Peace Software

Abstract

In 2003, utility providers in the energy sector distinguished themselves around the world by the speed of their responses to clients’ demands; their ability to respond to competitors’ initiatives; the diversity and novelty of their offerings; and, increasingly, by convenience for consumers (increasing their offerings across all energy sources, and providing services in other sectors, such as finance and telecommunications). A provider’s Customer Interface Software (CIS), therefore, had to be capable of coping with exponential growth in customer numbers, and capable of handling continuous upgrades. Its design had to allow functions to be progressively introduced, and have the ability to interface with utilities’ existing systems or with software solutions produced by specialist providers. The defining characteristics of utility CIS systems were managing information from customers’ meters, and handling all the associated billing and payment capabilities Brian Peace, the CEO of Peace Software, believed that leadership in the utilities sector would require his company to have a presence in all major energy deregulation ventures around the world. Until now, the demand for Peace’s CIS software had been driven by energy deregulation, where New Zealand and the UK had been among the world’s leaders, followed by Australia and then a number of American states. When markets deregulated, the pace of market opening had been, ironically, controlled by legislation, with clearly defined timetables. For the energy sector, the Next Big Thing was the deregulation mandated by the European Union over the next 3 to 4 years.