Newsbyte: Leading North American Utility Companies Awarded for Excellence by SAP

HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif., Sept. 16, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- SAP NEWSBYTE — SAP AG (NYSE: SAP) today announced the winners of the 2013 Best-Run Utilities Awards, annual awards presented to North American customers that excel in innovative and sustainable practices resulting from successful implementations of SAP® solutions. The announcement was made at the SAP for Utilities North American conference, being held Sept. 15-17 in Huntington Beach, Calif.

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Utility companies operate in a constantly changing marketplace where fluctuating energy prices are coupled with increasing demands from customers for innovative services. In order to face these challenges head on and gain a better understanding of evolving technologies, utility companies around the world turn to SAP to help streamline processes, manage customer relationships and create new, more profitable business models while reducing risk. This year's award winners include:

• Top Innovator, Mobility: FirstEnergy has embraced an enterprise-wide mobile platform approach to help increase employee efficiency, especially for those in the field, while delivering quality customer service.
• Top Innovator, Technology: CenterPoint Energy is leveraging the SAP HANA® platform for real-time analytics, helping improve company visibility through the management of big data and allowing for deeper insights for critical decision-making.
• Project of the Year, U.S., Midsize Enterprise: Metropolitan Utilities District recently completed the successful implementation of the SAP® Customer Relationship Management and Billing for Utilities package, laying the foundation for continuous improvements in efficiencies and customer satisfaction.
• Project of the Year, U.S., Large Enterprise: Atmos Energy deployed SAP Customer Relationship Management and Billing for Utilities and SAP® Workforce Management, delivering the project on time and on budget, with an impressive rate of employee adoption and minimal impact to its customers.
• Project of the Year, Canada, Large Enterprise: Hydro One completed the fourth and final phase of its "Cornerstone" journey to help ensure customer care operations remain top in the industry, including reliable call center interactions and increased accuracy and timeliness in their billing process.
• Utility of the Year: Puget Sound Energy is realizing its vision to offer a customer-based service platform that meets growing customer expectations as well as its need to manage energy delivery with greater efficiency. The go-live of SAP Customer Relationship Management and Billing for Utilities enables the company to better provide safe, reliable and affordable energy service to 1.4 million homes and businesses.

"These award-winning companies have showcased excellence in vision, planning, project management and execution to make their businesses stronger and meet customer needs faster," said Kevin Capitani, national vice president, Utilities, SAP. "SAP is incredibly proud to partner with these customers and provide the solutions enabling the innovative processes that help our world's utilities run better."

To learn more about the SAP® for Utilities solution portfolio, visit www.sap.com/utilities. For more information, visit the SAP Newsroom. Follow SAP on Twitter at @sapnews and @sap4utilities, and follow activity from the conference at @sapforutilities.

Media Contacts:
Kate McNeel, SAP, +1 (484) 624-2256, [email protected], CDT
Shannon McLoughlin, Burson-Marsteller, +1 (646) 379-7508, [email protected], EDT

SOURCE SAP AG