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ENERGETIC SMART
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Report author:
Christine Herzog
Founder, Smart Grid Library
hertzog@smartgridlibrary.com

Senior Director, Content:

Annie Turner
aturner@tmforum.org

Editors:
Dawn Bushaus
dbushaus@tmforum.org

Lisa Hughes
lhughes@tmforum.org

Manager, Digital Content:

Sarah Wray
swray@tmforum.org

Business Development Director, Research & Publications:

Mark Bradbury
mbradbury@tmforum.org

Senior Marketing Manager, Solutions Marketing:

Charlotte Lewis
clewis@tmforum.org Page 4 Executive Summary

Publisher:
Amy Goggins Page 5 Section 1
agoggins@tmforum.org The dazzling promise of the Internet of Things
Advisors: challenges and opportunities
Nik Willetts, Chief Digital Officer, TM Forum
Rob Rich, Managing Director, Insights Research, TM Forum
Page 7 Section 2
Report Design:
thePAGEDESIGN
What is smart energy and what challenges
does it bring?
Published by:
TM Forum
240 Headquarters Plaza Page 12 Section 3
East Tower, 10th Floor
Morristown, NJ 07960-6628 What can energy utilities learn from others?
USA
www.tmforum.org
Phone: +1 973-944-5100 Page 17 Section 4
Fax: +1 973-944-5110 New business models and partnership
ISBN: 978-1-939303-62-2 opportunities

