REDMOND, Wash. — Oct. 13, 2009 — Microsoft Corp. today announced it has developed a reference architecture based on familiar, cost-effective Microsoft platforms that can serve as the basis for development of the "integrated utility of the future."The Microsoft Smart Energy Reference Architecture (SERA) is Microsoft's first comprehensive reference architecture that addresses technology integration throughout the full scope of the smart energy ecosystem. The Microsoft SERA helps utilities by providing a method of testing the alignment of information technology with their business processes to create an integrated utility. This is the second utility offering to be released from Microsoft in four months, following the announcement of Microsoft Hohm, an online application developed to enhance the experience of utilities' customers and provide further insight into the supply and demand of residential energy use.
As utilities attempt to develop new projects that are funded by national smart grid stimulus programs, they will need sound, tested technologies that help them proceed. Using Microsoft and industry partners' technologies, utilities will be able to implement solutions faster and more reliably than they could with solutions offered by competitors.
The Microsoft SERA has been endorsed by a number of global solutions providers whose energy industry solutions span the entire energy ecosystem — from the power grid to the home. Microsoft Gold Certified Partners supporting SERA include Accenture, Alstom Power, AREVA, ESRI, Itron Inc. and OSIsoft Inc.
Significantly, Microsoft has been working closely with key power industry partners to ensure that SERA addresses power utilities' IT infrastructure needs. Alstom Power, for example, has demonstrated its commitment to Microsoft by fully embracing SERA and sees this move as the first step in providing solutions for the new challenge raised by smart grids.
"Alstom has established a long-term relationship with Microsoft in order to provide cost-efficient, scalable architectures for electrical producers like solar, hydro, wind, coal, steam or nuclear power plants," said Laurent Demortier, senior vice president of Alstom Power's Energy Management Business. "This Microsoft reference architecture accelerates solution development to enable developers to provide enhanced, more cost-effective, secure and scalable solutions."
Customers such as Fujairah F2 O&M Company Ltd. are seeing the benefits of solutions built according to an architecture that provides the alignment of IT with their business processes. "Developing a quality ALSPA Series DCS system for such a large and complex plant like ours is not that easy, and the Alstom team has responded to that great challenge in an exceptional manner," said Soloman Premline Prince, production manager, Fujairah F2 O&M Company.
"Utility industry executives who are concerned about changing their business models to ones that enable a smarter energy ecosystem will view Microsoft as a partner of choice because of its current strengths within their technology regimes as well as our solutions' adaptability to future, sometimes unknown, conditions and business environment needs," said Larry Cochrane, Worldwide Utilities Industry technology strategist/architect, Microsoft. "The Microsoft Smart Energy Reference Architecture represents our continuing commitment to our utility industry customers and our holistic vision of how the smart grid fits into the much larger energy ecosystem that's evolving daily."
The Microsoft SERA for the smart energy ecosystem will help create a world where thousands of smart devices can seamlessly plug into the grid thanks to common standards and interoperability frameworks, just as the plug-and-play model allows thousands of devices to seamlessly plug into PCs today.
Consequently, utility industry systems integrators such as Accenture are leading proponents of the Microsoft SERA for smart grids.
"Microsoft's reference architecture provides an end-to-end solution that can position utilities to take operational performance and customer response to a higher level," said Greg Guthridge, utilities customer service practice lead at Accenture. "Their integrated architecture leverages proven Microsoft platforms to support new smart processes and customer support capabilities. Innovative solutions, especially in the area of visualization and analytics, support important new capabilities in a smart-enabled energy services organization."
As a result, the grid and the broader energy ecosystem can achieve the vision of becoming smarter as companies inject Microsoft and industry partners' software into the various control points in the power system, so that households and businesses have ready access to timely, user-friendly information that eventually can help them make more rational choices about their energy use.
The Microsoft SERA provides a road map for utilities to help identify and solve the integration issues facing grid and energy ecosystem advancement. It also empowers users to drive improvements in real time, as well as to accelerate continuous improvement over time.
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq "MSFT") is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.
For utility industry-specific information:
Please visit
http://www.microsoft.com/utilities and
http://www.microsoft-hohm.com.
Source:
http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2009/oct09/10-13MSRAArchPR.mspx
A small UK startup particularly impressed us this year: Pachube. Pronounced "PATCH-bay," Pachube lets you tag and share real time sensor data from objects, devices, buildings and environments both physical and virtual: According to founder Usman Haque, Pachube is about "environments" more so than "sensors." In other words, Pachube aims to be responsive to and influence your environment, for example your home. 
