Production-proven solutions for demand forecasting, service level monitoring, customer management, and data APIs, each running as a parallel digital twin with zero risk to your systems of record.
Demand Forecasting
Forecast With Tight Time Constraints
Problem
Forecasting system must run in less than 12 hours
Using major data center, legacy system did not always finish in time
Utility also needed to increase system size and capacity
Utility needed to accurately bid in futures market
Solution
Fractal Programming enabled new demand forecasting system to be written and deployed in a single business quarter
Dramatically increased accuracy and number of scenarios that can be run
Uses full customer data set instead of just a data sub-set
System runs in minutes instead of hours
Impact
Added accuracy of forecasting 100% of the data, not samples, impacts millions of dollars of futures contracts each year
Why Fractal
Fractal Programming enabled the development of a demand forecasting application that runs over 1,000 times faster than the legacy application
Forecasting system was delivered in a single business quarter and is more accurate than legacy system
Key Customer Insight
Insight From Multiple Sources · Internal and External
Problem
Key customer insight data is often located outside of systems-of-record
Valuable customer information is located department-level computers or desktop spreadsheets that are not accessible by systems-of-record
Customer entered and customer maintained data needs to be incorporated into customer insight apps
Public domain information (eg. tax records) must be incorporated into customer insights
Solution
Implement continuous real-time data import from systems-of-record
Implement continuous real-time data import from department-level computers and desktop applications
Implement continuous real-time data import from public domain sources
Implement continuous real-time data import directly from customers
Impact
Deeper key customer insight
Enables all customer information, regardless of where it resides, to be incorporated into 360 degree view of customer relationship and customer activities
Why Fractal
Fractal Programming enables continuous real-time data import
Data import tools work with internal and external data sources, including public domain data
Data import tools work with desktop resources such as spreadsheets and text files in addition to data exports from systems-of-record
Customer data entry / import supported
Service Level Agreement Monitoring
Exception Detection · Analysis · Alarming
Problem
Data provider service level agreements can be challenging to monitor, analyze and manage
Data service level shortfalls can lead to billing problems with customers
Quick early detection of data provider problems is needed to prevent downstream issues
Solution
Parallel meter data management system
Analyze all meter and sensor data to locate any missing data elements and test against service level agreement metrics
Reconcile all data to check for consistency
Machine learning module to identify unusual patterns that can indicate data issues
Impact
Increase in bill quality
Reduction is customer billing complaints and issues
Why Fractal
Delivered parallel meter and sensor data management system with Fractal Programming
Parallel Fractal application identifies missing data and data errors
Automatic alerting and alarming of failures to meet data service level agreement metrics
Now able to bill with confidence that underlying data is correct
Customer Contact Management
Customer Data Management · Key Contact Information
Problem
The scale of customer base can make data management and automated communication challenging
Customers need to be able to update contact information and preferences to track changes in their internal organization
Contact information for problem notification can be different than billing contact
Solution
Customer portal that enables customers to update their contact information and preferences
Internal support portal for use by call center and key accounts team to track and update customer contact information
Impact
Customers proactively notified and updated on issues
Organizational and contact changes continuously tracked and updated
Why Fractal
Fractal enables data portals to be easily built for both internal and external customer use
Flexible database definitions enable easy addition of attributes for tracking priority accounts
Native email, text and voicemail communication for alerting and alarming
Solution scalability for entire customer base
Customer Data Portal
Customer Data Available On · Desktop · Mobile Devices
Problem
Customers want access to billing data on digital devices
Customers want to do scenario analysis for rate plans
Customers want budget forecasts
Customer want to supplement their data
Solution
Parallel customer care and billing system that is accessible from customer's digital devices
Instant customer visibility to their real time bill
Customer can test different rate plans in real time
Customers have easy access to budget forecasts
Customers can self-service their data needs which frees up key account and call center resources
Impact
$10 million development cost savings and customer support cost reduction for customer information portal
Why Fractal
Delivered a parallel customer care and billing system in 90 days with 90% less cost than legacy system
Application provides customer rate plan scenario analysis, budget forecasts, green energy metrics, and enables customer to enter supplemental information about energy efficiency projects
Customers can self-service their information needs on web portal from their digital devices
Data API
Web Services · Metering · Billing · Customer & Program Info
Problem
Customers increasingly requesting programmatic access to their data
Large customers want convenient access to their entire portfolio of accounts and associated information
An API is necessary in order to make many third party services available to customers
Solution
Web services API's are exposed as components of parallel systems for managing meter data, billing, and customer information
Customers can access the data both via interactive web portals and via programmatic APIs
Multiple data format supported (JSON, XML, CSV) as well as custom data formats
Impact
Increased customer satisfaction
No additional load on IT resources
Third party services easier to enable for customers
Why Fractal
Delivered parallel data management system with Fractal Programming
Make metering, billing, weather, and other customer data available without imposing any load on legacy systems-of-record
Consistent interface and interaction for customers across all data types and data requests
Weather Data
Data For · Demand & Financial Forecasting · Scenario Analysis
Problem
Weather data is required for many business functions and applications
Consistent weather assumptions must be made across multiple business processes and applications
Required weather data may need to be integrated from multiple data sources
Solution
Weather data management system
Integrates data from multiple data sources
Provides data at multiple levels of time granularity (5-minute, hourly, daily, weekly, monthly)
Data accessible via interactive graphical user interface(s) as well as application programming interface(s) API
Impact
Increased consistency across business processes
Increased quality and consistency in analysis and forecasting processes and applications
Why Fractal
Delivered weather data management system with Fractal Programming
Integrates data from multiple data sources and reconciles the sources for a consistent data view
Data accessible both interactively and programmatically via web APIs
Insures consistent weather assumptions across business processes and applications
Ready to see Fractal in your environment?
90 days, your production data, zero disruption to existing systems.
