Energy Management Intelligence from optima. hard working software that transforms data into information...

hard working software that

The

optima

™

energy

management approach

Transforming data into information

We were looking to reduce costs for ourselves and our customers, improve efficiency, and increase our service offering... we have implemented the Optima Software platform and are already realising the benefits.

James Ashby-Pickford Senior Data SpecialistBuying Solutions

Our approach helped

buying solutions reduce

Carbon

Management

Monitoring &

Targeting

Invoice

Validation

Budgets

Contract

Analysis

Software for

Consultants

optima™

Cloud

optima™ - save time, reduce consumption, cut costs

Need a less time-consuming, more effective approach to managing your energy usage?

Energy management is more important today than ever, and energy managers, accountants, bureaus and independent consultants from across the UK choose optima™ Energy Management Software.

For over 20 years, Optima Energy Management has been providing advanced solutions for monitoring & targeting, bill validation, contract analysis and financial forecasting.

Our objective is to simplify every aspect of managing energy data and transform it into meaningful information.

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Introducing optima™

optima™ is used to manage the energy

data for more than 4500 organisations

and 250,000 sites

We have worked with Optima Energy Management for the past three years including joint product development activities. This partnership has added significant value to our business enabling GSH to provide bespoke, accurate, relevant and timely MI data to our customers and our internal energy function. We aim to continue this mutually beneficial partnership as our energy and carbon related activities continue to grow.

optima™ Energy Management

Software: the professional’s choice

Managing energy has always been a complex business, but today it’s even more so: Energy Contract Renewals, Carbon Reduction programs, CRC, Validating Invoices, Setting Budgets, Calculating Accruals, AMR Metering schemes – the list seems endless.

Whilst this increasing workload can leave organisations short on resources, there’s one thing that is available in ever increasing supply, and that’s data.

For most organisations, the challenge today is not how to get hold of data, it’s how to use it effectively.

At Optima Energy Management we understand that the sheer volume of data involved in energy management, in particular Half Hourly or AMR data and Invoices can be daunting, and spreadsheets or adhoc databases aren’t designed to process large amounts of data. For over twenty years’ we’ve been working with some of the UK’s largest energy users and Consultants, providing the most advanced suite of software available to address all of these issues to make your own energy management more time-efficient and effective.

We call it “energy management intelligence” and our mission is to transform data into information.

Benefits

• Rapid return on investment • Advanced software features • Identifies energy waste • Identifies billing errors • Helps understand costs • Frees up time

• State-of-the-art technology • Robust scalable platform • 20+ years development • Regular software updates • Outstanding support service

Carbon Management

A detailed approach to compliance for

CRC Footprint and Annual Reports

The software and services provided have meant that my time as MD can now be used more effectively. Furthermore, Optima Energy Management continuously look after our energy and carbon management interests and provide concise and meaningful market intelligence, enabling us to keep rising energy costs to a minimum and effectively monitor our carbon emissions and footprint.

optima™ - cutting carbon,

not cutting corners

The introduction of the mandatory CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme (CRC) is an emissions trading scheme that aims to improve energy efficiency and reduce the amount of carbon dioxide emitted in the UK. Organisations in the UK consuming over 6000MWh of electricity per annum in the qualification year of 2008 will be taxed for the carbon dioxide emissions that are attributable to energy consumption. When the scheme starts, organisations will have to monitor and report all energy use emissions from all sources - electricity, gas and other fuels. All estimated consumption figures will be subject to an automatic 10% uplift. So now, more than ever, organisations should take measures to monitor and benchmark their energy usage.

The optima™ Carbon Footprint software is an invaluable tool, enabling you to submit accurate energy consumption data and to produce quickly and easily the Footprint and Annual Reports required to comply with CRC.

Benefits

• Calculate your CRC exposure and your carbon emission payment • Evaluate all your greenhouse gas

emissions for an accurate carbon footprint

• Regular and accurate CRC exposure updates

• Regular annual, regulatory reporting and CRC evidence pack

• Carbon standard certification • Early detection of energy waste

Monitoring & Targeting

"To measure is to know."

"If you can not measure it, you can not improve it."