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INTERNET OF THINGS
ENERGETIC SMART STRATEGIES FOR SUCCESS
Executive summary
The Internet of Things is in its very early
stages. While there tends to be tremendous
focus on its dazzling, unprecedented scope
and scale, and immediate solutions, the key
to its success is long-term viability for all
stakeholders. In some sectors there is almost
a panic to get underway, as time-honored
operational modes and business models cannot
simply be updated or upgraded to cope with
changing circumstances.
In digital health an aging population in
developed economies and the desperate need
for primary healthcare in emerging markets
cannot be served by the measures in place
now they cant be scaled or rolled out
affordably.
Transportation companies and those whose
businesses rely on workforces in the field
and the delivery of physical goods are under
terrific pressure to improve services while
cutting costs.
There is a growing interest in the connected
car and home in the interests of greater
safety as traffic continues to boom on roads
everywhere (which affects many industries,
including transportation and insurance), and
people want to have more control over and
derive greater convenience from appliances
and energy consumption.
Around the world, energy utilities are facing
radical changes on many fronts. This includes
having to accommodate many small suppliers
of electricity into their grids and manage
everything from network loads to payments,
driven by regulation in many markets. New
competitors like Google are entering the
market and the deployment of smart meters
are putting massive strains on their siloed
data infrastructure, designed to cope with
megabytes, not petabytes and beyond. Further,
4 QUICK INSIGHTS
they need to make much greater and more
diverse use of that data to meet the rising
demand for power.
Whatever the scenario, the commonalities
of their challenges outweigh sector-specific
issues, including the necessity of partnering
to develop and deliver new services
sustainably. In this instance, weve chosen
the energy industry and its similarities to
the communications sector which after all
underpins the whole thing to demonstrate
these principles and possible ways forward.
The key message of this research is dont
waste time, resources and money reinventing
wheels that have been created already
elsewhere. Rather, learn from those whove
tackled similar problems, then adopt, adapt
and partner to innovate, and to gain agility,
competitive advantage, speed and sustainability.
To cite one of the worlds greatest sports
coaches, Be quick, but dont hurry.
Section 1 of our report looks at the Internet
of Things and its challenges and opportunities.
Section 2 examines the challenges particular
to the electricity generating and distribution
companies.
Section 3 looks at work underway to tackle
the challenges of needing new approaches
to operations, infrastructure and partnering to
succeed in the digital age and in particular
the progress of the joint efforts of the
communications and electricity industries
through TM Forum.
Finally, Section 4 outlines some of the
possible new business models and roles
established players could assume within them
to achieve the best outcome for everyone.
All feedback is most welcome you can
contact Annie Turner, Senior Director, Content
via aturner@tmforum.org
www.tmforum.org
The Internet of Things will dwarf the world of primarily
person-to-person communications we know now
Section 1
The dazzling promise of the Internet of Things
challenges and opportunities
As the consumer and commercial worlds
embrace all things digital, the complexity of
integrating and managing digital services is
growing, fast. New services are created every
day through a complex value chain of partners.
This results in growing challenges in delivering
customer satisfaction and long-term success with
new requirements for end-to-end manageability,
security, scalability and efficiency.
The next five years will see 20 to 50 billion
connected devices predictions vary widely.
Whatever the number turns out to be, the
Internet of Things (IoT) will dwarf the world
of primarily person-to-person communications
we know now and will be the next great and
unprecedented disruption to all kinds of
businesses, including the necessity for cross-
industry collaborations, on a massive scale.
It will also introduce new social norms and
demand new business models.
The IoT verticals that are attracting the most
interest and investment right now are:
n digital
health
n smart energy
n transportation
n connected workforce
n connected home
n smart cities.
Viability and sustainability
Critically, this scale and scope has to be
implemented in a viable, sustainable way.
This means not simply looking at what can
be put in place immediately, but at the big
Reworkings are hugely expensive and time-consuming, not least
in terms of integration of systems and processes: They also inhibit
innovation and competitiveness due to their inflexibility.
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question of how best to proceed to avoid huge
overhauls and retro-engineering of processes
and systems as the market matures. Such
reworkings are hugely expensive and time-
consuming, not least in terms of integration
of systems and processes: They also inhibit
innovation and competitiveness due to their
inflexibility, which can, for instance, result in
delays to new service launches.
Further, as many of these services will be
delivered through partnerships, everyone will
need to be able to integrate systems and
processes with third parties. Then there is
the knotty issue of devising a viable business
model that allows sharing of revenue between
the partners. Implementing end-to-end visibility
will often not be possible, so we need to
compensate for this, for example through
sufficiently smart and open application program
interfaces (APIs see the panel on page 6).
Then how do we implement management and
accountability across the value fabric? This has
major implications for operational efficiency,
viability and customer experience.
The role of different players for the delivery
of any service has many variations there
is no right answer. So, for instance, a
communications service provider could play
radically different roles in different services,
ranging from simply providing the transport
guaranteed broadband connectivity for a
digital health service perhaps, to embedding
the connectivity in a complex service bundle
offered by the owner of the communications
infrastructure and branded by them.
QUICK INSIGHTS 5
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ENERGETIC SMART STRATEGIES FOR SUCCESS
This, too, potentially has issues having a
trusted brand as a mobile service provider,
say, doesnt necessarily resonate with energy
customers or patients.
Whatever background the players in the
rapidly emerging digital services ecosystem
come from, they are facing many common
issues. This is a very good time to bear in
mind that innovation is not necessarily about
inventing something new; its often about
using what is already available. Apple didnt
invent the MP3 music format, but it was the
first to figure out how to monetize it and
understand the value of building an ecosystem
of services round a highly desirable device
a lesson Amazon learned and is putting
into action.
The purpose of this Quick Insights
report is to look at the commonalities of the
challenges facing the energy sector as it
grapples with the move to smart energy, and
those the communications industry has faced
and is facing, and the huge opportunities open
to both.
The idea is to see what the two can
take from each other, and how they might
cooperate and compete sometimes at the
same time. Although weve used the electricity
industry as the comparison here, many of the
principles hold good for just about every other
business striving to be digital.
6 QUICK INSIGHTS
Agile API development
TM Forum does a significant amount of work around application program
interfaces (APIs). In 2013 it brought together some of the worlds largest
service providers and suppliers, including Accenture, Amdocs, AsiaInfo
Linkage, BT, Cisco, Ericsson, Huawei, Infonova, Orange and Telefonica O2, to
create and launch the API Zone, which is part of the Open Digital Program.
The API Zone contains a suite of REST-based APIs developed for end-to-
end digital services management, which were defined and developed during
a three-month cycle using agile development techniques. It features the
Catalog Management, Trouble Ticketing, Product Ordering, Performance
Management, SLA Management and Simple Management APIs. They
facilitate sharing of management information and enable the execution of
management functions between partners.
All the APIs were the focus of a Hackathon, held in October 2013, to allow
developers to experience the benefits of using management APIs to simplify
the addition of management capabilities to an application. Approximately
150 developers proved out the APIs, creating more than 25 unique apps in
36 hours. Since then TM Forum has also held spec jams in Paris, Vienna and
Madrid (with more planned), to evolve the original APIs and define new ones
that cover the whole digital services fulfillment cycle. Updated versions of
the original six APIs have already been published on GitHub for anyone to
download, experiment with and implement.
By early December, in time for Digital Disruption 2014, the Forum will have
its own developer portal, with all APIs running on reference implementations
