CIO Utilities Technology magazine named MAVERICK Technologies the best source for automation in the utilities industry of its annual "Most Promising Utilities Solution Providers" December 2013 edition.
CIO Utilities Technology magazine said that after looking at hundreds of solution providers and consulting companies, they shortlisted the ones making the largest strides towards tackling challenges in the utilities industry.
"Maverick Technologies is the best source of automation, enterprise integration and sustaining services," said the magazine.
But while the magazine celebrates Maverick Technologies, there are real concerns in the utilities power industry dealing with technical changes to date.
As a result, chief information officers (CIOs) are concerned about their companies' integrating computers, networking, dispatching, control systems and other technologies involved in power production and distribution.
As technology advances, "it's quickly becoming as much a part of the products and services as the energy itself," said Tyrone Bowman, Industry Manager-Power at Maverick.
Bowman said that each company's CIOs are now tasked with getting involved at the power production and IT levels. They must use information technology to provide strategic solutions to help the business increase market share, respond to consumer demands, increase shareholder value, reduce operating costs and respond to very rapidly changing markets.
"Getting data out of these systems and into a data warehouse and business intelligence environment allows the right data to be provided to the right people at the right time," Bowman said. "CIOs must also ensure that integrated systems are safe and secure, including taking necessary measures to guarantee protection from cyber threats."
Luckily, at the local utility, there is a wealth of real time data available from Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems and Distribution Automation Systems to guide CIOs as companies try to ensure system safety. CIO Utilities Technology also compiled a list of its systems integrators and solution providers to help with the problem.
Maverick Technologies, on the other hand, was named “the best source for automation" in the utilities industry because it's perfectly positioned to provide utilities and support for its CIOs.
The company is the largest platform-independent systems integrator in North America and can bring a unique perspective to its core business of process automation, along with extensive domain experience in the power and other industries.