Lord Kelvin

Optima Energy Management software has enabled Co-op to identify sites which have fluctuating energy consumption levels. This has been identified through analysing data which the software collates and stores, and has allowed Co-op to assess each site’s use of energy individually to undertake further detailed investigation. Co-op have so far identified where energy consumption is too high, lessened the energy usage fluctuations, increased efficiency and made overall savings as a result.

Martin Garry Energy Procurement ManagerThe co-operative

Our approach helped

the co-operative

reduce their energy consumption, lessen

usage fluctuations and increase efficency

optima™ - efficiently identifying and

eliminating waste

Monitoring and Targeting (M&T) is a simple yet powerful, structured approach to identifying inefficient performance and eliminating waste: monitor what you manage, relate it to the independent variables that influence your energy consumption, and set realistic targets.

optima™ takes M&T to a whole new level, helping you achieve more accurate target setting with a choice of advanced regression analysis, formulae, performance indices, historical comparisons and load profiling. Exception reports highlight waste where consumption exceeds target, helping you monitor your usage immediately and effectively, whilst CUSUM reports show trends in performance and the benefits of energy saving projects. Key Performance Indicators (KPI’s) allow you to benchmark performance using key metrics such as floor area or production figures and produce league tables of the best and worst performers. Automatic Monitoring & Targeting (aM&T) collects data seamlessly from Sub-Meters, Building Management Systems and Telemetry Systems allowing data to be loaded and analysed and reports generated without any manual intervention.

Benefits

• Quickly identify waste

• Choice of method of targeting • Model any process

• Accurate target setting

• Exception reports to monitor usage • CUSUM

• KPI’s Reports

• Performance league tables • Detailed reports and graphs

Invoice Validation

A frustrating and time-consuming activity?

Not with optima™

Optima has allowed me to maximise the time available on saving energy rather than wasting time analysing data spreadsheets.

Simon Mendham Energy ManagerVodafone

Our approach helped

Vodafone save energy and

optima™ - saving you time, effort

and money

Industry figures estimate that utility invoices contain errors of between 3% and 5% by value of

overcharging, and with ever more complex contracts being used this looks set to continue.

The optima™ Utility Billing System module is a fully auditable energy accounting system for validating and managing the payment of invoices received in either electronic or paper form. UBS performs over thirty five separate checks to identify any errors on supplier invoices so that action can be taken to recover overcharges as quickly as possible.

Electronic billing through EDI or XML saves a huge amount of time in loading invoices and eliminates keying errors and optima™ supports all Electricity, Gas and Water supplier formats. Thousands of invoices can be loaded and validated within hours rather than weeks, invoices are validated against a rigorous set of criteria to ensure that any errors are highlighted prior to payment. Even the most complex Electricity contracts can be analysed with calculation of all pass through charges including DUoS, Triads, DUoS & TUoS Losses, BSUoS, AAHEDC, Renewable Obligation, Meter Operations, DC, DA and CCL. For Gas contracts, it will validate the transportation charges on pass through contracts, and even check that the Calorific Value is calculated correctly.

optima™ will automatically handle Withdrawn and Amended bills, and allow splitting of bills that contain brought forward balances or multiple months of invoice data. Any problem bills that cannot be resolved can either be rejected or placed in suspense for resolution later. Integration with finance systems such as SAP™ or Oracle™ is also provided so that detailed costing information can be transferred into corporate accounts without the need for rekeying data.

Benefits of the Optima-UBS

• Identifies overcharges • Validates even the most

complex invoices • Over 35 separate checks • Saves time with electronic

(EDI) billing

• Supports all supplier electronic formats

• Automatically handles credits • Reject or suspend problem invoices • Dedicated payment process

• Interfaces with finance systems • Fully Audit trailed

Budgets

Volatile times call for reliable measures

Optima Energy Software has improved Scottish Water's ability to manage budgets effectively and report corporate consumption consistently.

optima™ - helping you budget wisely

Trying to predict budgets is difficult in times when energy prices are volatile. The optima™ Budgets module helps you predict energy consumption and costs for future financial years, set budgets and then proactively monitor progress with clear informative reports.

