Benefits of Cloud CIS for Utilities and Municipalities
Did you know that cloud computing is not new-fangled tech? It’s been around since the 1950s when schools and corporations shared their mainframe computers (that used to be the size of a huge room). Because mainframes were expensive, only big companies owned them, but they shared their processing power and workstations with those who needed them.
Just like people shared those mainframes, companies are sharing space in the Cloud to house data, operating systems, and applications. And every day, more companies are migrating to the Cloud. And if you think about it, you’re using the Cloud too when you access Facebook, Google Drive, Gmail, or even TurboTax. These companies store your data in a remote location, i.e., the Cloud, so that you can access it when and where you need it.
When you think about migrating your CIS to the Cloud, you’re talking about moving your customer information and billing applications from your on-premise server to one that a company specializing in the Cloud owns. Moving to a cloud-specializing company gives you several benefits to accessing your data and applications when you need them without the headache of managing your own data center. Is migrating to a cloud CIS right for your municipal utility? Here are the benefits of cloud CIS migration.
9 Benefits of CIS Cloud Migration
Cost-Savings
Sustainability
Flexibility
Security
Updates
Mobility
Collaboration
Recovery
Reliability
Why Migrate Your Municipal Utility to Cloud CIS?
1. Cost Savings — Moving your CIS to the Cloud changes how you pay for your IT. Instead of the capital expense of owning a data center (and all the added costs like utilities, staff, and maintenance that on-premise data centers), your IT spend becomes an operating expense, and you only pay for what you need. Moving to the Cloud means you’ll benefit from the economies of scale that many businesses are already enjoying from migrating to the Cloud.
You won’t have to invest in hardware, facilities or utilities, for an on-premise data center. And migrating takes all the maintaining, updating, and patching out of your on-site IT staffs’ hands and puts it into the hands of highly skills cloud administrators. Your IT staff will be able to focus on higher priority, in-house tasks.
You’ll also be able to streamline day-to-day operations for your CSRs, as well. Because the cloud uptimes are highly reliable, your CSRs will have easy access to your data and files. Their productivity will go up because they have what they need when they need it. And your costs will go down because they will be able to respond to more customers throughout the day.
2. Sustainability – We are all thinking about how utilities can be greener and protect the environment. By moving to the Cloud and not updating your data center the industry-estimated, every five years, you’ll be doing your part to keep your old and worn-out hardware out of the landfill.
3. Flexibility — We designed the NorthStar Cloud specifically for municipal utilities. We know you may need to scale up or down, depending on the changes in your community. However, you don’t have to upgrade your entire data center because your community’s population grew or because your server is aging. And you don’t have to buy expensive hardware to keep on-premise with resources that you may or may not use in the future. Moving to the Cloud means that you have the best, never-aging infrastructure for your customer information and billing software that is always up-to-date and has the flexibility to meet your demands cost-effectively.
We designed NorthStar’s Cloud to provide innovations to our customers as we develop new features. When your CIS is cloud-based, we can push out patches, releases, and updates cloud-wide, giving every customer new features without your having to wait for someone to travel to your location to complete these updates.
4. Security — Security is on everyone’s mind these days, and because more of us are working remotely, the Cloud is a secure way to give your employees access to your network. When you need your data, it travels encrypted so that it’s protected from end to end, making it harder for a hacker or unauthorized personnel to access your network and data. NorthStar’s Cloud powered by AWS complies with government regulations, and their specialists monitor the Cloud for threats 24/7/365. As new regulations come out, AWS ensures that their infrastructure meets or exceeds these new regulations, so you are always in compliance. By having this team of world-class experts working for you, you’ll have access to the latest technologies and innovations and be agile and efficient in meeting all regulatory requirements.
5. Updates– You’ve seen the software update notification on your computer before. If you’re like some people, you find them annoying and ignore them. But, these updates patch holes in your system, and if your IT team is not running these updates and patches, you could have gaps in your network. Cybercriminals know to look for these holes and will exploit them to get into your system. The NorthStar Cloud, powered by AWS, is automatically updated, which reduces the workload of your in-house IT staff.
6. Mobility — Today’s office is increasingly mobile, and municipal utilities are no exception. Having your data accessible from the Cloud gives your field service technicians the information and files they need right at their fingertips. With Northstar’s mCare and Cloud, your FSRs can easily store, retrieve, recover, and process information from their phone or tablet without making multiple trips to the office to retrieve work orders. Your team will be more productive, and you’ll save on the wear and tear of your response vehicles.
With cloud-based web portals like SilverBlaze, your customers are now in charge of their accounts 24/7. They are first in line every time as they check their usage, change passwords, initiate move-ins and move-outs, and so much more. With customers using a web portal, your CSRs will handle higher priority issues that need a personal touch, your foot traffic will decrease, and your customer satisfaction will improve.
As we as a society spend more time in the digital space, your customers expect their utility providers to keep up with the changes. Having a cloud-based CIS allows you to provide your customers with a user experience that meets their digital needs.
7. Collaboration – working from the Cloud increases team collaboration and improves document control. Each person has access to documents based on their user level, and teams can view cloud-based, shared documents when they need them. The people in the office will know what your FSRs are doing in the field, reduces human error, and increases proficiency.
8. Recovery — If you’re storing your data in an on-premise data center, those servers can malfunction because of a power outage, virus, or even age-related problems. Although many of these problems could attack the Cloud, the Cloud has redundancies built into it that keep the system from losing your data. On top of that, AWS performs routine backups, so you’ll always have data you can recover from the last backup point.
9. Reliability — When your customers flick a light switch, they expect to see light. And when they turn on a faucet, they expect to see water. Downtime leads to productivity loss and discomfort for your community. When your network is down, you often can’t provide the services your community needs to live their lives in comfort, meaning no energy and no water.
If you experience a natural or man-made disaster (including a ransomware attack), then you have to get your network up as quickly as possible. If your data center is on-premise, then a natural disaster could have you down for hours, days, or even weeks. With cloud-based CIS, you can recover your data quickly, and you can get your network up and running again since downtime in Cloud systems is rare. The Cloud has built-in redundancies and fail-overs to ensure that uptime is as close to 100% as possible. You’ll be able to save precious time to get your systems up and running, no matter if a man-made or natural disaster hits.
By migrating your municipal utility’s CIS to the Cloud, you gain so many benefits. Because the Cloud is reliable, your data will be available when your customer service and field representatives need it the most, reducing downtime and increasing productivity. Your team will be able to collaborate with data that is safely stored and backup, keeping it current and protected at all times. With the Cloud, your infrastructure will always be up-to-date, and your software will be current with the latest NorthStar features. Moving to the Cloud is a highly cost-effective and secure way to store and retrieve your customer information.
Ready to migrate your utility CIS to the Cloud? Contact us by clicking on the button below. We’ll discuss your options for moving your municipal utility’s CIS to the cloud.