Energy and specifically electrically powered devices and appliances are part of everyday life for all of us. However, the dependency on personal computing devices like phones, tablets, headsets and the likes has made us realize how important energy savings and battery efficiencies are! Who hasn't experienced anxiety or even panic as your mobile phone is running out of battery and you forgot your power adapter and/or there is no charging point in sight! What would you be willing to give up at that very moment just for some power!  Making sure that the electrical supply is constant and reliable is the main objective of every utility company in the world. Helping these companies achieve these goals is a substantial opportunity for Cisco and our partners more than ever before.

The Utilities market, just like every other industry, is going through major changes driven by new technology paradigms such as the Internet of Things as well as the convergence of Operational Technologies (OT), which enable an efficient management of the power grid and Information Technologies (IT), which are becoming a critical part of the main Line-Of-Business objectives. The Digital Transformation of utilities companies is the direct result of many mega-trends; here are some of the most important ones:

• Grid Resilience and Reliability
  • Electricity supply is a matter of national security for every country, but maintaining its reliability is a challenge given the amount of transmission lines deployed globally.
  • "In the U.S. (alone) ... 200,000 miles of high-voltage transmission lines and 5 million milesof local distribution lines... (connect) thousands of generating plants to factories, homes and businesses"[1]

• New Technology Disruptions:
  • The relationship between electricity consumers and suppliers has changed with the connection of home appliances to the internet, allowing the end user to manage their power consumption in real-time.
  • "Sales of connected appliances will surge ... from 30 million units sold in 2016 to 178 million units in 2020