to support real-time interaction, plus a cloud-based sandbox for developers.
All APIs will also be running on Apigees Console and Proxy, so TM Forum
members can run and test them. Access will be through single sign-on
federated ID management.
The Forum is also working on APIs as part of its Zero-touch Orchestration,
Operations and Maintenance (ZOOM) program and has committed to
delivering a program of work by the end of the year that includes integration
with YANG models, so that they can support end-to-end management views
across multiple network technologies and vendor implementations.
Visit TM Forums API Zone to find out more. To find out how you can get
involved in the work, please contact John Wilmes, Director, Open Digital
Ecosystem Project, via jwilmes@tmforum.org
www.tmforum.org
The ability of utilities to successfully manage disruptions
will ease their transition into the smart energy future
Section 2
What is smart energy and what challenges does it bring?
A singularity is the point where old rules break
down. Its a commonly used term in math
and physics, but its equally applicable to the
developed worlds electricity sector. Electric
utilities are in the early stages of a massive,
sector-wide singularity as multiple disruptors
are driving the sectors evolution to smart
energy.
Smart energy is the convergence of digital
energy services with the smart grid. While
these convergences impact natural gas
distribution and water grids as well, electricity
is the sector with the most evolutionary and
revolutionary changes to date.
The disruptive influences are categorized
in terms of technology, policy and finance,
and these will ultimately change the utility
business model for investor-owned utilities,
municipal or publicly-owned utilities, and
rural cooperative utilities in North America,
for example, as well as similar utility entities,
retail electricity providers and distribution
system operators around the world. The ability
of utilities to successfully manage these
disruptions will ease their transition into the
smart energy future.
Technology disruptors
Smart grid solutions based on Internet of
Things (IoT) technologies such as sensors and
machine-to-machine communications (M2M)
are the most important early disruptors in
the electricity sector. However, they are not
alone in contributing to the electricity sectors
singularity and subsequent breakdown of
business-as-usual processes and practices.
Renewable generation sources, particularly
solar generation in the form of highly
distributed rooftop photovoltaic (PV) systems,
are bending the revenue curves for utilities
downwards and challenging existing business
models, which are based on centralized
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generation. In the US alone, there is a new
solar deployment every 2.4 minutes. The
continued downward slide in solar PV prices
leads some estimates of the US markets
potential to go as high as 16 million homes
with year-over-year growth projections as high
as 22 percent.
These smart grid solutions are all equipped
with sensors and actuators that enable remote
monitoring and/or control of their components.
In smart meters they sense and communicate
characteristics of voltage and usage across
wired or wireless networks aligned with
distribution grids. By eliminating manual meter
readings, smart meters could dramatically
change utility operations, from improved
responsiveness to outages to reduced labor
costs and smaller carbon footprints.
Data deluge
Utilities operations and practices are
struggling to manage and make sense of the
increasing volumes of data from devices that
were previously silent. Traditional meters are
manually read on a monthly, quarterly or annual
basis. Smart meters that transmit data every
15 minutes will generate 3,000 data reads
in a month. Utilities are now challenged to
manage terabytes and petabytes of data with
solutions, processes and skillsets designed for
megabytes.
Volume is only one of the four data
challenges confronting utilities today. The other
three are the variety, velocity and veracity of
that data.
The variety is engendered in the rapid
expansion in numbers and heterogeneity
of devices in utility power grids and
communications networks. The velocity of data
ranges from measurements taken every few
milliseconds for mission-critical, high-voltage
grid operations to infrequent or polled data
QUICK INSIGHTS 7
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transmissions which reflect a status change
or inquiry. The veracity of data addresses the
trust that utilities place in the data streams
deluging their operations, as well as the
analyses of that data.
The value of standards
The increasing heterogeneity of devices that
utilities must remotely monitor and control
triggers serious questions about the value of
proprietary systems. Closed systems, typical of
utilities configurations, lack the interoperability
to support integrated operations management
and diminish the future-proofed, long-term
investment value utilities need.
The situation is exacerbated by common
utility practices of creating siloed operations
and reliance on highly customized solutions
with unique processes; all familiar territory to
communications infrastructure owners.
Standards, particularly those that truly
support interoperability, are being emphasized
by more utilities as part of their procurement
requirements to ensure that their technologies
deliver the lowest total cost of ownership
(TCO) over time. Many are wisely concluding
that commercial off the shelf (COTS) solutions
will likely deliver the best TCO.
Challenges of scalability
Increasing numbers of devices and volumes
of data present dual scalability challenges.
First there is a fundamental need for tools and
processes to manage ever-growing numbers
of devices. Second there is making sense
of increasing volumes of data traffic over
public and private networks. Utilities need to
carefully balance priorities for critical data with
ongoing sensitivities about latency and security
requirements.
For instance, encryption of all data may
be desirable, but it comes with a price of
8 QUICK INSIGHTS
increased overhead on communications
networks. Utilities are grappling with complex
decisions to prioritize device data and manage
network capacities along with all their ongoing
power grid management decisions. Their
traditional operations practice of just-in-time
power may be mirrored by just-in-time network
capacity.
The average utility has nine communications
networks. The advent of IoT applications
across the electricity value chain will most
likely increase the number of networks
private and public involved. Management of
hybrid networks is complex, characterized by
business-to-business-any party (B2B2X see
page 9) relationships.
IoT is driving convergences between IT and
operations technology (OT) throughout utilities
operations. OT refers to the systems that are
commonly used to control grid operations, such
as the supervisory control and data acquisition
(SCADA) solutions, energy management,
forecasting and scheduling.
Before smart grid technologies, utility
grid operations had limited stores of data
from their power engineering equipment
and applications to manage grid assets in
their operations or control centers. This
resulted in siloed operations. IoT trends the
rapid increase in the variety of devices, and
associated increases in the volumes and
velocities of data have made clear that this
data has multiple potential uses.
Data silos prevent other departments being
able to correlate and analyze existing and new
sources of data for meaningful information and
insights. For instance, operational status data
about equipment could be leveraged to develop
condition-based maintenance schedules
instead of run-to-failure mode.
The customer care center would benefit
from improved visibility of the status of outage
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These IT and operations technology convergences are
impacting consumers at the edge of the distribution grid
repairs to give customers the most accurate
information. The bottom line is that all utility
departments must work collaboratively with IT
colleagues to gain access to valuable data for
multiple uses.
Benefits of convergence
One of the primary benefits of ongoing IT and
OT convergences is the delivery of new or
improved situational awareness and remote
control to utilities. Traditionally, utilities and grid
operators relied on limited real-time knowledge
of ongoing grid conditions and reacted to
changes in status.
Some industry observers compare these
traditional grid operations to driving a car. If you
are comfortable doing 60 miles per hour on a
crowded highway, with your eyes shut and only
opened briefly every four seconds, then you
have a good understanding of how electricity
grids have been managed. Utilities can now
apply data to make real-time, proactive decisions
that reduce outage times, improve asset
maintenance and aid in long-term planning.
These IT/OT convergences are impacting
consumers at the edge of the distribution
grid. Bundled solutions comprising advanced
analytics with simple user interfaces on mobile
devices make energy management available
to all electricity consumer/prosumer classes
residential, commercial and industrial, and
agricultural. Prosumers (producing consumers)
are the owners of the assets involved in
distributed energy resources and participants in
demand-response programs.
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The entry of companies like Google and Apple
into residential energy management solutions,
and the continuing offers for similar services
