The evolution of energy technology is increasingly being driven by the need to operationalise renewable sources of energy, distribution of energy resources, and a shift away from traditional linear energy models to a market that is becoming decentralised. Non-traditional energy offerings such as wind, solar, and tidal are growing exponentially and diversifying into territories never seen before like virtual solar, which allows consumers to purchase solar power regardless of their location (for example people living in apartments).
These energy initiatives are exactly what the world needs to achieve global decarbonisation targets. And consumers are certainly using their purchasing power to drive this change. So why then is there a degree of inertia across the global energy industry?
It’s not that the energy sector isn’t on board to deliver the renewable energy products needed to get to net zero. It’s more that the legacy software systems largely in use across the sector cannot support the degree of data and detail needed to expose and calculate the cost of these types of energy. This then presents a large roadblock as, put simply, energy companies cannot sell what they cannot bill.
Legacy technology is behind the inertia
Energy companies can't mobilise their visions by relying on outdated tech. The speed and agility required to bring new offerings or tariffs to market is simply not achievable with legacy technology, which requires high levels of customisation that takes time and money just to perform basic functions. We know this because energy and utility companies tell us they're battling with multiple legacy software systems, many of which are outdated, expensive and unable to integrate.
The complexity and manual effort required just to keep these systems running leaves no space to plan for let alone implement new tariffs or propositions. New offerings often require complex flows of data in multiple directions - quite a different approach to the traditional linear model. With more data comes more complex and diverse contracts and plans, which can increase operational load and costs. None of these things would be a problem with modern technology that is built for easy configuration, rapid and widespread integration, adaptable, updatable, modular, and can handle micro billing. These days legacy systems are almost the opposite, and create more challenges than they solve.
Easing complexity
Modern technology should not add complexity. Indeed, it should streamline, simplify, enhance, automate, and enable operations and processes to become more efficient and less costly. The goal is value in, cost out. And Flux was built for this specific purpose.
Modern billing products like Flux ingest complex pricing information and simplify it for operators and clients, standardising the process and removing error. Launching a new product or tariff should take minutes (not weeks or even months as with legacy tech) and easily be done by an operator without the need for customisation or dev work. We replaced customisation with configurability, which means Flux is always ready to flex.
The power to transform
As the energy economy evolves, the needs of energy customers are becoming more complex. Energy users are more educated and there is demand for using traditional offerings in a more sophisticated manner, such as 100% renewable power purchase agreements.
Flux’s billing engine FlexiBill provides a competitive edge by enabling energy businesses to respond faster and more dynamically to consumers’ needs. The ability to change price plans at either a system or connection level creates flexibility to rapidly provide new offerings.
Competitiveness means having the right tools and the ability to innovate
Being able to pivot towards the myriad of new energy opportunities now and into the future has become table stakes, which means any business struggling to respond to an evolving market simply because of legacy systems probably needs to change things up. It is entirely possible to free yourself from traditional, long-running deployments and move to contemporary, scalable cloud deployments.
Flux Federation connects those who make, move, and sell energy, equipping organisations in the sector with the power to drive change. Where ability to adapt to market shifts is vital, innovation in products and services is expected, and shareholder returns are imperative, Flux’s next generation software sits at the heart of energy businesses driving success by enabling management of greater complexity, reducing cost to serve, and delivering new capability at speed.
We’re not just here to deliver great software, we’re here to mobilise visionary companies leading the transition towards the future of energy.
