Enabling the
Utility Business
of the Future
ACCENTURE UTILITIES
Bringing traditional and new products
and services together in the cloud

04
Utilities
require new
strategies
Contents
12
Building the
foundation of
the future
19
Enabling new
business with
utilities cloud
24
Planning your
transformation

Delivering new
energy experiences
for future growth

Utilities
require new
strategies

The business context:
Slower-growing margins, new business models
Changing customer expectations
Their new normal is a connected energy experience across traditional and new products and services
Digital tech exposes new opportunities
Including digital customer journeys, online sales and services, personalisation and AI-driven customer operations
Slower demand for energy
As electrification of transport and heating are offset by energy efficiency measures and distributed energy resources
The race to renewables
They’re competing with and beating traditional generation sources on price
Businesses make climate commitments
Alongside increasingly ambitious government-led sustainability targets and regulation
Investors want sustainable businesses
The financial industry looks to innovative, green-focused utilities as the energy business of the future
New competitors are moving in
Auto manufacturers, tech companies, oil and gas majors and start-ups are all looking to capture part of the market

The energy
transition is here,
and now is the time
for energy companies to
capitalize.
We’ve identified four
strategic plays to
execute on the
emerging
opportunities,
depending on the
individual context.

Now is the time for energy companies
to seize the initiative
Commodity focus, with value-added
services to improve retention
Focuses on increasing customer
lifetime value by offering extra
services to drive perceived value and
customer “stickiness” without the
intent to generate additional profit.
Energy value
provider
1 Adding “status quo” services in
tandem with commodity
In addition to commodity sales, this
play includes offering closely related
“status-quo” home services
(e.g. smart home) to customers—with
the intent to generate additional profit.
Energy & home
services provider
2 Offering future-forward energy
products and services
Provides products and services for
emerging opportunity areas like
energy management, distributed
energy resources, electronic vehicles
and flexibility, with the intent to tap
into new and fast-growing profit pools.
Pivoting into manufacturing, technology services
related to the energy transition, and addressing
other emerging needs in the new power
ecosystem.
Connected energy services
provider
3
Beyond
energy
4
Source: Accenture Research – New Energy Consumer 2020

Energy value provider
What?
Focus on commodity, and offer value-added services to
retain more customers
How?
This means focusing on increasing a customer’s lifetime
value by offering extra services
Why?
To drive perceived value and customer ‘stickiness’, without
the aim of generating additional profit
1

Energy and home services provider
What?
Adding extra available services to customers, alongside the
commodity
How?
Businesses can offer home services closely related to
commodity sales, such as smart home technology
Why?
These extra services are designed to generate additional
profit
2

Connected energy services provider
What?
Offering innovative energy products and services
How?
By providing products and services for emerging
opportunities, such as energy management, distributed
energy resources, electronic vehicles and flexibility
Why?
To tap into new and fast-growing opportunities for profit
3

Beyond energy
What?
Pivoting into manufacturing and technology services related to
the energy transition
Addressing other emerging needs in the new power ecosystem
4

Making it real,
Building the
foundation
of the future

Energy companies can go beyond the traditional
commodity model to drive growth
Switching from a high-volume,
low-margin business
• It takes both evolution and revolution
• Optimising the core business and supporting new business models
• With the right platform in place, this challenging transition can go smoothly
A low-volume,
high-margin business
Transforming the traditional
business capabilities
Digital, intelligent and
automated capabilities

Reimagining
and enabling the
utility business of
the future, together
Transform the business model to become more agile and efficient,
achieving business goals and outperforming the competition.

A digital cloud platform drives flexibility
and intelligence, and takes core
capabilities to the next level.
Utilities cloud:
bringing the platform
for success to life

Front office transformation
Shifting from traditional marketing, sales and service capabilities to
intelligent marketing, digital sales and automated self-service capabilities.
Deregulation processes for the market communication must become part
of the cloud software, so updates of regulatory changes happen
automatically, saving time and effort.
Back office transformation
Moving from the classic meter-to-cash process to a lead-to-cash process,
supporting commodity and non-commodity operations.
Implementing a digital platform
Drives flexibility and intelligence while core capabilities are taken to the
next level.
1
2
The transition to a connected energy business requires
3

The benefits
of utilities cloud
Intelligent marketing
Enables new business models supporting commodity
and non-commodity operations and bundles of
products and services
Digital sales
Provide an online storefront with central product
catalogue where customers can buy commodity,
non-commodity and bundles
Automated service
With streamlined end-to-end operations to enhance
customer experience, including self-service
processes, supported by bots and digital assistants
Order to cash
Non-differentiating processes in the back office can
be optimised through simplification, standardisation
and automation

