96 percent of respondents said they had already started to prepare for digitalisation, citing multiple challenges including maintaining service levels, keeping customers and increasingly challenging asset management demands. However, the various benefits of energy industry digitalisation are clearly recognised by respondents. 76 percent expected more seamless interaction with customers across multiple platforms and the ability to load balance with new technology while 56 percent cited an ability to store and search media rich content effectively.
Nearly four-in-ten (37 percent) said they had a way to go yet and only 11 percent claimed they had reached full digitalisation. This means there is much more yet to be done to fully embrace digital ways of working. A significant majority of organisations see several barriers halting their progress towards achieving full digitalisation, with 80 percent of respondents selecting three or more barriers when asked.
The major barriers include a lack of obvious return on investment (ROI), getting management buy-in and/or project approval, more pressing/urgent matters taking priority and compliance requirements.
89 percent of respondents stated that siloed data was an issue within their industry and nearly a quarter of respondents stated it was a huge issue impacting customer service (22 percent).
“With customer service riding high on the priority list of all energy organisations – largely mandated by the sector’s regulators – organisations are looking for ways to improve engagement and ensure customer experience is seamless” said Russell Vise, sales director for energy and utilities UK at OpenText. “The drive towards digitalisation highlights this focus. Many energy organisations struggle with outdated processes and legacy systems, making it challenging to provide a quality service to the customer, and also ensure industry compliance. Only by digitalising these practices can all requirements be met.”
Mr Vise added that the sheer volume of information, as well as the increasing amount of documentation required by regulatory bodies, has resulted in an information management explosion within the energy sector. If not handled correctly, silos develop, preventing the seamless information exchange required for effective customer engagement. For forward-thinking companies, the challenge is no longer just organising information. It’s ensuring information is accessible in ways that make it easy to extract and utilise its business value for the customer.
OpenText commissioned IDG Connect to undertake an in-depth study involving over 50 respondents in management positions in the energy industry in the UK and Sweden. In addition, seven top executives of energy companies in Denmark, Finland, Sweden and the UK were directly interviewed for their feedback. The purpose was to estimate the degree of digitisation in the energy industry, the impact of digitization, concerns, opportunities and challenges. The research took place during the first three months of 2017.
Image: Smart meter
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