Smartly capitalizing on opportunities in changing energy market

Smartly capitalizing on opportunities in changing energy market

About the collaboration between Fudura and CaseNine

The energy market is in a state of flux. New propositions, such as Energy as a Service, require a flexible attitude and changed market approach. Pieter van Harten, working as Manager ICT at Fudura, sees the role of the organization and his team changing. This requires the right support from ICT as well as streamlined cooperation with partners. "The right partner ensures that you can focus on the organization's own core activities." 

Everyday change

Pieter van Harten has been working at Fudura for six years now. In the role of Manager ICT, he - together with the team - deals with all IT-related projects within the organization. This responsibility does not end with his own colleagues: relations and daily cooperation with suppliers and partners are also part of the team's activities. "Fudura originated from the government at the time. Within the organization, all commercial activities are now combined. Since the acquisition by the consortium PGGM and DIF Capital Partners, a change of focus and attitude is taking place. Specifically, the organization has great ambition and a strong growth objective," Van Harten notes.

Transformation and opportunities

Pieter's team deals with IT, including all software. Because of the transformation within Fudura, the organization is also demanding more from IT. Think of data services and smart control of assets. Van Harten explains: "Due to developments, such as network congestion, we as a society need to be smarter with the available energy. This requires a relatively large amount of measurement data. Based on this detailed data, we can perform smart analyses. The outcome determines, among other things, which assets you control and how and when this is done. Pieter: "When energy rates are negative, for example, you want the batteries to be charged. Such assets can not only be controlled intelligently, but also read out in the right way. We then make that data transparent to our customers. Then don't just think about a simple app, but rather in-depth analyses."

"We make data insightful for our customers. Not just through a simple app, but rather through in-depth analysis."

The role of Salesforce

These developments also have implications for the Salesforce deployed by Fudura. "We want to start using and deploying Salesforce better. I therefore consider it an overhaul: the platform must be able to support our growth optimally." Fudura uses Salesforce for a variety of activities. For example, assets are stored and managed in it. Salesforce also supports work order management and CRM activities. "Salesforce is not yet optimally set up for our sales activities. We are now in the phase where we determine what the desired end situation is and the roadmap that goes with it. Fudura is working intensively on this with an implementation partner and with CaseNine. The plan is to start with the roadmap this year. Various stakeholders are involved in the project, including a project leader from the business and Pieter's team from the architecture.

"Fudura uses the Salesforce platform for various activities, including asset management."

Collaboration

CaseNine takes care of the technical part within the cooperation. Pieter commented, "The cooperation is based on trust and also makes it clear to me how valuable a good collaboration is. In the past we had been working with CaseNine for some time, but for cost reasons we worked with a party in Portugal for some time." The outsourcing proved unsuccessful: the project stalled and the end result was jeopardized. CaseNine showed flexibility and took over the entire management of Salesforce. "From Fudura, we particularly appreciated that attitude. For me, this is also a telling example of a successful partnership: you feel important as a customer. Within that partnership, I also attach great value to flexibility. Especially given the large number of changes required in Salesforce, the outcome and scope is not always a given. It is important that all involved can deal with this." CaseNine cleverly responds to this, for example with the Shared DevOps team. This team manages the project for Fudura and implements changes. Together they go through the roadmap and adjust expectations.

The benefits of Shared DevOps

For Fudura, CaseNine's Shared DevOps team enables the organization to focus on its own core business and on the things where IT can really stand out from the competition. Pieter explains, "We don't need to bring in Salesforce talent because of this. Especially in a market where such expertise is scarce, this is nice. Moreover, Fudura's focus should not be on Salesforce either, but on our own activities. At Fudura there is a considerable amount of customization. Especially CaseNine's technical knowledge and expertise make the difference for us. The cooperation also gives a grip on the process: we keep each other informed and have a forecast every three months, for example. That helps with the scoping of the project."

"CaseNine's Shared DevOps team enables Fudura to focus on its own core business and on the things where IT can truly differentiate itself from the competition."

The right partner

For organizations that are also looking for a suitable Salesforce partner, Pieter has some practical tips. "Culture and size of a company are at least as important as the technical skills in-house. Make sure these aspects are aligned between your organization and the partner. Those elements really impact the ultimate collaboration and joint success. For me and the team, for example, a personal approach is very important," concludes Pieter.