download.microsoft.comdownload.microsoft.com/.../710000004196/Redknee_Micr…  · Web viewThe Redknee Utility Suite gives utilities a flexible and easy-to-use billing solution that

Software Provider Eases Use of Product by Offering Oracle-Based Application in Cloud

OverviewCustomer: RedkneeCountry or Region: CanadaIndustry: Professional services—Software

Customer ProfileRedknee provides billing and customer care software for telecommunications, utilities, railways, and other service providers, helping them market new services and deliver an advanced customer experience.

Business SituationTo meet the needs of utility customers, Redknee needed to offer its Oracle-based Redknee Utility Suite using a cloud deployment model, to provide lower costs and easier scalability.

SolutionWhen Microsoft and Oracle announced better support for customers running Oracle applications in Windows-based environments, Redknee migrated its application to Microsoft Azure.

Benefits Faster, less expensive, lower-risk

deployments for customers Improved data scalability Better ability to expand business

“Because we’ve moved our Oracle-based application to Microsoft Azure, our customers can deploy it much faster than they could by deploying an on-premises infrastructure, which requires a significant investment.”

Daniel Franz, Senior Solutions Manager for Vertical Markets, Redknee

Redknee makes software that helps communications service providers deliver flexible billing options and great customer care experiences. When Redknee entered the utility market with its Oracle-based Redknee Utility Suite, it discovered that utilities desired a cloud-based rather than on-premises deployment model, to keep costs down while evaluating new services. When Microsoft and Oracle announced a partnership that made it easier to run Oracle software in Windows-based environments, Redknee was one of the first customers to move an Oracle-based application to Microsoft Azure. With the move, Redknee removed the cost and deployment-time barrier for customers who wish to use its product. It can also provide nearly limitless scalability to utilities as their data volumes grow. With a cloud-based offering, Redknee can also more easily deploy its product in any part of the world.

SituationEstablished in 1999, Redknee provides business-critical software to some of the world’s largest communications service providers. It offers converged billing, charging, policy management, and customer care solutions for voice, messaging, and data services provided by more than 200 service providers to 2.4 billion end customers in 90-plus countries. Redknee is headquartered in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, and employs 1,700 people.

The Redknee Utility Suite is built on the same technology foundation that the software provider used for its telecommunications offerings: the Linux operating system and Oracle Database 11g (version 11.2) database software.

The Redknee Utility Suite gives utilities a flexible and easy-to-use billing solution that can manage data from smart meters, incentivize customers to save energy in real time, and minimize customer complaints, all while improving cash flow. It provides dynamic rating and billing for electricity, water, gas, and even energy creation. Subscribers can use their smartphones and other mobile devices to gain a real-time view of their consumption patterns and utility bills and pay for electric vehicle charging stations.

Redknee software solutions for the telecommunications industry provide the ultimate flexibility for service providers through their on-premises, cloud-based, and software-as-a-service deployment models. Redknee discovered that an on-premises deployment model did not suit the rapidly changing utility industry. In the past, utilities sent meter readers to homes and businesses once a month or annually to record end-customer energy consumption. Data volumes and transactions were predictable and static.

But today, utilities are grappling with an abundance of data coming from smart

meters that capture and transmit energy consumption data in real time. Utilities are also bracing for a potential influx of machine-to-machine communications (for example, a refrigerator sending a message to a smartphone reporting that the milk is expired), electric vehicle charging (e-mobility) initiatives, and many other “smart energy” and mobility-enabled ideas. Utility companies are busy transforming their IT infrastructures to support real-time, online data collection and customer information.

Thus, most utilities were hesitant to invest significant up-front sums for an on-premises infrastructure until their smart meter, e-mobility, and other services were established and generated higher data volumes. Utilities wanted the ability to start small with the Redknee Utility Suite and scale gradually.

“The utilities industry is in the midst of deep transformation, and our product needed to be able to accommodate this uncertainty and flexibility,” says Jens Voigt, Chief Technology Officer, Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) at Redknee. “Utilities are searching for new ways to handle the real-time nature of their business. They don’t want to invest heavily in on-premises equipment for services that are still in their infancy. They are looking for the flexibility of cloud-based deployments that allow them to test products like ours without making a significant up-front investment.”

SolutionRedknee looked at both Microsoft Azure and Amazon Web Services as cloud hosting options for the Redknee Utility Suite. Microsoft Azure is the Microsoft cloud operating system that provides compute, storage, hosting, and management services for customer-developed applications and services.

In June 2013, Microsoft and Oracle announced a partnership to help customers develop and run Oracle-based software in

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“[Utilities] are looking for the flexibility of cloud-based deployments that allow them to test products like ours without making a significant up-front investment.”

Jens Voigt, Chief Technology Officer, EMEA, Redknee

Microsoft Azure. The partnership gives customers the flexibility to deploy Oracle software—including Java, Oracle Database, and Oracle WebLogic Server—on Windows Server Hyper-V technology or in Microsoft Azure and receive full support from Oracle.

