Future Technology ArchitecturesFuture Technology Architectures for Next Generation Grids

paul.pettigrew@mach.com.au > GITA, August 2010

© Mach Technology Group Pty LtdABN 58 115 162 564ask@mach.com.au Offices & Data Centres: Brisbane | Noosa | Cooroy | USA

About Mach TechnologyAbout Mach Technology

• Next-generation consulting and solutions deliveryg g• Operating 5yrs; 40% annual compound growth

Tier1 commitment to quality; yet nimble and able• Tier1 commitment to quality; yet nimble and able to innovate & deliver real low cost value

• Offices and data centres:– Teneriffe Eagle Farm Noosa CooroyTeneriffe, Eagle Farm, Noosa, Cooroy,

USA, Sydney, (Melbourne)– Not a moment of downtime of our HA– Not a moment of downtime of our HA

services since live in 2005

Fi t t k t d / iti ll l i d• First to market and proven/critically acclaimed thought leaders in Australia on Cloud and XaaS

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Setting the contextSetting the context• Utilities are at a cross-roads, with traditionalUtilities are at a cross roads, with traditional

engineering led approaches needing to change to be customer service centricbe customer service centric– In the face of regulatory reform

I h f f i h– In the face of steep price paths– In the face of escalating community

expectations

• A number of pressures relevant toA number of pressures relevant to our consideration of “smarter infrastructure and sustainability” and the role technology andsustainability and the role technology and geospatial systems need to play...

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Relevant pressure on UtilitiesRelevant pressure on Utilities• Demand for products and services – resulting from continued

population growth• Sustainability expectations – requiring the Utilities to identify,

manage and reduce emissions preserve the environment and improvemanage and reduce emissions, preserve the environment and improve energy efficiency, and be a trusted steward of scarce environmental resources

• Community expectations of performance and transparency –requiring the Utilities to demonstrably meet high expectations in terms f it f l lit f i d ffi i f lof security of supply, quality of service and efficiency of supply

• Critical infrastructure security – requiring a holistic approach to the security of assets within the network to ensure affordable resiliencesecurity of assets within the network to ensure affordable resilience against terrorism, cyber attack and natural disasters

• Compliance and regulatory reporting – requiring greater diligence p g y p g q g g gin ensuring compliance and regulatory reporting across the network

• Business network transformation – resulting in a shift away from vertically integrated enterprises towards disaggregated models of specialised enterprises interoperating in end-to-end value chains 4

Relevant pressure on Utilities (con’t)Relevant pressure on Utilities (con t)

• Supply chain optimisation – requiring the networks to embrace process optimisation approaches and workflow automation to establish and maintain continuous improvement cultures and capabilities

• Smart metering and intelligent networks providing greater• Smart metering and intelligent networks – providing greater visibility, control and responsiveness for utility service providers

• Ubiquitous rich communications – enabling new forms ofUbiquitous rich communications enabling new forms of collaboration and information sharing via the Internet & Browser

• Decision support capabilities – low-cost, greater insight into business performance, problem analysis and knowledge management

• Continuing commoditisation of ICT services – as technologies h Cl d ti d lti t t S S bsuch as Cloud computing and secure multi-tenant SaaS become

increasingly mainstream, the provision of ICT services will continue the move to pay-per-use models that scale and provide on-demand access p y p pto resources

• Availability of work force skills – will be a challenge for utilities and many other sectors within Australia due to ageing population, and the diminishing supply of suitably skilled employees 5

What about GIS?What about GIS?• Was important that we set the scene.....asWas important that we set the scene.....as

important that appreciation for f /b kd f ti ll i t t dreform/breakdown of vertically integrated

utility businessesy• So too must GIS cease to be a vertically

d l lintegrated application silo– hold this thought please as we cover some...hold this thought please, as we cover some

data and information assets and the new role GIS must playGIS must play

– Firstly, lets contemplate a subset: “Smart Meters”... 6

Digital Grids & ConsiderationsDigital Grids & Considerations• Sensor based, intelligent network management and , g g

decision support empowering transformative management of organisation

• Must get sensor data in (near) real time, and fuse it with other data (inc geocoding) to be able to develop and ( g g) ppresent the information assets and services products required– Sources from within organisation + adjacent in supply chain

