For years, utilities have pursued digital transformation and invested heavily in the promise of advanced data analytics. Yet complications in extracting the full value of data come in many forms: difficulty funding internal rollouts, impacts of new cross-organizational unit management processes, challenges with upskilling the workforce, deploying overcomplicated architectures, and business processes that cannot seem to scale beyond proof-of-concept demonstrations. The addition of the unique challenges experienced this past year dealing with wildfires, the global pandemic, and extreme weather events have disrupted planning cycles and caused many utilities to question their investment priorities.

However, new challenges can inspire creative approaches to salvage the deadlocked implementations of the past. These new external impacts can focus the utility into new use cases that provide immediate customer and business value. New and more accessible technology, flexible employment models, and access to online education result in higher availability of skilled resources into the industry. Advancements in data discovery, data manipulation tools, and standardized processes democratize access to decision-making information.

This report will explore how well the utility industry is achieving its digital transformation strategies. It will evaluate and summarize the most impactful business process development practices, data management, and the rapid implementation of analytics platforms.