A part of the IBM Smarter Planet strategy, the new Solution Architecture for Energy and Utilities Framework (SAFE) brings the capabilities of IBM software to power solutions across all areas of a utility company, including plant operations, smart meters and personal utility management, the IBM said.
According to the company, energy and utility companies of all sizes seek ways to reduce their operating costs and provide services to their customers, yet their approach must be flexible enough to allow new technologies to be added incrementally as their requirements dictate.
In addition, these companies are also faced with growing government requirements to add new green technologies such as emissions monitoring and smart distribution, as well as renewable energy sources.
Guido Bartels, general manager of IBM’s global energy & utilities industry, said: “We’re in a position to help our utility clients transform their networks more efficiently. The SAFE framework provides visibility, control and automation across the utility infrastructure as well as IT assets to help provide security and business agility as part of an intelligent network transformation.”
IBM has also announced a validation process for IBM Business Partners providing energy and utility applications. IBM will work with business partners to ensure their solutions are enabled on the SAFE framework leveraging industry standards to facilitate simple integration and deployment of solutions, said the company.
