Energy consulting: Taming the digital beast

Firstly, as a notoriously slow-to-adapt field with heavily centralized structures, the energy industry has arrived fairly late to the digitalization party. This means that the necessary timelines for digital transformation are particularly short. Add the urgent need to decarbonize the energy sector (responsible for around three-quarters of global emissions) and the time pressure increases. Yet the digital capabilities are still often not there.

Why digitize?

The ongoing decentralization of energy systems, combined with the electrification of heat and mobility and the emergence of new energy service providers is changing the role of every player in the industry. Not only this, but customer expectations are being turned on their heads. Transparency and energy monitoring is no longer a bonus, but now the bare minimum. Users want access to the energy world, and the power to change it. Meeting their constantly increasing expectations is like catching a fish with your bare hands. With the right tools, however, this task becomes monumentally easier. 

If companies don’t undergo radical digital transformation, offerings will become outdated and redundant tomorrow. Taming the digital beast can be challenging, however, by leveraging the digitalization of energy and forging a digital path focused on future use cases, companies can simultaneously overcome these challenges to enhance the customer experience, guarantee new revenue streams, increase adaptability and future-proof business models.

The challenges

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Many energy companies simply lack the resources to take part in this shift to a digital-first energy world, often in the form of time and personnel. Traditional organizations often lack expertise in the field of digital services and recurring pricing schemes, or are unfamiliar with the unique requirements of new use cases that will soon dominate the market. On the flip side, many new providers or companies from formerly separate sectors (mobility and heating) lack energy expertise, whether it be in terms of regulation, technology or simply understanding the ecosystem and the partnerships within it.

Combine this with the energy skills gap, or as it also known – the war for talents. Highly qualified employees with specialized expertise are hard to come by. Even if they can be found, hiring and integrating such specialists into a company can be an arduous and time-consuming task – time that neither the planet nor your company profits can afford.

With change also comes risk. This is exacerbated in a fast-changing environment, meaning that energy companies need to get their digitization strategy right the first time – there is no room for error in a market that now requires a lightning fast time to market in order to win market share.

“Outsourcing holistic digitization processes enables companies to digitally transform more quickly, and thereby untap new sources of revenue and future-proof operations,” says Nicolas Gehring, Account Executive Team Lead at gridX. “Leveraging those with digital expertise and end-to-end experience in the energy industry allows companies to innovate, without disrupting their day-to-day business,” he adds. 

So,what does this actually mean in practice?

The solution

Let's be honest, digitalization is more than just digital processes. And digitalization of energy isn’t just about digitizing a product – a huge task in itself – but requires systemic transformation. Beyond adapting a company’s core product, it is vital to ensure the corresponding roles and capabilities are embedded within the organization to guarantee end-to-end success: from marketing and selling the digital product, to understanding regulatory barriers, resolving potential technical issues and adapting to changing requirements in the future.

gridX doesn’t only offer cutting-edge energy management solutions that allow companies to instantly digitize their offering and enter the new era of energy. Our comprehensive consulting services also use expert market and regulatory insights, combined with skills for business development and go-to-market strategies to empower companies to overcome the multifaceted challenges of the energy transition. Our dedicated service team includes regulatory, strategic and technical experts to equip you with the tools and the know-how to master the digitization of energy and get ahead. In short, we create the perfect link so that companies get everything from one place – meaning reduced time, effort and cost without compromising on quality.

To minimize risk and maximize success, we at gridX understand that it is key to use proven structure and methodologies that are tailored to an organization’s digital maturity and ambition level. And of course successfully implementing the digital solutions is the linchpin to move digital initiatives from isolated products to long-term profit-driving solutions – a process we can also take care of. 

We’ll be sharing more about our comprehensive consulting portfolio in the coming months. From business and product development, to got-to-market planning and technical consulting, we remove the complexity from digitalization. Get in touch if you want to learn how gridX’s holistic consulting services could catapult your digital transformation.