Technology

1. Overview

The Utilidex | Energy product is a cloud based solution. There is no software to install, and you can access the product via most modern internet browsers (Chrome/Internet Explorer).

In the main the data that is required to operate the product is all external to the corporate network, and is largely available via either your energy retailer and/or metering providers.

We work in very close partnership with Microsoft, with a goal of providing you the very latest in innovations, which create business value for you.

2. Technology Overview

Utilidex | Energy utilises the Microsoft Azure cloud to provide its services to customers. As a trusted enterprise vendor Microsoft provides a highly scalable and secure offering.

The Utilidex | Energy product is a HTML5, responsive design product. There are no additional plug-ins/software required and it will work with any modern browser. Whilst we support most major browser versions, we would recommend the use of Google Chrome or Internet Explorer.

In addition to access via a desktop/browser we also have a native mobile application, which works on mobile phones devices. For optimum viewing and useability, we recommend the use of a mobile with a larger display screen such as a Windows Phone or iPhone.

In addition to browser and mobile versions, we also provide a RESTful API which supports a number of common formats from JSON, CSV, XML in addition to providing an Excel App, which is available direct from the Microsoft Excel App Store. In order to use the Microsoft Excel App, you will need either Excel 2013 and above, or an Office365 subscription.

Our goal is to make sure that your data is available in a way that is easy for you to get, and in a format that you want.

Utilidex run’s an active-active configuration for its webservers, which are located across two separate Microsoft Data Centres, meaning if there is ever any problem with a data centre the application automatically routes traffic to the other site, meaning no downtime.

In addition, Utilidex also run’s an active-active configuration for its application servers, which is where the main calculations and engines are situated.   These again are located in two separate Microsoft Data Centres, meaning if there is ever any problem with a data centre the application automatically routes traffic to the other server.

In addition to providing additional resilience, this application layer has a number of unique features which provide Utilidex with its technology capability, namely:

Real time scale available due to in-Memory computing: the technology platform, includes an in-memory technology layer (so calculations/data can be bought into memory and high speed calculations performed). This delivers industry leading speed for production of complex energy calculations.

Common ETL/Data Adapters/Exchange Feeds: we recognise in utilities, bringing data together from a myriad of sources and exchanges is a challenge. That’s why our platform encompasses a number of data adapters already present for many of the common interfaces in energy. These are being added to all the time, meaning that customers continually are getting the latest & best data feeds.

Utilidex uses the latest Microsoft onDemand Database & File Storage Technology. There are no virtual/physical machines where data is stored. This is provided by Microsoft’s latest PaaS (Platform as a Service) Database offerings. This ensures that each customer has their own database and file storage system, which is completely separate from one other.

For more information on OnDemand and how this provides Tier 1 Capability see:

https://azure.microsoft.com/en-gb/services/sql-database/

In addition to separate databases, Utilidex uses the latest Microsoft Encryption technology to encrypt data which is stored in the database – for more information on this – please see Security.

3.   Security

Microsoft is a trusted, enterprise cloud vendor which has the highest levels of resilience & security in the industry. Microsoft maintains a number of industry leading security certifications including IS027001.

For more information on Security and Certifications please see the Azure Trust Centre:

https://azure.microsoft.com/en-gb/support/trust-center/

In addition to partnering with a highly secure cloud partner, Utilidex additionally utilises a number of industry best practice approaches to maintaining your data

  • We use https secure connections for all browser connections to the application
  • Where possible we use secure connectivity (SFTP) to obtain any market data
  • We encrypt data on rest – using the latest Microsoft Security:

https://msdn.microsoft.com/library/dn948096