The Meter Data Management System (MDMS) component of a Smart Meter or Smart Grid project is often treated as an afterthought with little or no consideration given to the data management solution during the initial AMI project stages. With the focus on Smart Meter deployment, it is easy to overlook the fact that, as your project progresses, the MDMS will grow from a minor data system to a mission critical enterprise-class IT system responsible for achieving most of your enterprise business benefits. It is imperative to understand the importance of the MDMS in a project’s infant stages to position it appropriately as a complex IT system, critical to the success of the AMI project.

To position the MDMS as an enabler for the future, it is important to recognize that you are embarking on a critical, complex IT project within your Smart Grid initiative. Primary IT considerations should be examined and planned during the forefront of the project to achieve the highest possible level of success and value. This article discusses four strategic positions that must be considered during MDMS IT Project planning.

1. The MDMS should be managed within the IT domain and as an IT project.
    
2. Architectural definition, positioning and vision are critical to leveraging the MDMS value properly within the enterprise.
    
3. Failure to estimate the level of IT complexity within the MDMS implementation can compromise project results.
    
4. Establishing future phases and enhanced roles of the MDMS beyond basic meter-to-cash at inception will ensure architectural continuity for the future.

The MDMS should be managed within the  IT domain and as an IT project.

Two fundamental risks during MDMS project initiation are improper project alignment and lack of stakeholder sponsorship. Consider the flow of most AMI deployments: first, the utility realizes the need to become Smart Grid enabled; second, project owners launch a strategy, which includes business case and funding development; and third, stakeholder analysis begins in preparation for vendor selection of an AMI solution. Meanwhile, the IT support elements, including the MDMS, represent a subset of activities within the overall AMI program.

Now consider these factors: in most cases, the AMI project is positioned as a subcomponent of the broader Smart Grid vision. This is usually based on the assumption the AMI project will be comprised of an AMI field network, smart meters and AMI communications circuits for backhaul, and all of these components will reside on the distribution system. For these reasons, the AMI project is often assigned as either an extension of Meter Operations or as its own, independent initiative with a separate project team. The MDMS becomes a sub-component within the AMI project. This seemingly natural assignment of the MDMS is misplaced. Consider this question: “Is the MDMS an extension of the AMI Data Collection System or should it serve as a gateway into the holistic IT Enterprise?”

Examining the logical implementation of the MDMS will lead to the proper MDMS positioning as an IT solution. The MDMS lives within the IT infrastructure as a software solution. It provides a crucial “normalization interface” of varied network and meter data collection. It also provides communications for ALL types of field data (MV-90, multiple AMI systems, Manual Read systems) to the remaining processing components of the utility’s IT solutions (Customer Information System [CIS], Customer Portal, Outage Management System [OMS], Work Management System [WMS], Demand Response Management System [DRMS], etc).

The stakeholder analysis and design/integration decisions depend upon examination of the IT architectural Smart Grid vision. Consider the MDMS as a primary AMI component early in the project initiation stages and position it with true considerations of the IT complexity.

While positioned as an IT system, a utility’s business units maintain a critical role in implementing the MDMS, running the MDMS on a daily basis, and integrating the MDMS functionality into business processes. IT departments cannot implement a MDMS in isolation. In turn, business units cannot achieve the full potential of a MDMS without IT contributing.

Architectural definition, positioning, and vision are critical to leveraging the MDMS value properly within the enterprise.

The big question that does not necessarily produce an obvious answer is: “What do I want my MDMS to do given my current architecture and vision for the future?”

In our experience, no two utilities are alike with regard to IT enterprise systems, macro and micro business case objectives, operating environment, or IT vision. Determining your IT architectural vision and strategy prior to MDMS implementation is a critical, value-added step that should precede vendor selection. The basic goal is to comprehensively evaluate and understand the core components the MDMS should fulfill in addition to the detailed functions the MDMS solution should achieve. Not all MDMS solutions are created equal. Understanding the right fit in form and function will help you make the right selections.

The following provides example questions that will help you resolve your MDMS solution requirements. These questions should be answered and evaluated prior to vendor selection.

• What infrastructure is required to meet the business case objectives?
   
• What solutions are currently in place that can be leveraged to achieve these benefits?
   
• What solutions should be acquired or further leveraged to achieve these benefits?
   
• Are all of the solutions scalable for AMI?

During the solution implementation, after vendor selection has occurred, project owners should examine issues to resolve and refine IT integration requirements. Key questions include:

• What is the System-of-Record (SOR) for various data elements?
   
• What is the integration methodology and AMI compliance standard?
   
• What is the data warehousing strategy and utilization model?

The actual answers to these questions are of secondary importance. The greatest benefit lies in asking these questions to prompt careful evaluation of critical implementation directives. Implementation needs to be phased, designed, developed, tested and transitioned into the operational workflow with the highest level of data integrity.

Failure to estimate the level of IT complexity within the MDMS implementation can compromise project results.

Typical Smart Grid programs include the installation of an AMI network communications and metering solution, requiring a complete meter replacement. The primary capital component of your project will, of course, reside in the meter purchase and replacement project. Ironically, despite its funding requirements, the AMI meter exchange represents one of the lowest risk initiatives within the overall project.

In contrast, the MDMS is an extremely complex system from the perspective of the number of systems it can touch; the number of business processes impacted; and the large amount of data that must be managed. The MDMS represents a substantial portion of the project’s risk, yet typically comprises less than 15 percent of the overall capital budget.