This announcement, together with the fact that the Redknee Utility Suite client application runs on the Windows 8 operating system, caused Redknee to select Microsoft Azure as its hosting environment for the Redknee Utility Suite.

“The partnership between Microsoft and Oracle gave us the opportunity to get our application into the cloud very quickly without changing the application architecture,” says Daniel Franz, Senior Solutions Manager for Vertical Markets at Redknee. “Also, because of the transitional nature of utilities’ move to the cloud, regulatory agencies may require that utilities keep some customer data on-premises. By using Microsoft Azure, our customers can easily keep data on-premises in a Windows Server Hyper-V environment and have a compatible cloud environment in Microsoft Azure.”

The migration of the Redknee Utility Suite to Microsoft Azure, in October 2013, took less than two weeks. Engineers created the application image, which included Linux, Oracle Database, and the Redknee Utility Suite, and moved it to an on-premises Windows Server Hyper-V environment. When that environment was proven stable, Redknee transferred the Hyper-V virtual machines to Microsoft Azure. Additional storage, for long-term stored data, will be configured on request according to customer needs. The option to set up a virtual private network gateway opens the possibility of connecting the Microsoft Azure instance with the partner network and including virtual machines in the same network.

”We were really pleased at how easy it was to move our application from the Hyper-V

environment to Microsoft Azure,” Franz says. “We received excellent help from the Microsoft team.”

Redknee is currently working with a number of customers on proof of concepts and trials in deploying the Redknee Utility Suite in Microsoft Azure.

BenefitsBy running the Redknee Utility Suite in Microsoft Azure, Redknee has made it much easier and less expensive for utility customers to deploy the Oracle-based Redknee solution without the need for an on-premises hardware and software infrastructure. Customers can also scale their Redknee solution quickly and cost-effectively as business grows and data volumes increase. This flexibility not only helps utilities but also helps Redknee expand its business.

Faster, Less Expensive, Lower-Risk Deployments for Customers“Because we’ve moved our Oracle-based application to Microsoft Azure, our customers can deploy it much faster than they could by deploying an on-premises infrastructure, which requires a significant investment,” Franz says. “Having a flexible back-end infrastructure lets us give our customers an easy way to get to market.”

Anecdotal evidence from the trials have shown that customers have achieved savings from avoiding the up-front investments in on-premises infrastructure. “We estimate that utilities can deploy our solution in days rather than weeks by running it in Microsoft Azure,” Voigt says. “They no longer need to await server acquisition, deployment, testing, and other infrastructure-related delays and endure those costs.”

Improved Data Scalability Microsoft Azure will provide the scalability needed to handle the growing data volumes that utilities face. Machine-to-machine communications and new smart

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meter reading services that involve millions of households providing energy data every 15 minutes will generate massive amounts of data.

“The new developments in the utilities industry are exciting, but we are yet to see how quickly these services will be adopted by consumers and businesses,” Franz says. “That’s why utilities want a way to incrementally grow their infrastructure. Microsoft Azure provides that incremental growth.”

Better Ability to Expand Business The flexibility and scalability of Microsoft Azure helps Redknee expand its business. “The smart meter market is evolving differently in different areas of the world, and it’s much easier to address diverse geographical markets with a cloud-based offering,” Voigt says. “Our Microsoft Azure infrastructure makes it easy to deploy trials and tests in different parts of the world.”

Lucas Skoczkowski, Chief Executive Officer of Redknee, says the Microsoft/Oracle partnership is helping his business be more successful. “Our strategy is to enable tier 1 service providers to use on-premises, cloud-based, and hybrid systems to support their growth strategies. The success of our strategy has enabled some of the world’s largest service providers to launch into new markets quickly and drive faster time-to-market,” says Skoczkowski. “A strategic and long-standing relationship with Microsoft and Oracle … will expand our addressable market for our solutions to tier 1 service providers in communications and other verticals such as utilities and machine-to-machine that are looking to take advantage of next-generation solutions with a low-risk investment strategy.”

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“It’s much easier to address diverse geographical markets with a cloud-based offering. Our Microsoft Azure infrastructure makes it easy to deploy trials and tests in different parts of the world.”

Jens Voigt, Chief Technology Officer, EMEA, Redknee

Enable modern business applicationsEnable modern business applications that meet the most demanding requirements. Microsoft development tools help you design, test, and deploy applications quickly, as well as connect applications, data, and services to any device. Your applications can run in your datacenter, a hosted site, or a public cloud, or they can span multiple locations.

For more information about enabling modern business applications, go to:www.microsoft.com/en-us/server-cloud/cloud-os/modern-business-apps.aspx

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This case study is for informational purposes only. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, IN THIS SUMMARY.

Document published March 2014

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For more information about Redknee products and services, visit the website at: www.redknee.com