• Has been mainstream and significant scale/complexity in g / p ytelco/IT worlds...SCADA beginning to take the next step, which is essential to the Utilities sector making the journeyg j y

• Discussion often turns to “Smart Meters”– They are part of the solution (perhaps no need to be that smart)They are part of the solution (perhaps no need to be that smart)– Collaboration between utilities required for sustainable business

case7

Smart Meter InfrastructureSmart Meter Infrastructure

N t hit t &Note: architecture & relationships required

8relationships required

Future Business ModelsFuture Business Models

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Utility Network Strategic GoalsUtility Network Strategic Goals

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Objective: Contextual AccessObjective: Contextual AccessEach stakeholder /user group has unique information requirementsEach stakeholder /user group has unique information requirements

Operations Management Executive TechnicalS tSupport

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Network Enterprise ServicesNetwork Enterprise Services

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How?How?• Select few utilities across Australia have an opportunity to embrace and

t 1 3 d th ill b th l d f th t d dprogress over next 1-3yrs....and these will be the leaders for the next decade• They will articulate what the customer service centric culture and business

model means for them– And express it in an Enterprise Architecture construct

• Migration from existing legacy systems will then progress quicklyN t i SEQ f W t ti l l l t ti C il t b d h it– Note in SEQ for Water, particularly relevant noting Council systems based heritage

• Simplification and new business focus will dramatically reduce costs– Traditional heavy + dedicated server(s) based approach will die under the weight of its cost,

inflexibility and inability to scale to high sensor/meter data & customer online access volumes

• Open Source will complement (and increasingly usurp) traditional GIS technology products – delivering massive scalabilitygy p g y– think 1+ million users– not 10 GIS admins + 1000 staff hitting basic displays

Cl d h th bi ti f t h i l d b i• Cloud has the combination of technical and business model attributes required to finally deliver breakthrough capabilities, at lower cost than previous stove-piped technology implementations could dream of

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Cloud Architecture (simplified)Cloud Architecture (simplified)• Multi-tenant, multi-DC HA technology architecture stack +

ERP/Provisioning + Monitoring/Self-Healing + Service Management (+ Aussie contracts/facilities that meet data/security requirements)

SaaSGIS

P SPaaS

IaaS14

IaaS

What does Cloud mean for GIS?What does Cloud mean for GIS?• That the days of selling a closed, vertically integrated and tightly

coupled commercial software stack are over• Also means the days of GIS being a complex/boutique, back-room

function/service can endfunction/service can end• That an increasing amount of the software stack will be delivered by

$0 free, Open Source software$0 free, Open Source software• GIS industry must change its revenue base to be via:

– Core/specialist technology (not met by Open Source)p gy ( y p )– Data and application integration services

• On demand, multi-tenant software licensing model required now– Forget about large capex sale with 30% ongoing maintenance lock-in– Cloud service providers need to be able to deliver pre-provisioned

solutions to their customerssolutions to their customers

• Simply “geocoding” data insufficient; the value is in the presentation via “contextual access personal mashup”p p– Opportunities ahead for those in this space 15

ConclusionConclusion• Utilities completing phase of vertical

disaggregation• GIS too must stop being a backroom-

stovepipe and embrace threats tostovepipe, and embrace threats to transform to a new way

• New era of customer and serviceNew era of customer and service management, underpinned by new online relationship aspectMach Technology is

• Digital grid central to this, and GIS an essential piece of the solution

Backend: data fusion and services

gyAustralia’s leader in some of the aspects required (Cloud:

IaaS PaaS SaaS & – Backend: data fusion and services integration

– Frontend: contextual access personal

IaaS, PaaS, SaaS & Outsourced ICT Service

Management) pmashup, for staff of utilities (hundreds-thousands) and for their customers (100’s of thousands – millions)

Invitation open to GIS providers to work with us to

l t th f th (100 s of thousands millions)16

complete the scope of the future solution, today!

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