Invest to stay in the game: a blueprint for the energy transition

 |  13 February 2022

20220208-Energy-Transition-Blueprint
blue gradient waves

When making software decisions, many energy retailer’s legacy platforms have prioritised reducing cost to serve and opex. While important, this needs to be balanced against the ability to remain competitive in a quickly evolving market and making strategic improvements to your software in order to grow value for your business.

Traditionally, cost cutting has been achieved by reducing labour numbers while trying to retain the same level of service. This approach risks putting long-term strain on an organisation to perform and add value for its customers. 

Instead, retailers need to assess their capability against key changes happening in the sector. This will determine the areas where they need the biggest improvement. If your existing platform is holding you back, now might be the right time to assess options for replacing or supplementing the existing software.

A way to achieve this is to identify what parts of an existing platform are no longer meeting the needs of your customers. It is also important to determine what can be automated and how it needs to be done without a negative impact on mitigating existing risks.

VALUE ADD

Flux’s focus on microservices and an API-based approach means retailers benefit from reduced cost to acquire and serve, while efficiently deploying added features that continue to add value for customers.

Because the systems aren’t intertwined, new products can be developed quickly and affordably, ensuring speed to market.

The speed and agility offered by Flux products allows retailers to be more reactive in the market when regulatory changes come up or a new product is needed.

Australian retailers face another raft of regulatory changes this year. On the horizon is the announcement of new billing requirements in April and the implementation of Consumer Data Right obligations in November.

While the Flux platform offers microservices and APIs, we can also stand up our systems alongside existing platforms with little interference, and continue to support any legacy systems that need to be retained.

Experience with existing clients has shown that when they start to see the benefits of modernising, our APIs and other services are ready for them to adopt. Some of these benefits include better error handling, less human intervention, more reliable results and increased automation.

EMBRACE EMERGING TECHNOLOGY

Energy technology investment at a consumer level in Australia is opening up the possibility for propositions such as virtual power plants, greater uptake of demand response and power purchase agreements.

Retailers need to determine the steps they should take now so they can lead the energy transition.

Alongside the swift developments and uptake of new energy technology, there are emerging risks that need to be mitigated, such as cyber and technology, and climate and environmental risk.

Trusting the experts who are partners to your business to assist with the right solutions means it is done professionally, efficiently and allows for added value.

Flux’s products can give energy businesses a competitive edge. New tariffs can be quickly and easily introduced while maintaining the ability to rapidly and accurately generate bills.

This capability allows retailers to capitalise on the exponential growth of distributed generation, battery storage, and VPPs. Get in touch to find out more about how Flux can help you prepare for the energy future.

Continue learning how we can help you

purple gradient waves

Be the first to know!

Sign up for the latest updates in technology, changes, regulations, and new energy products from Flux.