BRIDGE Index Reveals Over 53% of Utilities Have Immature Business Intelligence Capabilities

MARLBOROUGH, Mass., Sept. 17, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- BRIDGE Energy Group, the leading Utility business consulting and systems integration solutions provider, today announced the results from their 2012 Utility Industry Survey on Business Intelligence (BI)/Analytics.

BRIDGE surveyed over 14,000 utility employees about their views and experiences in analytics, business intelligence and/or big data.  Results show that 53% of respondents are challenged with immature BI/Analytics capabilities, while 79% indicate the availability of knowledgeable staff and the integration of related systems as top issues hindering BI/Analytics improvements. 91% of respondents, however, indicated that their organizations are planning BI/Analytics projects in the coming one to two years.

"Utilities are undergoing a rapid transition from an electro-mechanical to a digitized, smart grid world.  Opportunities ranging from outage reductions to delivering consumer centric services are now possible due to the availability of new data from across the utility supply chain," offered David E. Olsson, CEO of BRIDGE Energy Group.   

The disconnect between resource availability and planned business intelligence projects presents substantial challenges for utility managers responsible for making strategic business decisions.  BRIDGE's survey highlighted several roadblocks that must be overcome before analytics can play a key role in improving utility operations and customer services.

"Analytics is more than just business queries," said Ethan L. Cohen, Practice Leader at BRIDGE.  "Robust utility enterprise analytics is also about developing the dashboards, reports, search tools and technical insight to make and support value-driven decisions. This includes having the business processes and tools to capture the benefits of analytics." 

BRIDGE will be sharing the results of this survey at the Utility Analytics Week conference in Arlington, Texas from September 18^th -20^th while exhibiting at booth #3.  Attendees of the conference will have the opportunity to sign up to receive the results of the survey while at the event. 

Complete results of the 2012 Utility Industry Survey, including an overview analysis can also be found at:  www.BridgeEnergyGroup.com/AnalyticsSurvey.html.

About BRIDGE Energy Group

BRIDGE Energy Group is the leading Utility business consulting and systems integration solutions provider for clients in the Utility industry.  BRIDGE offers business and IT transformation strategy planning, program management and expert implementation services in support of key Market Operations, Grid Operations and Smart Grid initiatives across Generation, Transmission, Distribution, Independent System Operators and Regional Transmission Operators. 

SOURCE BRIDGE Energy Group