Elenia

A resilient digital ecosystem gives the business room to evolve

How can business-critical digital services remain resilient while facing constant pressure to evolve? Gofore’s Continuous Services help Elenia combine reliable electricity network operations, digital service development and the utilisation of growing volumes of data.

Image: Elenia

OBJECTIVE

Resilience and adaptability for digital services

Digital services in the energy sector need to operate reliably every day while evolving in line with regulation, technology and customer needs. Elenia, Finland’s second-largest electricity distribution network company, aims to ensure the resilience of its digital service ecosystem while enabling agile development.

“We don’t just want to maintain systems. We want to transform customer interactions in the energy sector by continuously introducing new features for our customers,” says Suvi Laitinen, Product Owner of Elenia’s own Extranet.

The need for adaptability is clearly reflected in Elenia’s Smart Grid Platform (SGP), which processes data collected from new smart electricity meters. The data is used both in electricity network operations and in digital services provided to customers.

“Our understanding of the possibilities offered by data from the new meters is constantly growing. Our aim is to be able to utilise the data in ways that we cannot yet anticipate,” says Anssi Vanhatalo, Product Owner of SGP.

“With Gofore, we have been able to continuously develop our services while keeping them available to end customers without disruption.”

Suvi Laitinen, Product Owner, Elenia

SOLUTION

A dedicated team maintains and develops the services

Gofore is responsible for the maintenance, support and continuous development of Elenia’s Extranet product and SGP. The same developers work on both services, enabling the team to deepen its understanding of the systems, their interconnections and the energy sector operating environment.

“A shared understanding with the developers saves a great deal of time. We don’t have to define or test everything ourselves from scratch, but can trust that things are being taken forward in a sensible way,” Vanhatalo says.

The team helps develop solutions and brings in Gofore’s expertise in technology, architecture and cybersecurity. System resilience is supported by scalable and modular architecture, consistent service management practices, automated monitoring, incident management and 24/7 service readiness.

“Dedicated software developers add value, and the service does not depend on a single expert. This enables us to respond quickly and ensure continuity even in exceptional situations,” says Mona Suihko, Service Manager at Gofore.

OUTCOME

More efficient network management and a better customer experience

A resilient digital ecosystem supports Elenia’s business both in network operations and at the customer interface. Reliably available meter data helps monitor the electricity network and investigate faults. The continuously evolving digital services in the Extranet, in turn, make customer interactions smoother and reduce pressure on other service channels.

“With Gofore, we have been able to continuously develop our services while keeping them available to end customers without disruption,” Laitinen says.

The performance of the Smart Grid Platform has scaled to meet growing needs. With the introduction of new smart meters, the volume of data processed has multiplied, with network status data and quality measurements delivered in real time from 400,000 meters. Through the Extranet, some of this data is processed for customers to use, opening up new opportunities for Elenia to develop its digital services and customer experience.

The impact of the Extranet already extends beyond Elenia, as other energy companies also use versions developed from it.

Key figures

24/7 service readiness.
400,000 Data from 400,000 smart meters is used in the Smart Grid Platform.
25 million quality measurements and 8 million events from smart meters per month.
116 000 users in Elenia’s own Extranet.

Project highlights

Object

The business-critical digital services of Elenia, Finland’s second-largest electricity distribution network company, need to operate reliably every day. At the same time, the systems must continuously respond to pressure for renewal created by regulation, technological development, growing data volumes and customer expectations.

Solution

Gofore is responsible for the maintenance, support and continuous development of Elenia’s Extranet product and Smart Grid Platform through a single team. Scalable architecture, automated monitoring, incident management and 24/7 service readiness support resilience.

Outcome

A resilient digital ecosystem supports Elenia’s business both in network operations and at the customer interface. Reliably available meter data supports network monitoring and fault investigation, while the Extranet’s digital services make customer interactions smoother. The impact of the Extranet extends beyond Elenia, as other energy companies also use versions developed from it.

EXPERTISE