5 Ways Automation is a Game-Changer for Energy Services & Software Providers

Did you know that energy is the third-largest budget item for most US companies? How about that 30 percent of that energy use is wasted?

If you own a commercial facility, those statistics aren’t what you want to hear. But if you’re an energy services or software provider, it means opportunity. Your goal is to reduce those costs and help companies improve energy efficiency through the services or software you provide, and the market is ripe for just that.

Now let me pose a couple more questions: How is your progress toward achieving that goal? What if you could easily increase sales, efficiency and customer satisfaction just by taking one simple step?

Enter automated utility data aggregation.

What’s Wrong with the Manual Approach?

Whether you’re a services provider or a software provider, you need a succinct view of energy data in order to take on more strategic activities like performing building audits, evaluating peak demand with accuracy and loading information into sustainability applications.

The manual processes typically used today — which entail gathering data from various sources, standardizing that data, tracking it in spreadsheets and perhaps even approximating some points — get the job done, but is this manual approach really the best way? Typically not. In fact, it poses seven critical limitations because it:

1. Is time-consuming
2. Is error-prone
3. Limits visibility
4. Lacks granularity and depth of data
5. Creates a lag in data reporting
6. Leads to high soft costs
7. Poses logistical and user experience challenges

 

5 Ways Automation Changes the Game

Today, data is everywhere and the energy market is no exception to that. As more data becomes available every day, the value of that data increases, but so too does the complexity of the processes required to capture and standardize it.

Fortunately, there is a better way. The energy solutions ecosystem is long overdue for a step forward into the digital age with automation. Automating the entire data aggregation process can deliver numerous benefits by improving data quality, lowering costs and enhancing customer satisfaction.

Not only does automating the aggregation process resolve the shortcomings posed by the manual approach, but it also creates additional value in five key areas by allowing you to:

1. Increase operational efficiency and scalability: Automated processes are inherently faster, more accurate and more scalable than manual ones.
2. Maximize profits: Automation can reduce the cost of processing bills and the likelihood of costly errors in reporting or decision-making due to out of date or inaccurate data. Ultimately, you can pass these cost savings to customers to maximize profits.
3. Focus on strategic endeavors: By handling the data aggregation process in the background, automation frees your team’s (or your customer’s team’s) time to focus on more strategic, value-add activities.
4. Optimize decision-making: Automation ensures timely and accurate data, which in turn allows users to make the most informed decisions.
5. Gain a competitive advantage: By providing the benefits described here, automation provides a competitive edge to help you better reach new customers and retain existing ones.

 

Turn the Corner with Automation Today

It’s time to stop looking at data aggregation activities as a necessary evil and start looking at them as a simple task completed efficiently, accurately and cost-effectively by an automated solution.

That’s where Urjanet, which automates energy data collection, normalization and delivery, comes into play. Urjanet is changing the game by making it easier than ever to obtain quality, consistent and reliable energy data, all without the need for process audits. Most notably, the energy services and software providers that have already adopted Urjanet consider its automated and systematic data utility feed among their most valuable business assets.

Ready to learn more? Check out our eBook, The Missing Puzzle Piece: Automated Utility Data Aggregation, to take a deep dive into the benefits that automation with Urjanet can provide and to discover what some of the leading energy services and software providers have to say about the automated solution.

Get your copy today to say goodbye to manual processes and hello to the increased sales, efficiency and customer satisfaction that come with automation.

Related Resources:

• 5 Use Cases for Whole Building Interval Data
• Pulling Back the Curtain on Winning Energy Software RFPs
• Announcing: Urjanet Utility Interval Data

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