This blog is based on our analysis – Frost Radar™: Digital Platforms for Customer Care and Engagement in Energy Utilities, authored by Frost & Sullivan’s Growth Expert, Jonathan Robinson, from the Energy team.
From Legacy CIS/CRM to Cloud‑Native, Modular Customer Care Platforms
Customer care and engagement platforms support core energy retail operations like billing, customer information systems (CIS), customer relationship management (CRM), service management, and payment processing. For many years, these platforms were deployed as on-premises systems with limited emphasis on flexibility.
Today, industry deregulation, frequent billing changes, and rising volumes of customer interactions are exposing limitations in traditional CIS and CRM environments, making it harder for utilities to adapt to regulatory updates, new pricing structures, and evolving customer expectations.
Modernize Utility Customer Care
Explore how digital platforms, cloud architectures, and evolving CIS models are reshaping customer care and engagement in energy utilities.
In response, energy utilities are moving away from monolithic applications toward cloud-based platforms to modernize customer engagement operations. This shift is creating new opportunities for platform providers to gain traction as utilities reassess their customer care architectures.
As customer operations grow more digital and complex, is your current platform able to deliver the scale, agility, and efficiency needed for the next phase of energy retail?
Listen to our latest podcast episode on digital Customer Care Platforms for Energy Utilities.
What’s Shaping Competition in Digital Customer Care Platforms for Energy Utilities
Leading Digital Customer Care Platform Providers
From a broad ecosystem of digital customer care and engagement providers, our latest Frost Radar™ highlights the following three companies that are setting benchmarks in cloud adoption, AI-led automation, and large-scale utility transformations.
Kraken Technologies
- AI-first, full-stack utility operating system: Delivering end-to-end CIS, billing, customer engagement, and flexibility management for residential and C&I customers on a unified cloud-native platform.
Kaluza
- Modular energy intelligence platform: Aligning customer lifecycle management and billing with grid-aware flexibility and demand response through Kaluza Retail and Kaluza Flex.
Gentrack
- Utility-specific product-to-profit platform: Combining billing, CRM, meter data, analytics, and DER management on a global data model built for complex energy offerings.
Will established utilities maintain their edge as AI, modular, and cloud-native platforms reshape customer care? Or will more agile providers redefine value through seamless, outcome-driven experiences?
Best Practices to Modernize Customer Care and Engagement Platforms
As energy utilities move toward customer-centric operating models, they are also encountering challenges like technology integration, regulatory complexity, and the need to deliver consistent experiences. However, the following best practices can help them move ahead:
- Deliver integrated customer experiences: Unifying customer journeys reduces friction and creates room to introduce new digital capabilities without disruption.
- Adopt SaaS and modular platforms: Shifting to Software as a Service (SaaS)-based, modular architecture allows utilities to lower upgrade risk and keep innovation costs under control.
- Modernize the technology foundation: Strengthening core systems with cloud-native microservices, analytics, AI, and Internet of Things (IoT) orchestration supports a broader technology partner ecosystem.
Is your organization leveraging these best practices to drive measurable return on investment (ROI) and enhance customer value?
Emerging Growth Opportunities in Utility Customer Care
With behind-the-meter flexibility becoming central to energy retail, utilities can leverage the following opportunities for competitive differentiation:
- AI-driven Personalization: Leveraging AI to proactively tailor energy propositions and optimize consumer energy consumption, improving engagement and satisfaction.
- DERM & VPP Integration: Integrating with distributed energy resource management (DERM) and virtual power plant (VPP) software to unlock grid flexibility and create new revenue streams.
- Expansion into New Regions: Targeting emerging regions like the United States, Germany, Japan, and Italy to capture additional contracts and grow market presence.
Which of these growth opportunities will have the biggest impact on your business and how will you capitalize on it?
Next Steps to Modernize Customer Care Platforms
Cloud-native, AI-driven, and modular platforms are critical for utilities to deliver seamless customer experiences, scale efficiently, and unlock new revenue streams. By adopting best practices, benchmarking top providers, and leveraging opportunities in AI-personalization, DER integration, and global expansion, utilities can lead in a digital-first, competitive energy landscape.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What is digital customer care?
Digital customer care is the use of technology and platforms, such as mobile apps, online portals, AI chatbots, and automated workflows, to manage customer interactions, streamline billing, and improve engagement in industries such as energy utilities.
What is a utility in digital solutions?
A utility in digital solutions is a company that provides essential services such as electricity, gas, or water while using digital tools and platforms to enhance operations, customer service, and energy management.
What is the energy utilities industry?
The energy utilities industry covers companies that generate, transmit, and distribute electricity, gas, and renewable energy. Modern utilities increasingly rely on digital solutions, cloud platforms, and AI to improve customer experience, operational efficiency, and grid reliability.
What is AI in energy utilities?
AI in energy utilities refers to the use of machine learning, analytics, and automation to improve grid reliability, forecast energy demand, optimize billing and customer care, and manage distributed energy resources such as EVs, batteries, and solar systems.
Ready to Lead the Transformation?
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