- Changing the way companies think about energy
- Simple web app platform that saves enterprises a massive chunk of their budget
- I’m ready to spend less money on energy
Energy procurement is a much broader subject than many people think. It’s so complex that not even energy sellers fully understand it. There are hundreds of millions to be saved on energy each year and built software that helps companies keep that money in their pockets.
But there’s a limit to human capabilities. With proper software solutions, enterprises could make purchase decisions much more efficiently even without our involvement. Therefore Enerace company turned consulting into a hands-off SaaS process.
Changing the way companies think about energy
Energy procurement has been a part of Enerace's professional life for the last 12 years. Its founders worked with dozens of companies during that time, and they say that very few of them had any idea how much money they could save on energy yearly. For most people, energy cost is one of those things in business that they simply don’t give a second thought.
Energy procurement is an insanely complex issue that, to be done well, requires a lot of knowledge, experience, and analysis. Most importantly, though, very few people even realize that there are many different (better, cheaper) options than their current ones.
Therefore, throughout the years, the main job of Enerace founders was to educate, show how, why, and when to buy energy. They’ve developed methods, analytic models and personally purchased thousands of GWh of energy for our clients. And, two years ago, they were ready to turn their know-how and experience into a scalable software solution for thousands of big clients to use without their assistance.
Simple web app platform that saves enterprises a massive chunk of their budget
Enerace founders knew that the energy procurement platform had to be as user-friendly as possible.
Its role was to:
- collect data about prices,
- provide information about the energy market,
- make simple suggestions on the best time to buy.
Before they went looking for a software partner to develop their app, they created a long and detailed list of crucial functions and features. Finally, with the requirements, they were ready to look for a software house. And that’s how they met Order Group, our developers' team that still works on many improvements in our Enerace app.
Turning consulting into web application is a huge challenge
In order to create a functional piece of software that plays the same role as experienced consultants, in Discovery Workshops they had to conduct a comprehensive knowledge transfer to our development team. Together with Enerace, we wanted to understand the purpose of the app and how valuable it can be not only for corporations but also for us. It was supposed to be their primary tool.
It turned out that our perspective was exactly the same, and getting to know the client’s business is their modus operandi. So they’ve joined us for Product Workshops, during which we’ve discussed core elements of the app, strategy, business model, user personas, and more. Together we’ve established everything necessary for the dev team to understand the idea and plan an efficient development process.
Of course, the learning process didn’t end with Product Workshops. During the entire development process, we stayed in touch, exchanged feedback, and discussed each element of the software, as well as energy procurement in general. In the end, Enerace founders said the Order Group development team has gathered impressive knowledge about the energy procurement market. But, most importantly, we were able to use it to develop a user-friendly platform that helps big companies make better financial decisions precisely as intended.
Data is everything
At this time, the Enerace app is covering 23 countries. It assists companies mainly in electricity and natural gas procurement but it also collects and analyzes data about CO2 allowances, coal, LPG, Brent oil, guarantees of origin, PPA projects, and it helps them understand all kinds of turbulences on the energy market around the world.
None of it would be possible without a consistent flow of fully verified information about prices and possible fluctuations. One of the most challenging tasks in the development process was to collect and structurize many types of data from different sources. In some cases, we even found some inconsistencies in data sets from our providers, which we had to correct. It was a long process, but with the help of clever developers, they’ve perfected their system. The consistent flow of accurate data from many different parts of the world guarantees that clients make decisions based on facts.
Making the right decisions at the right time
Another crucial aspect is timing. More often than not, companies have very little time to purchase before it’s too late and the price skyrockets. That is why our clients regularly receive portfolio reports and in the nearest future also automated alerts. In addition to that, users receive individual weekly and monthly reports with our additional commentary on the most recent news from the industry.
I’m ready to spend less money on energy
If energy procurement has never crossed someone’s mind, there usually is a specific reason why they start thinking about it. Here are some of the most common ones:
- We don’t know how much we spend on energy and we want to find out
- We feel it’s important, but we don’t have time to analyze it on our own
- Our spendings increased by XX% compared to last year
In many cases, however, people realize that they can reduce their energy costs, but they don’t have the tools or time to analyze their spending and the market.
Enerace founders together with Order Group developed the app for all those people. No matter the industry, they can help every company that spends over 200 000 € on energy per year save a significant part of that budget.
If you believe it’s time your company can boost your revenue because of custom software, let us know, and we’ll figure out the best way to move forward.
