BARCELONA, Spain and
MADRID, June 20, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Naturgy, one of
Spain's largest suppliers of gas
and electricity, serving more than 18-million customers in more
than 30 countries, has announced a ten-year agreement with
IBM [NYSE:IBM] to help implement a hybrid cloud strategy to
support a secured and flexible network.
In taking advantage of a hybrid cloud environment, Naturgy will
now have the means to help digitally transform its internal and
customer-facing operations This effort is to help Naturgy adapt to
today's digitally savvy consumers and rising customer demands
including broader self-service, and greater billing transparency
with flexible prices.
Naturgy will host its core grids'
data on an on-premises private cloud with the added
flexibility to rapidly integrate it with a public cloud to create
new AI applications that can help the company to monitor its
grid.
"Over the last year we've undertaken strategic steps to help
drive our organization to the future with access to IBM advanced
technologies. IBM's deep industry knowledge and access to
researchers via the innovation hub allows us to provide the level
of innovation and customer engagement required to be a global
leader in our industry," said Miguel Ángel Aller, LEAN chief
project officer. "We are excited about laying a solid
foundation for the future of energy and utilities as customer and
market expectations evolve."
Juan Zufiria, IBM Senior Vice President for Global Technology
Services, said "Consumers are demanding new types of services and
access to more ways of engaging with their utility companies.
Industry leaders like Naturgy have set the strategic direction for
this industry overall by embracing advanced technologies like
hybrid cloud and AI that can help enable them adapt to new energy
consumption models,", and added, "We are excited to collaborate
with Naturgy to help enable them to
move forward on their hybrid cloud journey and support their
digital transformation."
The agreement also includes the creation of a virtual IBM
innovation hub, giving Naturgy direct access to IBM Research that
explores new and disruptive IT applications and innovations using
IBM AI, Internet of Things and Blockchain. For example, with
advanced analytics and AI technologies, Naturgy will be able to
obtain insight from the increasing data flow from connected devices
like smart meters to create services or applications for customers
or field workers.
Additionally, with IBM Watson's AI capabilities, Naturgy's
employees will have access to virtual assistants and other
automation solutions for quicker IT resources and support, which
can result in less professional down time.
The IBM solution is the latest step in the implementation of the
176-year-old utility giant's plan to build a company that supports
current and future demands.
This agreement is designed to support Naturgy's LEAN. A
project to redesign its business model to adapt to the significant
transition period that the global energy industry is going through.
The changes required to advance towards a decarbonized economy and
the disruptive effects that digitalization is having in the energy
industry value chain are demanding new levels of both efficiency
and innovation.
In taking advantage of the capability hybrid cloud provides, IBM
is helping create the technical environment required by the
industry to remain competitive and innovative, enabling advanced IT
and business process redesign based on key capabilities like AI,
blockchain and automation solutions.
Also, as utility grids and operations become more digitalized,
cybersecurity, fueled by cognitive systems, must become a core
industry capability. IBM will help Naturgy to protect the utilities
information assets providing a security control framework to
monitor risks and threats and better prepare for incidents
response.
About IBM Services:
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visit https://www.ibm.com/services
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Media Contact
Kaveri Camire
IBM Media Relations
kcamire@us.ibm.com
+1 (914) 625-6395
Tricia Vuiton
IBM Media Relations
tavuiton@us.ibm.com
+1 (914) 765-4980
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SOURCE IBM