The benefits of utilities cloud
Digital platform
• Deregulation processes are provided as a service
• Central and streamlined data model with best practice from end to end,
integrated across every building block
• Transform legacy infrastructure into a decoupled platform for increased
flexibility and extensibility
• Central data hub and integrated external source to enable a full 360-view
of the customer and a foundation for new business models
• Gain insight into existing customer base and behaviour, with details of
activity and more efficient processes
• Enhance the agent experience with consistent user experiences and
intelligent system (ML/AI) support
• Fully cloud enabled, with a SaaS license model and continuous innovation
• Runs on a hyper-scaler for increased scalability, and can be combined
with differentiating capabilities of the cloud platform
New business models enable additional revenue streams
Decoupling drives flexibility and extensibility
Intelligence increases efficiency and customer satisfaction
Cloud solution comes with continuous innovation and scalability

Enabling
new business
with utilities cloud

Your customers expect a tailored service.
Your route to transformation is equally unique.
There are many ways to get there:
• Transformation could start in the front office, back office or both
• You could leave your commodity business as is and set up a new business
in the cloud, migrating when the time is right
To succeed:
• Define the future role you want to play as a utility
• Set out the guiding architecture that supports your goals and gives you flexibility to transform
• Find your right path to get to the destination – consider business value, business priorities and
technology readiness From other projects I know that ‘North Star’ is a term that Accenture
uses a lot. I’ve taken it out of the presentation as it may seem like consultancy speak, but we
can add back in if needed.

Move at your own pace
Transform the customer experience first, the back office, or both at once

SAP® Cloud for Utilities
• Combines SAP Customer Experience functionality with SAP S/4HANA® for efficient back office operations
• Cloud for Utilities represents the digital platform of the Cloud for Utilities with all its benefits
• Links front and back office, handling the complexities of a modern architecture for both traditional and new
business processes
The strengths of SAP
• Strong solutions for digital marketing, sales and service to enhance customer experiences
• Simplifies, automates and integrates back office processes
• A cloud-native digital platform that is unique in the industry
Cloud for Utilities in detail
• An extensible, central data model that gives a 360-view of customers across business areas and software
• Based on microservices and comes with open APIs that can be consumed easily by any application
• Drives decoupling for utilities, increases flexibility and enables extensibility of the SAP system’s core with additional
data sources and business applications
Probably the most complete end-to-end solution for traditional and new business models

Accenture and SAP
• Accenture is co-developing the SAP Cloud for Utilities software, focusing on the digital platform
• We collaborate with a consortium of customers to understand their needs and challenges
• This encourages innovation in partnership, creating solutions relevant for the industry
Accenture’s expertise:
• Extensive experience in the utilities sector
• Proven approach for business and IT transformation
• Knowledge of new as-a-Service business models
• Agility in applying technology innovations
• Experience in integrating solutions and partners within one architecture
The landscape is open, enabling businesses to leverage multiple applications – with Accenture as the
perfect partner to orchestrate transformation

Planning your
transformation

Milestones on your journey to transformation
Your strategy – the role you want to play in
the energy ecosystem. This is the foundation
for all the steps you need to take to succeed
You may have needs and goals that are similar to other utility businesses, but the role you want to play and the
priorities that define your transformation are unique.
Your architecture – this guides your journey
and must be based on your strategy. It’s your
blueprint for transforming technology
Your priorities – these will determine the
path you take to achieve your strategy
1 3
2

Conclusion:
Technology &
Business Capabilities
Technology & business capabilities go hand
in hand as you work towards your optimum
architecture, unleashing value and enabling
speedy transformation
4

How we can help:
• Assess your current situation and define your future needs
• Develop a value case (2-3 weeks) and a comprehensive
business case and roadmap (2 months) for your transition
• Define a future-proof architecture based on your needs
• Support your transformation at every step:
• During pre-planning and preparation
• When implementing the transformation
• For taking care of your application landscape
• In running your business process operations
Let’s get started on
your transformation

We bring you unique capabilities:
• Industry benchmarks, leading assets and best
practices with Accenture myConcerto
• Industry-specialised capabilities to
support you throughout the journey
• Co-development partnership with SAP
You can rely
on Accenture

Vincent Nguyen
vincent.nguyen@accenture.com
Benjamin Bender
benjamin.bender@accenture.com
AboutAccenture
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