Utility Executives See Cloud Software as Critical to Improving Customer Engagement
May 25 2016 - 4:09PM
Business Wire
Navigant study finds 76 percent are using or
considering SaaS to bolster digital capabilities
Opower (NYSE: OPWR), the global leader in cloud-based software
for the utility industry, today announced findings from a Navigant
Research report indicating that a majority of utility executives
are either using or plan to consider using software-as-a-service
(SaaS) technologies to bolster their customer engagement
efforts.
“Utility executives believe that disruption will drive their
industry to become even more customer-centric,” said Aida
Hakirevic, Associate Director at Navigant and co-author of the
report. “Increased regulatory requirements, customer expectations,
and pressure on traditional utility business models are motivating
them to respond with IT solutions that complement the gaps in their
legacy systems and make them more nimble businesses.”
The study found that customer satisfaction is the most critical
customer service business goal for utility executives, ranking
above other priorities like cost reduction and increasing revenue.
However, fewer than 15 percent of utility executives were confident
in their customer engagement capabilities. When asked how they
foresee their utility bridging this gap, most executives said they
favored buying IT solutions over building them, and the vast
majority indicated that they were already using or had an interest
in using cloud-based SaaS solutions.
Navigant found that utilities’ largest capability gap is their
access to customer information — in particular to improve contact
center call handling and marketing effectiveness. Most executives
also said one of their biggest challenges with analytics is getting
value from their customer data — either to improve internal
decision-making or to provide value to customers.
“We’re out of the era now where we can build it ourselves,” said
one utility executive surveyed for the Navigant report. “We’ve been
caught too many times with legacy systems and nobody knows what’s
under the hood. It’s better to get a service provider and the trend
is cloud-based SaaS. The debate over operating versus capital
budgets is a huge distraction. Frankly, it’s impeding the right
decision.”
The Navigant report, Bridging the Divide: Utilities and the
Customer Engagement Gap, surveyed nearly 100 utility leaders in
customer care, marketing, and IT and conducted in-depth interviews
with 17 utility executives. The report is available online at
http://www.opower.com/bridgethedivide.
About Opower
Opower (NYSE: OPWR) is an enterprise software company that helps
utilities elevate the customer experience. Energy providers use
Opower's customer engagement platform to deliver proactive, digital
communications that raise customer satisfaction, manage energy
demand, and lower service costs. Opower's software is deployed to
100 utilities worldwide and reaches more than 60 million homes and
businesses. For more information, please visit www.opower.com and
follow us on Twitter at @Opower.
About Navigant
Navigant Consulting, Inc. (NYSE: NCI) is a specialized, global
professional services firm that helps clients take control of their
future. Navigant’s professionals apply deep industry knowledge,
substantive technical expertise, and an enterprising approach to
help clients build, manage and/or protect their business interests.
With a focus on markets and clients facing transformational change
and significant regulatory or legal pressures, the Firm primarily
serves clients in the healthcare, energy and financial services
industries. Across a range of advisory, consulting, outsourcing,
and technology/analytics services, Navigant’s practitioners bring
sharp insight that pinpoints opportunities and delivers powerful
results. More information about Navigant can be found at
navigant.com.
Forward-looking Statements
This release contains forward-looking statements, including
statements regarding benefits from the use of Opower’s solutions.
Any statements in this press release about future expectations,
plans and prospects for Opower represent Opower's views as of the
date of this press release. These forward-looking statements are
subject to a number of risks, uncertainties and assumptions. While
Opower may elect to update these statements at some point in the
future, Opower specifically disclaims any obligation to do so.
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OpowerAlex Kotran, 330-607-5589alex.kotran@opower.com
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