Limited 

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 Obviously, from the above trends, we can  understand why digital transformations  have become critical and why the IT  landscape must adapt accordingly: • To move with the technological  advancements • To sustain a competitive environment • For an enhanced customer service  experience • Better business progression  The key business drivers that are pushing  the utility market towards digital  transformation are: Competitive environment   We understand from the trends that  technology is advancing and there is  an implicit need to use new-age and  innovative knowledge. For example: •  Electric utility companies are using  smart meters to enable two-way  communication to reduce human  intervention (removal of call centers)   •  Water and wastewater utility  companies are looking towards  2.  What do the above trends suggest? deploying geospatial information  systems (GIS) to increase efficiency  during the sampling, routing, and  analyzing phases of their supply chain • Implementation of business   intelligence (BI) analytics reporting  solutions to enable an enterprise to  make positive decisions  • Some other key trends seen are the  adoption of smart grid technology,  intelligent devices in the grid –   machine-to-machine (M2M), home area  network (HAN), smart home, EV, and   cyber security Customer experience   Digital transformation signifies an  enhanced customer experience. Evidently,  with technology rising constantly we see  faster and more reliable websites with  better user experiences. This is because of  the popularity of e-commerce applications  / packages across all the leading sectors.  Moreover, we have the popularity and  the potential of social media with which  consumers are changing the way they  buy utility products. This gives a direction  to utility companies to add new value  services and social networking tools to  their websites.  Regulatory obligations   As utility companies comply with various  regulatory obligations (environmental  and non-environmental), there are new  policies and standards that come up. Lack  of tangible systems are driving clients to  go for digital transformation.  Operational efficiency  Utility companies will be looking towards  better asset management and seamlessly  integrated systems so that real-time  information of assets is available at all  times. This is applicable for both energy  and water utility companies. Lastly, since  most of the utility companies are using  older systems built on outdated platforms  and technologies, the problems of lack of  support and high maintenance costs can  be addressed using newer technologies.  This clearly explains why digital  transformations have become the need   of the hour for the utility sector as well.<|endoftext|>External Document © 2018 Infosys Limited 

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 External Document © 2018 Infosys Limited 

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 3. Key quality assurance (QA) focus areas in digital transformational programs After understanding future trends, the utility market must comprehend the urgency of digital transformation to keep up with the advancing  developments. Let us understand the aspects that require special attention during QA in digital transformation programs.<|endoftext|>Challenges QA focus areas Agility With the digital revolution and constantly growing technology, we see a myriad of changes  and the need to pilot newer and adaptable strategies. This is to cater to the needs of a   fast-growing and agile atmosphere. The necessity is to encompass the entire testing life   cycle – right from requirement analysis to reporting. A well-defined, agile QA strategy will   be required during such digital transformational programs to be able to cope with   changing requirements.<|endoftext|>Exploding data and   reporting In our grandparents’s generation, inputs were manageable. However, in this century, there   are terabytes of customer data to manage. With the very real possibility of further increase  in this figure, it is an unsaid challenge to maintain and secure consumer databases. With a  change in the infrastructure, we have to deal with data migration and more importantly, an  impact-less data migration. Robust and proven data migration testing services will be   required during such migration activities.<|endoftext|>Performance and   security There is an increase in online transactions and as discussed above, the advent of big data   and the multitude of interconnected applications and devices, will pose a challenge for   application performance and data privacy. When a customer performs any kind of   transaction over a web-based e-commerce site, he/she is thinking of convenience and   most importantly, security. Obviously, the performance and speed of a website matter   because nobody wants a slow site in these fast times. This brings in the need for special   focus on performance and security testing of these applications.<|endoftext|>Mobility With the anytime-anywhere nature of today’s customer, it is significant that flexible aspects   of testing are devised on different device configurations. Heeding the need for mobility,   keep in mind that this is similar in terms of the challenges of performance and security   generally seen in web-based applications. Mobility testing tools and solutions will be of   great importance during such initiatives.<|endoftext|>Seamless customer   experience The ultimate goal of a seamless customer experience for any company is to make business  easy for its customers. It is about finding new ways to engage with the audience in the right  way. It is necessary to understand that today’s customer is looking for real