Utilities companies are seeing a rapid increase of new data. To turn this challenge into an opportunity, providers must acquire a range of new data skills.
A data explosion is transforming the utilities sector. Between increased regulatory pressures, a push for cleaner energy, and the immense potential offered by the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), utilities companies have developed new digital systems that are delivering unprecedented volumes of data.
But while data is flooding into the industry, data science skills aren’t necessarily keeping pace. And without these necessary skills, utilities companies can only get so much value from this new data.
New data types demand new skills
It’s not just that there’s more data coming through to utilities companies – the challenge is there’s more types of data to contend with.
Not only do utilities firms need to deal with structured data you might find in a database, they’re also having to process unstructured data such as videos and images. A Data Consultancy Services survey found that utilities companies are some of the biggest consumers of unstructured data – approximately 40% of all data used in the industry is unstructured.
While the unstructured data found in contact forms and social media accounts is a valuable source of insight, it can be more difficult to analyse than other data. Dealing with this more challenging data mix demands a new set of skills – from data science and business intelligence, to building comprehensive data and analytics platforms.
Depending on how quickly utilities firms can acquire these skills, the data explosion will either be an important source of innovation and development, or a missed opportunity.
Find the right data skills
There are three main approaches you can take to bring new data skills into your business:
- Develop the required skills internally
By developing a training program, you can create a repeatable process for enhancing data skills across your teams. Other data-reliant industries have already adopted this approach to great success. In retail, for instance, industry leaders are establishing data skills training centres to give thousands of staff the skills they need to make the most of new data across the business.
This approach helps you scale up your data capabilities as needed, but there’s no doubt that creating your own data training program can be expensive and time-consuming.
- Hire in new talent
Hiring experienced data scientists is one of the fastest ways to develop a strong data capability. However, a successful data team requires several specialist roles: Gartner recommends hiring seven different skillsets to staff a data science unit, ranging from data scientists, analysts and engineers, to business experts and software engineers.
Acquiring this sheer variety of skills is neither easy or cheap, so utilities providers might want to consider filling a few of these roles and leaving the rest to a trusted partner.
- Work with a data partner
Trusting a third party to build and maintain your data platform may seem risky, but a good data service provider can bring immense value to your data estate. By letting a partner handle the technical side of your data engine, you can free up resources to hire experts that will get to grips with your business’ unique data — and use it to deliver meaningful insights.
How a leading utilities provider made sense of unstructured data
One utilities provider we recently worked with found itself facing this kind of situation, with new data types coming in – and limited data platforms and skills to help manage it.
Serving a vast customer base across a broad geographic area, this utilities provider wanted to capitalise on new data to drive continued growth.
However, as much of its data was unstructured, this was proving to be an uphill battle. Coupled with a legacy data warehouse that was slow to produce reports, it was clear the utilities provider needed a new approach.
By moving its analytics function to an Azure Modern Data Warehouse, the provider aimed to get faster analytics across more types of data. It partnered with Telefónica Tech to create an initial pilot, and to navigate the complexities of using cloud solutions in a heavily regulated industry.
The initial Azure Data Warehouse pilot was a success. Since then, the utilities provider has worked with Telefónica Tech to develop new solutions on the platform, using reusable templates and patterns to accelerate reporting and improve decision-making across the organisation.
Data modernisation is better together
While there are a few ways to bring new data skills into your organisation, not all of them are created equal. Building a complete set of data skills internally can seem like the low-risk option, but it can be a slow and expensive way to get started. And with data – and the technologies that use it – evolving rapidly, going slow isn’t an option.
By working with a trusted third party to build a modern data platform, your data scientists can hit the ground running– and swiftly turn the utilities data explosion into an opportunity.