In our last article we looked at the layers of system complexity that energy retailers are grappling with as they face up to the tsunami of change in the sector.
Over the past 5-10 years suppliers have looked to their billing system providers to deliver the flexibility they needed to manage that change. But as the pace increases it’s clear that those billing systems are struggling to provide the variation in services that energy companies are looking for to create differentiation in a crowded market.
It’s tempting at this stage to look to the market again to try and find the latest technology that can deliver on your need for both regulatory compliance and technological innovation. But with this process comes a great deal of risk – and cost!
Migrating to a new billing system is a well-documented complex and time-consuming process (see historical failed migrations at multiple large energy providers!). Migrating hundreds of thousands (or millions) of meter points is a massive undertaking and leaves significant room for failure. Never mind the write off of CAPEX cost and subsequent impact on margin with the needed investment in new technology.
Here at Astral Tech we are constantly speaking with retailers who are frustrated with the limitations and flexibility of their billing systems when trying to differentiate in the market. They’ve often ‘layered’ in a range of other providers to fill in the gaps of their current billing provider and are left with disjointed and unclear data – making billing, settlement and delivering a great customer experience more complex than it needs to be.
Our counsel however, is to not rush to bin their current platform, but rather look at how creating a unified data layer can help to solve some of those challenges – negating the need to strip everything out and start again.
The Astral Tech platform takes the data from multiple sources – billing platforms, pricing engines, industry flows and many more, and creates one version of the data truth for all your internal and external requirements. Customers can get a clear view of their products, bills, and usage, whilst your billing teams can be confident that the invoicing process is correct. Settlement is accurate at every stage (even more important as the settlement window shortens through MHHS) and new products to meet customer demand can be developed and delivered at pace.
All of this sits over the top of your existing billing platform – supercharging its functionality. Our customer friendly user interface allows both your internal teams, and your customers to access the data they need, when they need it. Unlocking the true power of your data.
So don’t rush to switch billing provider – talk to us about how we can help you make the most of your existing investments, whilst giving you the right data, at the right time.