as bundled packages from communications
service providers, highlight the growing interest
in energy consumption inside buildings and
dwellings. This is an area that utilities avoided
as the other side of the meter.
Becoming trusted advisors
Utilities are now asked to perform as trusted
advisors to prosumers, and rapidly need to
learn a great deal more about them and how
to communicate with them to satisfactorily
perform that important role. Technology
disruptions will culminate in disruptions to the
utility/consumer relationship and need to be
intelligently managed if utilities are to continue
to own the consumer relationship and
avoid intermediation by new energy service
providers.
While some utilities may have experience
of these new types of service providers
to manage energy efficiency and demand-
response programs, the growing presence of
non-traditional energy suppliers will offer new
possibilities for mutually beneficial B2B2X and
B2C2X relationships.
The role of policy disruptors
Similar to the communications sectors history
of deregulation and divestiture, electricity
utilities are revising strategies and business
processes to address changing regulatory and
legislative landscapes. For the North American
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electricity sector, the old business rules started
crumbling years ago, with initial policy steps
towards deregulation and decoupling.
The situation is similar in other developed
economies around the globe. Local and national
policy initiatives use portfolio standards to
encourage clean, renewable generation
sources. Theres increased emphasis on
energy efficiency programs, and more utilities
and regional planning operations are placing
reliance on demand-response solutions and
services to reduce electricity use at selected
times.
More private businesses and micro grid
projects are exploring the use of new
innovations in technologies, such as combined
heat and power and fuel cells, to distribute
generation and energy storage assets close to
points of consumption.
The old supply chain of remote and
centralized power generation is transforming.
It relies on high voltage transmission grids
to eventually power low voltage distribution
grids and consumers end uses. In contrast,
in the smart energy world, the supply chain
transforms into a value chain or fabric a
mesh of value chains. This includes distributed
energy resources appearing as investments in
residential and commercial scale generation,
In the smart energy world, the supply chain transforms
into a value chain or fabric a mesh of value chains.
10 QUICK INSIGHTS
energy storage and participation in demand-
response or energy efficiency programs which
reduce electricity consumption.
Threats to revenues and grid stability
In nations like Germany and Australia,
distributed energy resources assets, in
the form of rooftop and community solar
deployments, are radically revising utility
revenue growth and creating grid stability
problems. Distributed energy resources are
also gaining acceptance as a valuable strategy
to deliver grid and community resiliency.
As weather patterns include more summer
derechos (widespread, long-lived, straight-line
wind storms associated with a land-based,
fast-moving group of severe thunderstorms)
and polar vortexes, resiliency is discussed at
kitchen tables, in corporate boardrooms, and
government offices.
Prosumers actions based on these
considerations will challenge regulatory
frameworks for utilities by democratizing
generation of both kilowatts and negawatts
(theoretical units of power, measured in
watts, representing an amount of energy
saved). Progressive regulatory agencies
are taking initial steps to modify regulatory
structures.
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Traditional utility B2B and B2C relationships will transform
into more complex consumer and prosumer relationships
Other states will follow the lead of policy
pioneers like the New York Department of
Public Service and California Public Utilities
Commission to dramatically revise utility
business models. Traditional utility B2B and
B2C relationships will transform into more
complex consumer and prosumer relationships
that may include new business partners in
these equations see page 9.
Financial disruptors
At one time, it was inconceivable for anything
other than a utility or other very large entity to
secure financing for power generation. Now
third-party ownership of residential rooftop
systems, in which building owners lease the
solar systems and get a guaranteed price for
their self-generated electricity, is the most
popular financing mechanism to date.
However, theres a growing number of
solar-as-a-service financial models with the
potential to accelerate the already healthy
adoption rates for small-scale distributed
generation. Some utilities have seen solar PV
installations double from one year to the next,
contributing to the erosion of their revenues
from electricity sales.
The same trends will promote rapid
deployment of private energy storage.
Energy storage in both fixed or mobile
There will be new entrants into the electricity sector that
intermediate utilities traditional consumer relationships.
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form may be coupled with solar
generation or offered on a standalone
basis as a resiliency solution. Whatever the
offering, there will be new entrants into the
electricity sector that intermediate utilities
traditional consumer relationships (B2B and
B2C) and add new assets to the grids stability
and capacity.
Rising operating costs
Even as their utilities are required to manage
grids in reliable, safe, and cost-effective ways,
and make investments in the smart grid, there
is real fear that they will only see increasing
operating costs and declining revenues just
like their counterparts in communications
infrastructure. Utilities will have to develop
strategic agility and tactical superiority
to survive and thrive in the smart energy
ecosystem.
The electricity business sector will look
very different on the other side of this
singularity and its varied drivers. A report from
the Solar Electric Power Association (SEPA)
documents one key change underway the
disruptions that renewables put on utilities
organizational structures. How can utilities
successfully navigate the singularity and
emerge as winners? This is the subject of the
next section.
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ENERGETIC SMART STRATEGIES FOR SUCCESS
Section 3
What can energy utilities learn from others?
It is always wise to look at other sectors
that have confronted similar challenges and
learn from their experiences. Heres where
collaboration with the communications sector
and its most important industry organizations
can help utilities evolve into smart energy
service providers and partner with them.
Just like the electricity sector, reliable and
robust communications services are mission-
critical to healthy economic and social
infrastructures. The communications sector
has weathered substantial policy shifts, such
as divestiture and deregulation, which have
had dramatic impacts on their basic services
definitions and business models. It has also
endured sudden and repeated technological
upheavals which have resulted in revenue
erosion in core services (like phone calls and
texting) as it opened up profitable opportunities
for new service offerings.
Communications service providers have
been forced to reinvent themselves, typically
changing from regulated and relatively static
monopoly models into competitive and
dynamic business structures and cultures.
They had to do this to effectively function in
changing market conditions and they, too, face
new entrants that can be both partners and
competitors frenemies. structured forum for collaboration between
Figure 3-1: Key similarities between the electricity and communications sectors
MISSION CRITICAL UNIQUE
OPERATIONS ECOSYSTEMS
n First
responders or n Just-in-time
management of
supporting first responders power deliveries and network
capacities
n Severeeconomic and
social impacts in service n Collaborative,
disruptions cultures
12 QUICK INSIGHTS
From enemy to frenemy
So-called over-the-top (OTT) players like
Google, Apple, Amazon, Facebook and Netflix
originally were seen as the enemy by the
communications industry. Now in many
instances they are partners and share revenues.
This ranges from deals Netflix struck with
Comcast and Verizon in the US to Facebooks
arrangement with Airtel in Zambia.
Internet of Things (IoT) trends have increased
demand for communications network capacity
and more sophisticated systems to manage
multiple networks and large numbers of new,
and often heterogeneous, devices.
The rapid growth of applications and services,
both within smart energy and beyond, creates
a synergistic reliance on robust, secure and
resilient communications networks to reliably
transmit data and commands. This is a
promising arena for collaboration between the
two sectors and it is being explored by pioneers
from both sectors within TM Forum.
Focus on business transformation
TM Forums Open Digital Program is focused
on helping all kinds of businesses transform
to succeed in the digital economy, including
smart energy. It provides a neutral, open and
IoT
IMPACTS
n Explosive
growth of devices
and data traffic
n New networks and increased
mutual aid traffic on existing networks
www.tmforum.org
By leveraging TM Forums Frameworx, utilities can
save a huge amount of time, resources and money
service providers, enterprises and their