Budgets are calculated using half hourly data or invoice consumptions, together with the relevant contract prices, and where appropriate inflation factors. Batch processing tools are provided so that even the largest customers can produce budgets quickly and easily. Management information is provided for all

organisation levels ranging from individual accounts to consolidated totals for any Operations Manager or Finance Director.

Receiving accurate Accruals in a timely fashion has become essential for most Finance Directors, and optima™ delivers this by calculating Provisional invoices based on actual consumption and contract prices to create an accurate version of the real invoice. The processing power provided by optima™ means that what would take days if using spreadsheets can be done in minutes.

Benefits

• Easily set accurate budgets • Clear reports for all

management levels • Understand expected

and actual costs

• Exception reports identify sites exceeding budget • Ensure accountability • Accurate and timely accruals

Contract Analysis

Sophisticated Contract & Tariff Analysis

software for the detailed comparison of

all your contract offers

Following considerable due diligence, and with the agreement of my Board of Governors, I appointed Optima Energy Management... It is one of the best decisions I have made. Not only have they secured for us considerable financial savings but as importantly the level of customer support has been first class.

Jonathan Wheeler Bursar Worksop College

Our approach helped

Worksop College reduce

optima™ - doing the hard work

for you

The volatility within wholesale energy markets means it is vital to be able to analyse offers and identify the best option quickly because suppliers can withdraw offers at any time.

The optima™ Contract & Tariff Analysis module enables Consultants and Energy Managers to take full advantage of these market conditions by enabling supplier bids to be analysed quickly and accurately. Half hourly and non-half hourly electricity, and natural gas accounts can be analysed to provide a detailed analysis of what is the best offer on both an individual account and best overall supplier basis. A typical scenario of analysing 300 half-hourly accounts against 6 offers would take less than 15 minutes.

Analysis of pass through contracts is supported, and a database of Distribution Use of System (DUoS) and Transmission (TUoS) charges and losses is maintained and provided as part of the package.

The optional Tendering Pack provides enhanced features for tracking renewals, issuing Notice of Termination documents, and for Brokers calculating commission invoices. The Tendering Pack workflow enables the entire tendering process to be tracked and managed across the entire portfolio so that you have instant visibility of the exact position of all outstanding renewals on demand.

From the production of tender documentation through to the most detailed cost analysis, optima™ streamlines the whole procurement process.

Benefits

• Manage the entire tender process • Never miss a renewal

• Issue NOT’s

• Export Tendering data in supplier friendly formats • Load contract offers in bulk • Analyse HH and NHH accounts • Compare 'Fully Inclusive' and

'Pass Through' offers

• Identify best supplier per account or best overall

• Analyse Gas contracts

• Brokers: Commission invoicing • Brokers: Managed workflow • Brokers: Create custom documents

optima™

Consultants’ Edition

Save time, reduce costs and increase your

revenue streams

Utilyx Ltd, the energy and carbon specialists, have been working with Optima since 2007. We use the optima™ platform to provide bill validation, energy management and Bureau services to a large number of the UK’s leading companies covering a utilities portfolio in excess of 30,000 meters. optima™ were chosen as Utilyx’ Energy Services platform following a thorough software review and today Utilyx consider Optima Energy Management to be a valued partner.

Scott Armstrong Energy Services Director Utilyx Ltd

Our approach helped

utilyx to provide bill validation

optima™ - essential tool

for consultants

The optima™ Consultants Edition has been designed specifically for Energy Consultants, Brokers, and data processing bureaus.

Already used by some of the UK’s largest energy consultancies, the optima™ Consultants Edition provides over thirty additional features on top of the standard package, all designed to streamline the process of managing customer data.

The software simplifies data management for consultants by providing easily managed access to all customer data within one robust, secure, multi-user database platform. Unwieldy, time-consuming

spreadsheet soup is a thing of the past.

Consultants use the software for bill validation, managing renewals and contract analysis, setting and reporting on customer budgets, monitoring and targeting, and energy management reports. Reports can be branded with the Consultant logo, and when used in conjunction with the task scheduler, reports can be generated automatically and emailed out directly to customers.

