ATLANTA, Feb. 1, 2005 (PRIMEZONE) -- Off-the-shelf software applications, either modified or commercial, now make up at least 80% of the customer information systems in place or soon to be implemented at North American utility organizations, Chartwell researchers found.
In addition, right at 50% of North American utility customers are supported by off-the-shelf CIS and billing systems, according to data extracted from Chartwell's extensive database of 646 North American utility CIS and billing system installations. These findings and a market share analysis of vendors serving the industry are reported in the just-released The Chartwell Report on CIS Installations in North America 2005, which is available along with the database exclusively to members of Chartwell's research services.
In its latest industry analysis, Chartwell found that the number of customers served by utilities with CIS and billing systems developed by software vendors had grown from 44% when Chartwell last analyzed the market in 2003. The remaining utilities either rely on legacy systems or systems customized by consultants or inhouse IT staff to maintain customer information, and perform customer care and billing functions for electric, gas, and water customers.
When assessing the CIS market for larger utilities, this migration to off-the-shelf applications has not come quickly. Chartwell found only five announcements of deals with utilities serving more than 500,000 customers since January 2003, and one of those was a system upgrade and another expansion of an existing license. Vendors serving this market took on differing strategies as they worked to compete and survive in what has been a slow-moving industry in recent years. The Chartwell Report on CIS Installations in North America 2005 also notes that vendors serving municipal utilities have had the better success in recent years.
The report notes that technology improvements in recent years have vendors promising smoother installation experiences and easier interfaces to other essential systems, such as outage management, geographical information systems (GIS), meter reading, financials, call center and customer contact systems -- a must in the information systems environment for today's utilities.
The Chartwell Report on CIS Installations in North America 2005 and accompanying database is only available to Chartwell's Premier and Customer Care Research Series members. For information regarding the Customer Care Research Series or Chartwell's Premier memberships, call Bill Grist at (404) 237-9099 or (800) 432-5879. A free table of contents and summary of this report can be downloaded at www.energylibrary.com.