IT and electronic businesses
The scope of duties for energy suppliers changed drastically especially within the last few years and will continue to present ever new tasks to the stakeholders in the future. In particular, the advancing liberalisation and deregulation of the energy industry and the related developments, e.g. the introduction of the Federal Network Agency, pose new and higher requirements to the energy suppliers. They are forced to work more efficiently due to the growing competitive pressure. The company's market experience, the willingness to innovate as well as a more and more important customer orientation are the key factors of success. In this regard, a leading cost position in the market can be claimed by an integrative IT support including an automation of processes and the industrialisation of services in particular.
This development results in higher requirements to an approved method of managing an economic and efficient enterprise. In the last few years, the users' requirements of performance, availability and usability of soft- and hardware have increased accordingly. Finding a balance between a reduction of IT-related costs (especially for communities and publicly financed facilities) on the one hand and the necessity to offer reliable and customer-oriented IT-services in a more and more complex IT-environment on the other hand is a task that needs to be addressed.
For several years outsourcing has been the centre of attention with regards to an efficient economic activity, especially in the IT-branch. IT-competence gradually becomes a strategic competitive factor in the energy industry, as well. Energy suppliers may ask themselves whether it is more effective and efficient to provide for this service internally or to outsource the task to single or multiple service providers.