By maintaining all of the data in one location, it’s also possible to grant Consultant customers secure access to view their data.

Benefits

• Robust, secure, multi-user database platform

• Work more efficiently • Increased service offering

• Generate additional revenue streams • Over 100 standard reports

• Produces standard documents • Customer access to their data • Includes your company logo on

reports for professional touch • Increases your capability and

credibility at the bidding stage • Log user activity with Audit Trail

optima™ - simplifying the process of

creating invoices

The optima™ Tenant Billing module simplifies the process of creating invoices for tenants or internal recharging of energy to departments.

One of the key features of the Tenant Billing module is its flexibility to copy with real world situations, where complex meter arrangements may require addition, subtraction and the apportionment of meters.

Accurate utility bills can be generated from sub-meters, supplier meters, AMR meters, BEMS systems or manually read meters, in any combination or proportion. The costs applied to the consumption can vary from simple cost per units charges to the most complex recharging tariffs using standing charges, capacity, demand and multiple unit bands.

Once the data is loaded, invoices can be created in bulk and then printed and issued. Payments can be recorded and debtor statements produced.

Tenant Billing

Flexible solutions for sub-metered tenant invoicing

Benefits

• Produce accurate bills

• Define supplier or landlord tariffs • Print invoices in user-defined

templates

• Generates unique invoice numbers and tax point dates

• Track invoice status of paid or unpaid • Export invoice summary to finance

system

• Report on invoices issued and outstanding

• Produce invoices to a specific date for change of tenancies

optima™ - automatically more accurate

Automatic Meter Readings eliminate estimated readings and provide much better quality data to ensure accurate billing and a better understanding of where energy is used.

We work with carefully chosen partners to ensure that we deliver turnkey solutions which provide accurate data that integrates seamlessly with our software.

Typical projects range from the installation of sub-metering over a large site or multiple sites with the full range of communication options, to the replacement of fiscal meters with direct Meter Operator and Data Collector contracts ensuring that the customer is not tied to their energy supplier.

In all cases we are on hand to advise you on how best to utilise the data you have collected, and ensure that it is available to transform data into information.

optima™ Cloud

Enjoy the benefit of optima™ without having

to install and maintain your own servers.

From anywhere.

optima™ Cloud –

hosted software as a service

Software as a service (or SaaS) is a way of delivering optima™ over the Internet, as a service, or as we now say from within the “Cloud”. Instead of installing and maintaining software, you simply access optima™ via the Internet, freeing yourself from software and hardware management.

optima™ hosted customers have no hardware to buy, install, maintain, or update. Access to applications is easy: you just need an Internet connection. Users benefit from rapid deployment and reduced administration, as well as enhanced support since queries can be answered through shared access to the customer data.

optima™ runs on Enterprise Class state of the art servers at our secure data centre. We manage access to the application, including security, availability, and performance. A full off-site backup service is included as well as a duplicate hosting facility for disaster recovery.

There are currently over 250,000 customer sites

enjoying the benefits of being managed on the optima™ hosted platform, and we have an on-going investment program to maintain performance and capacity.

Benefits

• Low start up cost

• No hardware to buy or maintain • Access optima™ from anywhere • Rapid deployment

• Reduced administration • Updates issued automatically

For more information on Optima Management Software call or email us and we’ll be pleased to help.

Optima Energy Management

T: +44 (0) 1756 702 488 E: [email protected] Optima Energy Management Griffin House

Broughton Skipton

North Yorkshire BD23 3AN

To learn more about our Optima Consultancy Services, our contact details are as follows:

Optima Bureau Services

T: +44 (0) 121 222 5617 E: [email protected] Optima Bureau Services Innovation Centre 1 Devon Way

Longbridge Technology Park Birmingham

B31 2TS

Or visit our website at www.optimaenergy.net

We look forward to hearing from you.

Or visit our website at www.optimaenergy.net

We look forward to hearing from you.

D e si g ne d and p rod uc e d b y Sans F ront ie re M ar k e ting C ommuni cat ions – 01273 487 800 – www .sansfr ont ie re .c o.uk