Wipro Technologies has built a private cloud for Onstream Utility Metering Services, which provides gas and electricity metering in the UK, ready for the UK’s smart meter roll out.
Onstream is part of the National Grid, which is one of the largest energy delivery businesses in the world and the largest investor-owned utility in the UK. Wipro started work on the private cloud project for Onstream in October 2010.
“With the commencement of a smart metering roll out in the UK and the need for a flexible dual fuel smart metering offering, Onstream embarked on a transformational programme through 2010 and into 2011, designed to improve service quality, improve business efficiencies and deliver a step-change in customer experience which would be at par or better than offered by home-visit operations in other sectors,” said Declan McLaughlin, head of transformation at Onstream.
As a part of this programme, Onstream replaced its existing legacy IT infrastructure with a service driven model using a private cloud approach. This approach aligned the IT architecture to be more flexible in functionality and configuration while at the same lowering operational cost and improving responsiveness.
“Onstream envisages that the private cloud based framework will drive consistency across IT environments so that Onstream can build on existing investments and skill sets,” said McLaughlin.
“The private cloud based approach provided by Wipro will enable Onstream to tap and address opportunities in a market friendly manner and at a greatly altered cost structure.”
This project will help Onstream seamlessly manage heterogeneous environments, standardise and automate data centre processes to continue to optimise business efficiencies. It will also provide timely insights into key business applications that will help in delivering a new level of customer service management. This will lead to a common identity management platform that can seamlessly federate to the public cloud in line with the business demands in future.
“Our engagement with Onstream covers design, build and implementation of a private cloud environment using Microsoft’s Private Cloud,” said Neeraj Jaitley, vice president and business head of cloud services at Wipro. “This approach provided Onstream with an ability to harness the best-of-breed technologies across the various layers in a private cloud stack.
“Onstream will benefit hugely through this programme and such an engagement is a reflection of Wipro’s ability to add value to our clients’ business through new technology paradigms such as cloud computing.”