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More power, faster: Regulatory pressure leads to optimized tech and reduced costs

Challenge

Electricity is a lifeline. The massive impact of an electrical disruption makes it critical for energy providers to be armed with the right technology to minimize occurrences and mitigate risk. Seeking to update their technology per regulatory requirements, this well-known energy provider wanted to use the opportunity to do much more, such as adding functionality to optimize the overall solution and reduce costs.

After partnering with Fusion for over a decade, it was a no-brainer to use our experts to take their technology, and their business, to the next level.

Solution

Modernizing this company’s platform was a tremendous undertaking. The organization was required to transition off of one platform for utility response and switch to a completely different platform to meet new industry regulatory requirements. But, they also wanted a solution that:

Provided a configuration workflow that does not require code manipulation
Provided a vehicle for “health checks” for uptime monitoring
Added email notifications to enhance the system functions

Fusion’s approach was to design a configurable, resilient Windows service that would:

Securely communicate with the new platform
Persist all messages from PJM to the file system
Integrate with PJM through file drops
Allow for health checks through a web service port
Provide email notifications for both successes and failures
Provide logging that can be later aggregated

Fusion successfully implemented the solution before the tight deadline of the expiration of the legacy platform.

Outcomes

The outcome was exactly what this major power supplier was looking for. It:

Enabled rapid incident response for disruptions in the power grid
Bridged complex, low-level systems with modern, technical platforms
Improved collaboration and resource sharing
Optimized infrastructure and utilized innovate tools to reduce costs

While the results of this implemented solution were significant to the daily operations of this company, the project was indicative of something much greater – a long-standing partnership built on industry expertise, trusted advice, and a continued commitment to providing infrastructure and integration. Over the past decade, Fusion has partnered with this energy leader on numerous projects, including implementing Office365, building out the server environment, building a SharePoint site, custom website work, installing Systems Center and automating support tasks, installing an Oracle ERP system, and getting a smart-meter program off the ground.