MDMS Touch Points

The MDMS will perform its primary functions in the meter-to-cash business process, initially touching the CIS, AMI head-end system, and potentially other legacy meter data collection systems such as MVRS and MV-90. Other common value propositions in the early project phases include integration with OMS, Interactive Voice Response (IVR) and Revenue Protection systems. Deeper integration can be performed in the future phases to provide data feeds and interact with DRMS, consumer portals, load research, distribution planning, Geospatial Information Systems (GIS), and external services such as pre-pay solutions. (See Figure 1)

This level of integration, along with the potential to align with an enterprise service bus and support the future development of data extraction processes, is consistent with an enterprise IT system. Designing and planning an integration with this level of complexity requires attention to detail of several integration factors, including:

• Appropriate integration method
• Transaction payload
• Process and system scalability
• Process and system security
• Process timing
• Data retention
• Standards adherence
• Customization impacts and many others.

An implementation of this complexity will require a diverse set of skills that best reside within the IT organization.

Figure 1 – Representative AMI System Diagram

Business Process Impacts

Business process modeling is an important aspect of an AMI implementation. Although numbers vary depending on the MDMS vendor, the meter-to-cash portion of most AMI implementations requires approximately 15 business processes. Of these processes, approximately eight directly involve the MDMS, for example, meter commissioning, daily data exception handling, billing, to name a few. As you move beyond meter-to-cash and include more of the processes and systems depicted in Figure 1, the role of the MDMS will increase. A conservative estimate adds 20 business processes beyond meter-to-cash, almost all of which will employ the MDMS (depending on the MDMS selected). Again, the reach of the MDMS across the organization is reflective of an enterprise IT system.

Figure 2 – AMI Reads at Selected Intervals
 

Large Volume of Data

It is stunning how fast the data model will grow in volume with the implementation of the AMI solution. This can be a shock to most utilities.

Figure 2 provides an illustration of the amount of data collected using an AMI baseline sample of 150,000 service points running on 15-minute intervals. As represented in the illustration, this results in 450 million intervals per month for single-channel usage data collection only. This does not account for multiple channel data, meter events, or additional AMI module events. This massive amount of data volume demonstrates why the skills within the IT organization are required for the care and maintenance of these systems. Advanced DBA skills for database monitoring, tuning and archiving are critical for efficient operations. These are skills that lie within the IT organization.

The MDMS is the solution that will validate, estimate and edit the interval data. The MDMS will also process all received data for billing determinants delivery to the CIS, as well as post data for customer consumption. These are just a few of the critical processes that present the highest risk to the overall Smart Grid implementation.

Establishing the future phases and enhanced roles of the MDMS (beyond basic meter-to-cash) at inception will help to ensure architectural continuity for the future.

Transforming to a Smart Grid utility is a journey. While an AMI solution has the ability to provide a large volume of metering and network data, an MDMS that is properly positioned within the IT enterprise can establish the means for continual Smart Grid evolution.

On the other hand, if the AMI and supporting MDMS solution is implemented without the proper sponsorship and vision, it can end up as little more than an expensive meter reading system. This all depends upon the IT implementation and vision to leverage the massive data potential utilization to achieve valued benefits.

The market is a fantastic labyrinth of entrepreneurial solutions. Demand response management, home area networking, electric vehicles, consumer web portals, distributed generation, and other initiatives are in their infancy. Building a basic distribution load data collection and data processing infrastructure is the foundation gaining comprehensive insights on the affects these technologies have on their grid. The MDMS can and does play the leading role in AMI data processing; therefore, it is the critical IT solution that must be leveraged properly to feed ancillary systems. The level of IT integration drives the value of AMI and MDMS implementation.

Summary

When determining the MDMS project placement within the overall Smart Grid initiative, it is critical to regard the MDMS as a software solution that should be defined, implemented and managed as part of the IT enterprise.

The MDMS is a complex IT implementation not to be taken lightly. Work with your executive sponsorship team to align the project based on risk factors, and avoid the natural trap of allowing the MDMS to fall below the radar because of its lower price tag. Take into account the sheer data volume increase and associated data processing when defining the architecture. Define both your architecture’s current ability to support AMI, and the future state that includes the MDMS solution opportunity within the enterprise. Consider future initiatives and possible extents of market evolution within your enterprise vision, and determine the potential role of the MDMS. Apply your best IT implementation lifecycle practices to the MDMS solution as a mission critical system.

About the Authors

Mark Hatfield is a Principal Consultant with Enspiria Solutions, Inc. – A Black & Veatch Company. He has 23 years of professional experience including 14 years of experience in the energy/utility arena. He specializes in Smart Grid and MDMS for electric and gas utility operation. Mark holds an MA in Geography from the University of Illinois and a BS in Geography from the US Air Force Academy. He formerly held positions with KEMA, Convergent Group, SchlumbergerSema and the United States Air Force.

Scott Stein is a Principal Consultant with Enspiria Solutions, Inc. – A Black & Veatch Company. He has 19 years of experience in utilities AMI systems and wireless/ telecommunications, with particular expertise in AMI deployment and systems integration. Scott holds a BS in Telecommunications Management and is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP). He formerly held positions with Landis+Gyr, eMeter, and Cellnet Data Systems.