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UtiliPoint consultants provide articles, white papers, issue seminars and related treaties on the subject matter in which they have a unique expertise.

This important study was performed by CommodityPoint during the Fall and Winter of 2008 to assess the impact of changes in commodity markets on traders and the software used to support trading and risk management operations. At the time the study was first envisioned and initially defined, commodity markets were experiencing tremendous volatilities, increased trading volumes, and rapidly escalating prices; however, by the time the study was started, much had changed. The financial crisis had spilled over into all markets and spread to all major economies, commodity prices were in free fall, and credit markets were in a virtual melt-down. Fortunately, the timing of the market events was such that we were able to develop a survey questionnaire that allowed for a full examination of the market changes and impacts, both pre- and post-collapse. As a result, CommodityPoint believes the findings of this study to be extremely relevant and timely.

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In recent years the utility sector has performed a good job of refocusing on its core utility businesses. As utilities continue to focus on the core utility business, methods to improve customer service are increasingly being devised and implemented. Utilities are attempting new ideas and using technological innovations to ensure that customers are satisfied.

Technological advances in customer service solutions continue to contribute to an accelerated rate of change in the industry. For a technology supplier to be successful in the energy industry it needs a thorough understanding of the marketplace, insight into current technology solutions and their providers, and a deep knowledge of the specific business needs and challenges of potential customers. UtiliPoint has developed this multi-client survey and associated report in response to increasing demand from the marketplace for unbiased, third party factual data and analysis of the North American customer service industry. The intent is to assist utilities in understanding the marketplace. In addition, it assists technology providers in addressing these issues and planning their product and/or service offerings.

This report marks the sixth annual survey of North American utilities by UtiliPoint and provides unique trending analysis when compared to the surveys of the previous years. This year's report is based on survey responses from 309 utilities in the North American market.

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 This report bundle includes two UtiliPoint reports:

  1. 2008 North American Energy Trading, Transaction and Risk Management (ETRM): Market Analysis and Sizing Report

  2. 2007 European Markets for Energy Trading, Transaction and Risk Management (ETRM): Market Size and Analysis

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If you or your company is interested in understanding the European Energy Trading and Risk Management Software landscape then this package of proprietary UtiliPoint Europe reports will provide you with much of the information that you require. Additionally, you will be provided with 4 hours of follow up consulting, analysis and advice from a UtiliPoint Europe analyst.
The package includes the following reports:

  • Benchmarking of European ETRM Software Markets;
  • European Markets for ETRM Software - Market Sizing and Analysis;
  • European ETRM Integration Survey Results; and,
  • ETRM Software implementation projects - Snapshot survey results.
As well as 4-hours of access to a UtiliPoint Analyst to help you understand the detail in the reports and ensure that the information is actionable.

The combination o these UtiliPoint Europe Research reports will enable you to understand the ETRM software landscape in Europe including:
  • Who are the leading products and vendors;
  • What the total size of the market for ETRM software in Europe is and how it is evolving;
  • How European firms procure ETRM software;
  • What peripheral applications to ETRM European firms use and how well integrated their solution suites are; and,
  • User experiences with ETRM implementation projects.

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If you or your company is interested in understanding the European Energy Trading and Risk Management Software landscape then this package of proprietary UtiliPoint Europe reports will provide you with much of the information that you require.

The package includes the following reports:

  • Benchmarking of European ETRM Software Markets;
  • European Markets for ETRM Software - Market Sizing and Analysis;
  • European ETRM Integration Survey Results; and,
  • ETRM Software implementation projects - Snapshot survey results.
The combination of these UtiliPoint Europe Research reports will enable you to understand the ETRM software landscape in Europe including:
  • Who are the leading products and vendors;
  • What the total size of the market for ETRM software in Europe is and how it is evolving;
  • How European firms procure ETRM software;
  • What peripheral applications to ETRM European firms use and how well integrated their solution suites are; and,
  • User experiences with ETRM implementation projects.
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In recent years, the utility sector has done a good job of refocusing on its core utility businesses. As utilities continue to focus on the core utility business, methods to improve customer service are increasingly being devised and implemented. Utilities are attempting new ideas and using technological innovations to ensure that customers are satisfied. To provide a better understanding of the utility marketplace for customer service solutions, UtiliPoint recently conducted interviews with executives from some of the leading vendors in the utility customer service sector. This compilation of interviews marks the eighth annual collection of this type. As always, the interviews provide interesting insights about where the customer service sector is headed, and how companies intend to address current market challenges.

 This UtiliPoint study provides the latest analysis of the trends impacting the market for ETRM software in North America, and provides a quantitative analysis of the size of that market. Included in this report (a follow-on to UtiliPoint's 2006 North American ETRM Market Sizing and Analysis report) is an expanded examination of market forces and trends impacting market players and the providers of ETRM solutions and services. This analysis and report is backed by UtiliPoint's proprietary research and models, and provides a five year overview of the market from 2006 through 2010 covering the four primary drivers of revenues -new license sales, incremental license sales (or sales to existing customers), associated support and maintenance, and services associated with implementation of new ETRM systems. Additionally the report provides a detailed examination of the current market size, including market size by commodity and industry segment.