suppliers. Its goals are reducing costs and risks
for all parties, and easing the integration of their
systems and processes. The Forum is also
striving to improve business agility all round to
support sustainability and foster growth through
shared knowledge, consensus-built and tested
tools and standards, and practical training.
For utilities, the multiple convergences and
disruptions explored in section 2 will result in
a broad variety of gaps in existing operations.
These will drive new imperatives for IT
transformation, business process optimization
and intelligent actions based on big data analytics.
Free, proven and commercially deployed
By leveraging TM Forums Frameworx (see
page 20), a standards-based suite of tools
and best practices, utilities can save a huge
amount of time, resources and money, by
not reinventing many wheels. These range
from network operational models to customer
experience management and integrated
grid/network cyber security approaches.
Use of these tools and collaboration with
communications companies and their partners
will accelerate transformation into smart energy
organizations. You can read about how a diverse
range of service providers have reaped big
business benefits from Frameworx in our library
of case studies.
The Business Process Framework (eTOM) is a
key element of Frameworx, which contains the
key business processes necessary for efficient,
effective and agile enterprises. Companies
can map their existing business processes to
it to identify gaps and duplications it breaks
functions down into varying levels of detail
and also use it to create new, streamlined
processes, including across partners within
value chains and fabrics, which accelerates and
cuts the cost of integration.
www.tmforum.org
External arm of R&D
The collaborative efforts within TM Forum take
various forms. One is that its members conduct
Catalyst projects where multiple companies
come together to explore how Frameworx
can be leveraged and expanded to address
specific business issues, proposed by any kind
of service provider. Catalyst team members
develop use cases and requirements, and
collaboratively define the test environment for
the application of relevant Frameworx assets.
The results are shared at TM Forum
events and include live demonstrations
and recommendations for new processes,
application program interfaces (APIs), standards,
or other tools. At successive events, the
Catalysts progress to build on their progress,
and the learnings from each Catalyst are fed
back into the Forum and frequently added to
Frameworx for others to implement.
In effect, the Catalyst and other collaborative
activities act as a complementary, external arm
of internal R&D projects, benefiting from shared
expertise and experience.
Catalyst to accelerate smart energy
The smart energy series of Catalyst projects is
designed to demonstrate large-scale integration
points and digital handshakes necessary to
connect utility grid and back-office operations
(and their vendors) with consumers in a digital
services-enabled smart grid.
The result is a connected end-to-end flow
starting point in a consumers home and
culminating in several utility departments. The
Catalyst team members include BT, BC Hydro,
BaseN, Cisco Systems, Esri, Infonova, Quebec
Hydro, Salzburg AG and TOA Technologies.
The team intends to validate whether selected
Frameworx components can be used as-is or
need modifications to address smart energy
applications. In addition to the digital exchanges
QUICK INSIGHTS 13
INTERNET OF THINGS
ENERGETIC SMART STRATEGIES FOR SUCCESS
of data, the Catalyst project incorporates
security considerations into the technology
procurement requirements, data policies and
business practices.
Initial results, next steps
Initial results confirm that there are significant
similarities in how service provisioning is
conducted for communications and electricity
providers that can beneficially accelerate utility
transformations to smart energy organizations.
The Catalyst demonstrated at Nice, France, at
TM Forum Live! in June 2014 generated a great
deal of interest from the energy sector, and
that work was taken to the next phase at the
Forums Digital Disruption event in San Jose,
December 8-11, 2014.
Here the team showed managed use
cases, including security aspects, with scripts,
integrated screens and portals. The project
demonstrates fast disaster recovery with smart
meters, due to quick detection and identification
of what needs to be repaired, replaced,
reconfigured or added. Further, the emphasis
will move beyond detection to being proactive,
from simply identifying weak spots to building
awareness of potential fire hazards, such as
where equipment is sited next to a gas station.
More players join the fray
The increasing numbers of new energy
service providers will also challenge utilities
organizational approaches to partnering. Like
communications companies in the past, they
are accustomed to owning and operating their
own infrastructure, developing services and
managing direct customer relationships. Now
that model is changing as a new smart energy
ecosystem is based, by definition, on multiple
entities working together.
There is a growing need to develop new
processes and incorporate new skills within
14 QUICK INSIGHTS
Figure 3-2: The five aspects of a partnership agreement and how to
align both business and technical activities
Partnership
Agreement &
Business Requirements
Collaboration
Partnering
Monetization Design
Operate Integration
Technical
Reusable Collaboration
Component
Solution
Source: TM Forum
utilities to manage more complex partnerships
and intermediated service deliveries. TM Forum
can help with practical guidance on utility
business and technical resources for enterprises
which need to envision and implement new
services in energy value chains that include
vendor partners and prosumers.
Exploiting experience
How can the experiences of companies in
the communications sector translate to smart
energy? Heres one example. IoT and smart grid
technologies have led to an exponential increase
in communications-enabled devices with
variable latency priorities and quality of service
factors in utility networks, often monitoring and
managing critical grid operations.
Utilities have multiple new and legacy
applications that run on a variety of
www.tmforum.org
Some of these networks are privately owned by
utilities while others are shared public networks
communications pathways. They include
substation fiber rings, automated meter
infrastructure (AMI) networks, wireless
distribution automation networks, and internal
corporate voice and data networks.
Each application and network has its own
management system with data that contains
status updates, alarms and performance
measurements. Some of these networks are
privately owned by utilities while others are
shared public networks.
The rapid adoption and proliferation of smart
phones and tablets created similar challenges
for communications service providers and
network operators. These companies could not
continue in a business-as-usual fashion that
preserved silos between network operations,
customer services and partner (such as content
providers) management. They had to assess
existing data and ICT infrastructures to meet
changing information needs, particularly more
controlled access of more sources of data for
more users.
In other words, they had to break down those
silos to create end-to-end and holistic views of
their combined networks. They are learning how
to harness the volumes, velocities and varieties
of data from these different applications and
networks to maintain situational awareness.
They are now correlating data into meaningful
insights that enhance operations, customer
care, accounting and other departments.
Manager of managers
This is commonly known as a manager
of managers vision and practice in the
communications sector. Electricity utilities are
Communications service providers had to assess existing data
and ICT infrastructures to meet changing information needs.
www.tmforum.org
increasingly recognizing that this approach
works equally well for their combined grid and
network operations. This approach accelerates
the root cause analysis of problems, through
correlations of device status data with other
data inputs. Importantly, it also enables the
coordination of network, grid and cyber security
groups. These are often siloed by location as
much as by tradition.
The series of smart energy Catalyst project
currently underway in TM Forum (see page 13)
leverages this manager of managers concept to
demonstrate its application to utility responses
in a widespread outage scenario. The
opportunities to absorb lessons learned from
the communications sector to improve outage
management and service recovery can save
utilities time and money, as well as improve
customer satisfaction.
Consumers at the center
The valuable collaborations of knowledge and
experiences extend beyond utility grid and
network management functions. Consumer
care and billing not mission-critical operations,
but vital to the ongoing financial health of any
utility also find common ground with service
providers in the communications sector, with
their own provisioning processes for new and
existing customers.
As more electricity consumers transform
into electricity prosumers (consumers who
also contribute energy they have generated),
utilities will develop new strategies to deal with
different consumer and prosumer segments
based on advanced analytics.
Customer care resources will have to closely
QUICK INSIGHTS 15
INTERNET OF THINGS
ENERGETIC SMART STRATEGIES FOR SUCCESS

