Smart Meters Bundled to Conquer Favorable Markets

Introduction: Recently, several big deals of large-scale private power companies have earned the attention of public opinion and analysts. Several big companies have packaged their solutions and sold them to the “small-scale power market”. This kind of bundled strategy is mature. The software market is typical, but many power companies still insist on custom software and are skeptical about packaged software.

Recently, several major deals of large-scale private power companies have earned the attention of public opinion and analysts. In the past 18 months, several major major companies have packaged their solutions and sold them to the “small-scale power market,” small and medium-sized private power companies, municipal companies and their cooperating companies. SAIC–Science Applications International Corporation launched smart grid as a service; General Electric (GE) launched its application of GridIQ, an end-to-end, industrial-grade network communication platform. Silver Spring Networks, a supplier of smart grid solutions, has partnered with dozens of partner companies to create a powerful platform. Aclara and Tantalus have been targeting "small power companies" for many years.

Most of these companies recently launched cloud-based services, and all software is owned and operated by these companies. But Sensus Energy recently released a new solution bundle for the small power market, with slightly different strategies. The company pre-empts its metering and distribution automation solutions in conjunction with Harris's software. A Saturnar spokesman said that the product is "completely an integrated suite for meter data management, asset management, and user engagement services." In the long run, integration and deployment will be reduced.

This bundled strategy is typical in a mature software market. By packaging, lower prices translate into higher value, especially when compared to the cost of custom integration. However, power companies do not agree with this typical model. Many power companies still insist on custom software and are skeptical about packaged software.