This important UtiliPoint study looks at European CIS/Billing software markets. It includes the results of a survey of software users that reviewed what software was used, what European buyers look for in CIS/Billing software and which vendors are best known and most widely used - among other valuable data. It also includes a comprehensive review of most European countries (Nordic, Iberian, Central and Eastern Europe) and UtiliPoint's ranking of each country's retail markets based on several criteria devised specifically for the study (note: countries with mature retail markets were NOT reviewed including the United Kingdom, Ireland and Netherlands). This study will be an important starting point for any firm looking at European retail markets and CIS/Billing software requirements. 

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Over the last 2-3 years, Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) in the natural resources and energy sector have exploded in popularity with investors. ETF's have actually been available to investors in the United States since 1993 and in Europe from 1999. An ETF is simply a pool fund invested with a stated investment objective, for example, a tracker fund for the energy sector or geographical area. Shares owned in this fund by investors are in turn traded on an exchange. ETFs and similar exchange traded instruments allow investors of any type unprecedented access to energy, natural resource and commodity markets.

Against this background, UtiliPoint decided to undertake a snapshot survey to take a pulse check on who utilizes ETFs, why and how in the energy industry. The results of our survey will provide you with an understanding of how ETFs and similar instruments are used and why. The actual polling was performed during late January and early February 2008 and we received a total of 76 responses.

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There were more than 112 million blogs as of March 2008 with new blogs being created at a rate of 175,000 per day and 1.6 million new blog posts per day according to Technorati, a blog tracking website.

How many of these are focused on energy, natural resources or commodities is anyone's guess-but it is a big number.

And how has the blog caught on as a corporate communication tool in energy and utilities? UtiliPoint has observed a growing trend among software vendors in the space to add a blog to their website as well as among mainstream publishers and even some Utility companies.

This survey was conducted to establish just how much influence blogs have in the space and how important a tool they are becoming for corporate communications. The survey seems to demonstrate that blogs in the energy industry are beginning to gain in importance both as an information source and as a promotional device.

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The objective of this study was to broadly understand the use of weather forecast and weather data at energy companies including:

  • Assessment of the use of on staff meteorologists;
  • Types of meteorological data utilized and its relevance;
  • Users  of weather forecasts and weather data inside an energy company; and,
  • Examination of how such services are procured by energy companies.

During the month of October 2007, UtiliPoint International Inc. conducted a ‘snapshot' electronic survey regarding the use of weather forecast and weather data by energy companies. The survey was distributed using the UtiliPoint IssueAlert email lists and 81 total responses were collected. This report outlines the results of the survey and provides some analysis of the use of weather forecast and weather data by energy companies.

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This UtiliPoint study utilized both top-down and bottom-up proprietary analysis techniques to establish the European market size for ETRM software license sales in 2007 for all energy commodities. The final report details the ETRM market size by a number of parameters.

Strong demand growth in 2006 was fueled by a variety of factors including the entry into European energy markets by new players particularly financial companies and ongoing liberalization and maturing of European energy markets. This growth has continued through early 2007 and demand levels remain strong. New growth is expected to occur amongst end user markets (Commercial & Industrial companies) as well to keep demand levels high. UtiliPoint expects to see some slowing of growth in 2008 but markets will remain strong barring any unforeseen industry events.

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Since 2000, spending on technology for utility customer service has slowed, and only recently has it shown signs of renewed growth. Uncertainty following significant events, such as California's deregulation experience and the collapse of Enron, created a prolonged dislocation event that had significant and ongoing impact on the vendor community and available solutions. The impact of the latest dislocation event has already resulted in the exit of a number of vendors and the entry of several others.

There remains a very real probability that more vendors will disappear or be acquired as they reach a make-or-break point over the next one to two years. There are emerging signs that this dislocation event is coming to an end, and UtiliPoint research shows that demand for customer service technology is growing in certain areas and stabilizing in others. An overall goal of reduced costs and improved customer service levels appears to be the focus of most utility's customer service goals.

Technological advances in customer service solutions continue to contribute to an accelerated rate of change in the industry. For a technology supplier to be successful in the energy industry it needs a thorough understanding of the marketplace, insight into current technology solutions and their providers, and a deep knowledge of the specific business needs and challenges of potential customers. 

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The UtiliPoint International, Inc. ETRM Implementation survey was conducted as a ‘snapshot' survey using an internet-based survey instrument only and targeting various email lists maintained by UtiliPoint. 35 respondents represent ETRM Implementation projects across North America and Europe. To our knowledge, it is the first survey to delve into the implementation of ETRM software and it therefore provides useful benchmark data for those about to undertake such a project. This report outlines the survey's results and our analysis.

The report looks at ETRM project duration and costs, project activities including integration, enhancements, data conversion and training, the use of third-party consulting firms in implementation, respondent's ETRM Implementation project experiences, project success rates and approach to training. While the quantitative metrics provide good data points for ETRM Implementation project managers, it is the lessons learned section that may provide the most value to report readers.

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