work with their IT colleagues as strategic Exploiting expertise

partners to help manage more complex
consumer and prosumer engagement
programs and relationships. There will also
be new reliance on collaborations with grid
operations beyond the traditional outage
management and recovery activities.
In the future, distributed energy resources
assets that are owned by prosumers may
factor into utilities integrated resource plans.
Prosumers engagement will necessitate new
architectures and policies for data aggregation
and correlation that comply with privacy
requirements. These strategic initiatives will
also create more complexity in tariff designs
and billing deployments.
This variation of the typical utility IT and
operations technology convergence
discussions focus almost exclusively
these days on grid operations and
management can exploit expertise from
the communications sector to learn how
sophisticated analytics are deployed to reduce
customer churn and target services for cross-
sell or upsell programs.
Their experiences in working with both
structured data and unstructured data, which
is often derived from social media sources,
will be invaluable to electric utilities to bridge
gaps and successfully transform into smart
energy enterprises.

This variation of the typical utility IT and operations technology

convergence can exploit expertise from the communications
sector to learn how sophisticated analytics are deployed.

16 QUICK INSIGHTS www.tmforum.org

Utility grid operations cannot survive without
robust and secure communications networks.
Section 4
New business models and partnership opportunities
Territory footprint, population densities and
local geographies influence utility decisions
about appropriate communications networks
to support grid operations. A senior utility
executive made a statement that received
unanimous agreement at a recent industry
conference. He stated that utility grid
operations could not survive without robust
and secure communications networks.
There is a burgeoning expansion of
specialized machine-to-machine (M2M)
networks which include radio frequency
mesh or point to multipoint, fiber, cellular,
microwave, satellite and power line carrier
(PLC) technologies. They can support dedicated
or multiple advanced smart energy applications.
Priorities, latency and security
These networks are heterogeneous in
technologies and hybrid in ownership since
they include privately owned networks as
well as facilities leased from communications
service providers. Within these networks,
theres a wide range of differing sensitivities in
latency, security and priority.
For instance, the specialized sensors
which monitor conditions on high voltage
transmission grids are transmitting data
every 20 milliseconds to ensure the optimal
operations of these critical assets. The network
that supports this data traffic has different
priorities and quality of service requirements
for that data than the network that carries
the daily smart meter readings in a utilitys
distribution grid.
Utilities can partner with communications infrastructure owners
that have fiber to the home networks, which can... transition
from traditional operations into smart energy operations.
www.tmforum.org
Many communications service providers
have investments in scalable and flexible
networks which can readily accommodate
utility applications. For instance, utilities can
partner with communications infrastructure
owners that have fiber to the home (FTTH)
networks, which can readily handle data-
intensive applications, to transition from
traditional operations into smart energy
operations.
These FTTH networks are handling bi-
directional traffic for meter and home signaling
and load control. Many utilities already
incorporate cellular networks in their ongoing
communications operations or as part of
their disaster recovery plans. However, for
some utilities, ensuring reliable last-mile
communications in their distribution grids can
be a challenge.
Spectrum that satisfies utility requirements
for coverage and propagation may be owned
by a communications carrier. Terrain challenges
may have already been resolved by that carrier
using the latest IP broadband technologies.
Building out a separate and duplicative
network can run into millions of dollars of
initial and ongoing costs that can be avoided
via partnerships with the owners of existing
infrastructure.
Integrated network management
Heterogeneous and hybrid communications
networks also place a greater emphasis on
integrated network management of new
and legacy systems which support mission-
QUICK INSIGHTS 17
INTERNET OF THINGS
ENERGETIC SMART STRATEGIES FOR SUCCESS
critical electric, water and gas operations.
Communications service providers have
the specialized expertise to assist utilities
in managing their diverse communications
networks. That expertise allows utilities to
focus on their core competencies in grid
operations.
Collaborative partnerships in communications
network services can be especially welcomed
by utilities, which have resource and funding
limitations. Communications service providers
can be important partners to ensure that the
networks utilities rely on remain optimized for
quality, performance, security and robustness.
Otherwise, there are big, upfront costs for
utilities to stay current with the latest upgrades
and releases in communications technologies.
It is also costly for utilities to train resources
to stay up to date with these technologies
and maintain plans for network upgrades.
Partnerships with communications service
providers can offload these costs from utilities
and allow utilities to dedicate investments to
substation upgrades, distribution management
systems and other measures to improve grid
operations.
Responding to natural disasters
Additionally, both communications service
providers and electricity utilities are often the
Communications service providers have the specialized expertise to
assist utilities in managing their diverse communications networks.
18 QUICK INSIGHTS
first responders in natural disasters without
their combined services, police, fire and
medical services cannot function effectively.
Leveraging communications service providers
expertise in network optimization can speed
diagnostics and resolution of workforce and
operational grid communications problems.
Ultimately this results in shorter outage times
for utilities which are then free to focus on
solving power delivery issues.
Live, successful partnerships
Smart energy applications such as distributed
automation devices or transmission grid
monitoring deliver significantly more data
over communications networks. The network
conditions are dynamic and complicated,
with different quality of service requirements
for different applications. Communications
infrastructure providers are experienced at
engineering robust and secure networks for
a variety of traffic volumes and priorities.
Utilities can leverage that in-depth experience
to manage the complexities of multiple utility
networks and reducing network operating
costs for utilities.
An electricity utility in the Philippines
planning a transmission upgrade partnered with
a local communications service provider to
deliver the communications infrastructure and
www.tmforum.org
Communications service providers have the tools and skills
developed from device management to assist utilities
optimize its operations while keeping
capital investments focused on power grid
solutions. This is also one of the primary
motivators for two Italian companies, utility
Enel and Telcom Italia, to explore synergies
in their respective operations and expertise.
Innovative and scalable solutions that share
infrastructure to maximize asset value and
reduce costs can benefit subscribers to
both services.
Distributed electricity generation
Many utilities are also contending with
increasing numbers of distributed generation
assets that are registering as small generators.
Their legacy systems are often inflexible
and unable to accommodate this growth.
Communications service providers have
the tools and skills developed from device
management to assist utilities in tasks ranging
from workflow optimization, such as electronic
