TRC Managed Services Minimize Resource Requirements and Maximize Enterprise Value
Snohomish County Public Utility District (SnoPUD) is a public utility serving northwestern Washington, including the city of Everett. As the 12th largest public utility in the United States, SnoPUD provides electricity and water services to approximately 875,000 residents. Known for its innovative approach to leveraging technology for improved operations, SnoPUD is unafraid to challenge the status quo, pilot new technologies and adapt quickly to changing circumstances. This forward-thinking mindset led them to embark on an ambitious Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) program called “Connect Up” to modernize their metering systems and improve customer service.
Challenge
SnoPUD faced several challenges as they sought to implement their AMI program and upgrade their meter data management system (MDMS) as part of the implementation. The utility needed a solution that could handle the massive increase in data volume, moving from a few hundred meters being read daily to 400,000 meters being read every 5 minutes, resulting in over 160,000 million reads per day.
They also wanted to minimize the strain on their internal IT resources and reduce implementation time, leveraging outside expertise and experience in implementing enterprise systems specifically for utility business processes.
After careful evaluation and assessment, SnoPUD opted for a cloud-based solution with the goal of seamless scalability to adjust resources as data volume increased. This would be vital as the number of smart meters and the frequency of data collection increased. The cloud infrastructure could accommodate changes in demand, ensuring that the MDMS system can handle growing meter counts and data volumes without significant hardware investments.
Implementing a cloud-based solution would enable faster deployment compared to an on-premise solution. SnoPUD could avoid lengthy setup processes involving hardware procurement and installation. This allows organizations to realize value quickly and leverage an MDMS to drive business outcomes sooner.
“We wanted to stay current with all these business requirements driving our AMI investment,” said Marc Rosson, Enterprise Architect, SnoPUD.” To do that, you must have the skills to support the database, the operating system, software products and more. A managed service cloud checked all those boxes.”
SnoPUD’s top challenges included:
- Handling a massive increase in data volume from AMI implementation
- Minimizing strain on internal IT resources
- Reducing implementation time for the new MDMS
- Ensuring ongoing support and maintenance for the system
- Keeping the system up-to-date with the latest features and upgrades
SnoPUD selected TRC to help them overcome these obstacles due to our expertise in cloud-based solutions and our partnership with Siemens and its Gridscale X MDM product. TRC was the only services company partnering with a best-in-class MDMS to present a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) based solution. This aligned perfectly with SnoPUD’s cloud-first approach to IT systems, which they had already applied to other business systems.
Solution
TRC provided a comprehensive solution to SnoPUD’s challenges, leveraging its cloud infrastructure and meter data management expertise. The solution centered around implementing Siemens’ Gridscale X MDMS as a cloud-based, managed service offering. This approach allowed SnoPUD to benefit from faster deployment times, reduced dependency on internal staff for infrastructure management, and improved overall support.
The upgraded MDMS will serve as the central hub for data obtained from SnoPUD’s AMI system. It receives raw meter data collected by smart meters through the AMI network and performs several critical functions.
TRC’s key services included:
- MDMS system integration and implementation
- Cloud infrastructure setup and management
- Ongoing support and maintenance
- System upgrades and enhancements
- 24/7 monitoring and alerting
“We provided both the MDMS systems integration, implementing the MDM as part of the implementation project, and also the MDM managed services provider after the project,” said Joe Tellez, TRC. “This included everything from requirements to design, business process workshops, configuration, testing, and commissioning, as well as ongoing support and maintenance, upgrades, enhancements and monitoring of the MDM.”
In addition to implementation and integration support, SnoPUD relied on TRC for post-go-live support. This freed up staff to focus on higher-priority work that accelerated the realization of data driven benefits from operational insights of AMI data instead of learning new highly specialized skills to support and maintain the new system.
“TRC has consistently shown a willingness to collaborate with us in a flexible and professional manner, accommodating change requests beyond scope limitations,” said Adam Peretti, AMI Technology Manager, SnoPUD. “They have worked closely with us to determine the best way forward that benefitted both the District and could be incorporated into their service offerings to others.”
The TRC cloud-based solution offers robust data security measures, including monitoring for events and anomalies in the cloud and routine security patching of the application. This ensures that sensitive information is protected without requiring additional IT upgrades. The cloud infrastructure also supports automated backups and disaster recovery options, minimizing the risk of data loss.
Leveraging the cloud makes it easy to carry out software updates, security patches and feature enhancements. It ensures that the system always has the latest capabilities and is protected against emerging threats without manual intervention, while at the same time reducing the burden on internal IT teams and ensuring that the solution remains modern, reliable, and secure over time.
Finally, cloud MDMS solutions streamline the collection and management of meter data, operating as a single, central repository instead of separate, inconsistently managed systems. Utilities can apply specific validation rules to ensure incoming data is consistent and accurate before storing it, improving overall data quality and operational efficiency.
“By choosing TRC, we had them implement the solution from a project perspective, which was great because it didn’t require us to have Oracle or Kafka expertise,” said Rosson. “Entering into a managed service agreement with TRC for the post-go-live implementation and support was an obvious choice for us.”
Results
Implementing TRC’s cloud-based MDMS solution has yielded significant advantages for SnoPUD. The utility has accelerated the benefits of its AMI investment to its customer base, especially since IT staff are not bogged down by managing an application and the corresponding infrastructure.
The solution supplies the flexibility and support to maintain AMI excellence while adapting to change. For example, staff can directly access applications and data to identify issues and optimize performance quickly.
“Having full read access to the database is incredibly beneficial,” said Peretti. “It allows us to quickly build queries, generate reports and resolve business issues that are not immediately supported in the application.”
The ongoing managed service relationship has enabled SnoPUD to successfully implement its AMI program while minimizing internal resource requirements and accelerating benefits. This ensures that SnoPUD can leverage the data to improve customer service and operational efficiency while TRC handles the technical aspects of system management and upgrades.
Cloud-based benefits include:
- Faster deployment and upgrade cycles
- Reduced internal IT resource requirements
- Improved system reliability and performance
- Enhanced ability to explore advanced use cases with AMI data
- Accelerated realization of AMI program benefits
Quantifiable results include:
- 100 percent availability and uptime
- Processing scalability up to 400,000 meters
- Up to 160-million-meter measurements daily
Embrace The Shift
Partner With TRC’s Tested Practitioners