Generating profits from digital enhancements

Engage with customers. Create compelling experiences.

In a digitally-connected world, customer experience management (CXM) plays a vital role in engaging customers in demand response programs. For example, energy conservation measures that help customers understand their energy usage better and provide an enhanced user experience help utilities and customers alike save money and resources. Cognizant areas of expertise include:

• Customer segmentation
• Analytics
• Customer self-service
• Omnichannel customer service
• Integrated customer communications
• Social media monitoring and analysis

We have built several targeted solutions in this area such as UtlityOne Engage and UtilityOne Insights. They can be implemented quickly and deliver award-winning CXM features such as omnichannel integration and single call resolution (SCR).

Speed cycle time. Reduce exceptions.

Reconciling different consumer categories with different tariff structures leads to complex billing logistics, from scheduling to generation. Similarly, today’s changing regulatory policies require a robust and flexible customer information system and billing operations.

Cognizant helps electric utilities improve billing cycle time, reduce exceptions and improve accuracy. We also help achieve greater flexibility by providing customers with new self-service options and support the smooth rollout of smart metering and new products and services. Our areas of expertise include:

• Customer account management
• Billing and invoicing
• Credit and payment
• Service order management
• Products and services

We offer a portfolio of accelerators including prebuilt templates for SAP IS-U and Oracle CCnB. Data migration accelerators are also available from legacy platforms (Banner and Customer/1) to modern platforms such as SAP IS-U and Oracle CCnB.

Build a world-class CRM foundation

Effective customer relationship management (CRM) operations are a critical foundation to a utility company’s customer acquisition and retention goals. But building a solid CRM foundation is no easy task. Organizations must not only identify the best CRM technologies for their business, but also must guide effective change management strategies to bring their people and processes in line with their business goals.

Cognizant's global CRM practice has extensive experience implementing CRM solutions across the electric utility value chain. We have partnered with leading CRM vendors to do so. These partnerships allow us to address CRM requirements specific to the utility business using mobile, social and e‑commerce channels.

Most importantly, Cognizant's technology expertise—combined with business consulting insights—helps organizations successfully implement and adopt CRM technologies, ensuring improved customer relationships and a higher ROI.

Transform your asset management operation

The electric utility industry is highly asset-intensive and faces major challenges in maintaining reliability from its aging critical infrastructures and workforce.

Cognizant’s enterprise asset management (EAM) solutions and services for utilities provide implementation and systems integration of systems such as planning and scheduling, mobility, analytics and asset life cycle management. They help utilities drive down costs and utilize assets better. Our expertise includes:

• EAM process improvement
• EAM package selection and implementation
• Mobile asset and work management
• Integration with GIS for design, mapping and operations
• Asset data management and analytics for condition‑based maintenance

We have developed several targeted solutions and accelerators such as APEx—Asset Performance Excellence for utility network assets, the IBM Maximo upgrade kit, and other accelerators to help utilities transform their enterprise asset management programs.

More insights from smarter grids

With electricity providers installing millions of smart meters and devices into their power system grid and upgrading to advanced data transmission networks, the utilization of data is transforming how utilities operate.

Cognizant’s smart grid solutions and services introduce advanced data and predictive analytics capabilities to managed networks.

Manage your assets better

Geographical information systems (GIS) acts as an integrating technology that can help electric utilities achieve a single view of their asset information and perform efficient operation and maintenance. The result: greater customer satisfaction. Cognizant offers a wide range of solutions and services in the GIS space across desktop, web and mobile platforms. We specialize in various aspects of the GIS lifecycle, including:

• GIS data services
• GIS application development and maintenance services
• Geospatial analytics
• GIS consultancy services
• Spatial product development services

Electric utilities can leverage our solutions and frameworks such as the Web GIS Framework for Single View, our GIS data migration framework and our online/offline mobile GIS solution for accelerating digital.