submission of interconnect requests, to asset
tracking procedures to automate identification
of distributed generation type, capacity,
location and performance.
As-a-service
Other opportunities to work together in smart
grid-as-a-service or cloud-based solutions
include utilities turning to communications
Utilities will evolve from established electricity supply chain
service providers into electricity value chain service providers.
www.tmforum.org
companies for help in building private
clouds with the latter in the role of project
integrator. Smaller utilities, including
municipals and rural cooperatives, may find
compelling business value in leveraging
broadband networks, computing assets and
IT skills for specific applications such as
smart meters and meter data management,
or meter-to-cash services.
Cloud computing is a de-risked strategic
path for utilities as they transition to a
smart energy world. Reliance on a cloud
platform offers utilities flexibility, scalability
and upgradability for computing and
communications assets and applications as
they grapple with declining revenue trends
and policy shifts.
Business transformations always have risks
associated with them. In the ongoing smart
energy transformations, utilities will evolve
from established electricity supply chain
service providers into electricity value chain
service providers. Utilities dont have to face
the multiple challenges identified in this Quick
insights report alone.
For more information about TM Forums
activities in Internet of Things and smart
energy, visit www.tmforum.org/IoT or contact
Craig Bachmann, Senior Director, Open Digital
Program via cbachmann@tmforum.org
QUICK INSIGHTS 19
INTERNET OF THINGS
ENERGETIC SMART STRATEGIES FOR SUCCESS
FRAMEWORX
AND HOW CAN IT HELP YOU?
Adopted by 91 percent of the worlds largest
service providers, TM Forums Frameworx suite
of standards-based tools and best practices
continues to be the most widely used blueprint for
effective, efficient business operations. TM Forum
members can now download and use all the tools,
best practices, standards, APIs and interfaces
found in the current release, Frameworx 14, with a
new version released in December 2014.
That evolution will include significant
enhancements including digital transformation
with network functions virtualization (NFV), open
digital ecosystem around partnering and APIs,
and additions to customer centricity from
omnichannel to more use cases for customer
experience and data analytics. You can find
details of Frameworx 14.5 at www.tmforum.org/
Frameworx14.5.
As proof points on the success of Frameworx,
this latest edition of TM Forums Case Study
Handbook features nine, diverse service providers
success stories highlighting how they harnessed
the potential of Frameworx to successfully
address a range of business transformation issues.
See www.tmforum.org/casestudies
A total of 82 products, solutions and
implementations, from 34 unique companies
(both service providers and suppliers) have had
their products, solutions and implementations
certified as conformant to Frameworx through
TM Forums Conformance Certification program.
In fact, 72 percent of service providers certified in
TM Forums Frameworx adoption survey mandate
Frameworx in many or all specifications, and 75
percent claim that whether or not a product or
solution is conformant has an important influence
on their buying decision.
Collaboration is key
Transforming to be a successful digital business
demands more than simply embracing new
technology; it requires a fundamental change in how
20 QUICK INSIGHTS
a company thinks and operates, including embracing
agile methodologies, forging strong partnerships
internally, truly understanding the needs of the
customer, opening up to partners, and much more.
Frameworx 14 delivers critical tools, best
practices and a common taxonomy essential to
successful digital transformation, and showcases
how the Forum is uniting our members to
collaborate on common challenges and raising
their collective chances of success.
Key features of Frameworx 14 include NFV
specifications and user stories; REST APIs; new
big data analytics case studies; innovative new
privacy scoring techniques; and a new approach
to managing customer engagement with an
integrated maturity model, lifecycle model and
metrics, among others.
Frameworx 14 centers around the crucial issues
facing service providers of all kinds in an open
digital economy.
These are reflected in TM Forums three
Strategic Programs:
n Agile Business and IT focuses on improving
operational agility while reducing cost and risk;
n Open Digital is designed to drive new digital
services revenue growth;
n Customer Engagement targets better market
share retention and greater growth.
Constant evolution
Frameworx was created by TM Forums members
and is constantly evolving to meet their changing
business needs. Members, including every type of
service provider, software suppliers, integrators,
universities and enterprises, establish project
priorities and lead collaborative project groups to
implement the work and create updates to the
standards and best practices.
While Frameworx major releases are published
every six months, some features of Frameworx 14
(released in June 2014) were developed in short-
www.tmforum.org
TM Forums Frameworx is adopted by 91 percent
of the worlds largest service providers
term, agile-style projects and have been made
available to the broader membership in advance.
Frameworx releases cover the full suite of
TM Forums best practices and standards,
including our core Frameworks Business Process,
Information, Application and Integration as well
as our Business Metrics and API libraries, and our
broad range of best practices and implementation
guidance. Frameworx 14 is no exception, with 53
new items across the architecture.
Frameworx 14 facts:
n 13 projects were chartered to create this release;
n 160 companies participated in creating the
deliverables;
n About 483 individuals joined projects in the
community approximately 40 percent of them
were active contributors, while the rest had the
opportunity to observe and review, comment or
ask questions.
New REST APIs to accelerate members
integration strategies
TM Forum has defined a comprehensive set of
Accelerators to speed up members partner and
integration strategies for the implementation of
digital services through comprehensive new best
practices and REST APIs for performance and
service level management.
Big Data Analytics Guidebook (V2.0.2 released
in September 2014)
Unleash the power of big data using the new
reference model and best fit implementation
methodology. The document defines a crucial
linkage between business value that big data
analytics can unlock and the technologies and
information sources in the documents Big Data
Reference Model. The document contains 13 new
use cases for big data applications such as real-
time personalized offers, proactive care and churn
prediction.
www.tmforum.org
Security: Innovative new privacy score
New innovative privacy score methodology to
better understand the status of where member
companies focus on privacy and their readiness,
with a specific focus from the customers
perspective.
NFV exploratory reports and use cases
NFV use cases and exploratory reports are helping
shape the future of Frameworx. Three new NFV
exploratory reports focus on API mapping, GAP
analysis and MANO business drivers. A number
of member-led NFV projects are underway, with
particular focus on NFV operational readiness,
end-to-management in an NFV environment and
DevOps also see page 13 for information on our
program of Catalyst projects.
Extensions to product lifecycle management
processes and mappings for cable companies
Tactical solutions using the Business Process
Frameworx, Information Framework and
Frameworx Metrics for real-world problems in
rolling out new cable services.
Enhancements to core Frameworks
There are new additions to all four Frameworks
to extend their member value for costs and risk
reduction. More information about how Frameworx
14 applies to you and your business, can be
accessed at www.tmforum.org/Frameworx14.
QUICK INSIGHTS 21
Sponsored feature

