Background
The energy sector is undergoing a major transformation: new players are arriving who aim to occupy a space between customers and suppliers by providing services around energy consumption. An example of this is Google’s Nest.
For EDF (the former French energy incumbent), the challenge is to tailor its offer to domestic customers, and specifically their houses, in order to avoid being “uberised” by these new players, and begin the process of transforming itself into a service provider, not simply an energy company.
EDF has therefore conceived Sowee, a connected hub that allows customers to adjust their heating remotely, track energy consumption, control connected devices, and even check air quality in their homes.
While its initial focus was on controlling household power consumption, the project then evolved to encompass other uses such as charging electric cars.
Challenges
Since March 2016, Wavestone has drawn on a team of a dozen consultants to:
- Refine Sowee’s value proposition;
- Define the business services (remote control of consumption, management of energy budgets, green electricity, etc.), which are based on connected objects and a Big-Data platform;
- Meet the challenges of an ambitious business plan by managing the implementation of a “full cloud” and by steering the choice and implementation of all IS bricks;
- Manage the beta testing to assure the roll out to the wider public;
- Implement a cybersecurity architecture for data protection and access.
Responses and key success factors
Launched in the space of a year, Sowee is a scalable and open solution that will offer new and innovative services.