Putting smart to work with

operational data management
Rick Woods, Vice President, Product Management, CSG International

In todays highly connected and networked economies, its not surprising to find that utilities and CSPs face
similar challenges, like how to transform the vast quantity and variety of data coming from their operational
networks into actionable insights for a profitable and growing business. By examining the data management
strategies that CSPs have employed to ensure the right information is captured, verified, and distributed
to the many enterprise applications, utilities can leap-frog past the digital challenges and pitfalls, and
accelerate their own data-driven business initiatives.
Sensors are becoming ubiquitousin Reaping the benefits of IoT will require produces a deluge of data, collecting
mobile devices, wearables, smart enterprises to cost-effectively monitor multiple data points which provide event
meters. Machine-to-machine (M2M) and manage their networked devices and and consumption information about
communications is the hot topic as more promptly analyze their vast new stores energy delivered to the service delivery
and more devices are connected in of data for continuous improvements and point. And multiple departments within
the Internet of Things (IoT), generating profitable growth. Finding new, agile, the utility are interested in different
volumes of valuable data that can be and effective means to connect devices, aspects of the collected datafor billing,
analyzed and acted upon to enable both platforms, applications, suppliers, and network management and optimization,
efficiencies in current processes and the customers to extract greater bottom- forecasting, outage management,
creation of new services across a variety line value will be a significant challenge customer service, and more. But
of industry segments. Cisco predicts shared by all enterprises, but it is a utilities, like so many businesses today,
that $14.4 trillion in potential bottom-line challenge acutely felt by utilities today as are struggling to digest and distribute
value will be created as companies and they implement smart meters and build their data quickly and cost-effectively.
industries worldwide harness the Internet the Smart Grid. Without a smart implementation strategy
of Things over the next decade.1 to adeptly handle this data, along with
According to the 2014 Global Business Avoiding the high cost of progress the integration of even more new
Services Survey, a survey of 800 According to Energy Digital, utilities will devices and applications generating
businesses in eight countries/regions spend $100 billion in capital investments and consuming this data, staying on
conducted by MachNation on behalf over the next 18 years to replace power a profitable path and making progress
of CSG, IoT will soon be as important plants, implement new technologies, and towards a Smart Grid will become an
a technology to large enterprises as meet changing regulatory requirements. even more expensive proposition.
unified communications (UC), and more Take for example smart meters, an Luckily, this particular challenge is
important than social networking and investment that has allowed utilities one the communication service provider
mobile payments. Certainly smart meters, to replace the manual, time-intensive community has collaborated on to
one of the earliest heralded use cases for process of reading meters on a monthly develop some best practices, and
the Internet of Things, are fundamental basis with sensors capable of providing through the TM Forum Frameworx
to the utilities industrys Smart Grid usage data at 15-minute intervals, provided a strategic roadmap that utilities
initiatives, which some forecast to 24x7x365. Quite a change! can emulate to accelerate their own
increase the efficiency of todays Yet utilities existing data management initiatives using proven, cost-effective
systems by more than 9%, saving more systems have faltered in the face of methods for acquiring, validating and
than 400 billion kilowatt-hours or architectural limitations and large- distributing data.
$42 billion annually.2 scale, complex data. Each smart meter

22 QUICK INSIGHTS www.tmforum.org

The best teacher is a good example
CSPs too are in the midst of deploying
the latest network systems and
technology, a change that doesnt
happen overnight, but rather is achieved
in measured steps to continue on
a profitable path. However, quickly
launching new digital services has
in some cases necessitated creating
new silos and closing gaps between
existing systems. With margins declining
and fierce competition for customers
increasing, CSPs needed to find cost-
effective solutions that leverage their
current systems and investments
while still accelerating their service
introduction efforts.
www.tmforum.org
Following TM Forums Frameworx,
many CSPs have turned to state-of-the-
art mediation solutions to bridge the gaps
between their disparate systemsnew
and existingand facilitate the flow
of information in the right formats, to
the right users and applications, at the
right times to accelerate new service
launches. Originally used by CSPs to
assemble complete billing records out
of the switch data gleaned from network
elements, mediation is so named for
its rolemediating data between
systems. In its simplest form, mediation
acquires, manages, and distributes
data to/from a variety of systems and
applications which may only accept
data in a limited set of formats.
Today, mediation not only ensures
information is accurately acquired,
managed, and distributed amongst a
variety of systems and users, it also helps
service providers of all types:
n Reliably process vast transaction
volumes
n Quickly implement new business
requirements
n Easily meet internal and external
auditing requirements
n Consistently lower total cost of
ownership and deliver a fast ROI.
QUICK INSIGHTS 23
Sponsored feature
Putting smart to work with
operational data management
Mediation is a strategic tool in the IT/
OT architecture because it extends the
value of existing systems and applications
and provides a framework for the future
and the growing use of analytics.
Like their CSP counterparts, utilities
need to accelerate their pace on the
path to operational evolution, by taking
immediate, manageable steps that produce
measurable business results while still
taking the long view. Operational, business
and command/control systems across
the utility infrastructure were architected
to produce, deliver and consume data in
a singular format via a singular system
or user. However, as grid modernization
evolves and IT/OT converge, downstream
systems require specific subsets of data
integrated from multiple upstream systems
(e.g. AMI and/or SCADA) or vice-versa.
Integrating these diverse systems and
applications so that data can flow between
them has been complex, costly, and can be
overwhelming to maintain. The next step
to evolving the modern utility and unlocking
the potential value for enterprise and
operational efficiencies is following a similar
path to that of the CSP by satisfying the
need for the right data, at the right time, in
the right formats, to the right systemsa
step utilities can take today with the right
operational data management solution.
Operational data management
An operational data management
platform is built on the same principles
that underlie mediations proven
1
http://www.cisco.com/web/about/ac79/docs/innov/IoE_Economy.pdf
2
http://www.whatissmartgrid.org/smart-grid-101
24 QUICK INSIGHTS
fundamental capabilities. Operational data
management allows data from a utilitys
disparate systems to be collected,
managed and distributed correctly to
provide actionable intelligence on the
stability and resilience of the power
grid, renewable and distributed energy
resources, regulatory compliance and
customer experience.
Developed to help enterprises
solve the data challenges which are
present across all organizations and
industry domains, the operational data
management (ODM) platform:
n Enables the acquisition of data from
any and all of the disparate systems
collecting event and consumption
(state) data from utilities energy and
communication networks
n Provides the business intelligence to
validate, analyze, correlate, aggregate,
filter and transform the data across the
various disparate data streams
n Provides the framework to automate
human-in-the-loop and closed loop
business and operational processes
n Delivers the right data in the right
formats to the right systems and users
at the right time
n Provides an auditable, bi-directional
transaction brokerage for transaction
delivery, information delivery and
control of devices in the network.
While network and system silos may
still exist, when using an ODM solution
the data from these systems can be
used appropriately throughout the entire
operation. More importantly, this data
becomes more powerful due to the
collation and enrichments provided by an
ODM solution.
Smart data management
The Internet of Things has the ability to
transform businesses with the infusion
of large amounts of data acquired from
a multitude of devices. And utilities, like
CSPs, must be capable of extracting
the wealth of information from the data
and putting it to work in the enterprise.
Proven and cost-effective methods to do
this are in use today.
Whether its called mediation or
operational data management, employing
a data management framework that
utilizes a single centralized platform
to streamline processing, increase
efficiency, speed time to action, and
lower costs is a smart data management
strategy.
Proven in a variety of industries
most notably communicationsand
at enterprises with large volumes of
complex data that serve customers with
complex products and pricing bundles,
operational data management is the key
to addressing the challenges utilities
face in gathering and utilizing data for
enhanced insights, and establishes the
foundation for future system, network
and service evolution.
www.tmforum.org
Are you ready to shape the future of digital business?
Collaborate with these leading companies on IoT.

Get engaged in the community at

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