Washington-based Itron is collaborating with Microsoft to provide scalable cloud-based meter data management (MDM) services.

As part of this, the companies completed another round of performance and scalability testing of its Itron Enterprise Edition (IEE) MDM product. This data management offering can perform large-scale benchmarks in Microsoft Azure.

As utilities undergo digital transformation, it is critical that MDM supports rapidly expanding use cases with an increasing volume of data and analytics, at scale. Itron’s collaboration with Microsoft facilitates a performant cloud-based method enabling higher level of service, lower operational costs, flexible expansion and scalability.

The benchmark validates IEE MDM’s capacity to process 2.8 billion readings a day in less than three hours and deliver time-of-use billing determinants equivalent to a ten-million-meter utility. As a result, utilities can be confident that IEE MDM, deployed using Microsoft Azure cloud, will provide a reliable, cost-effective and low maintenance platform that supports some of the largest and most process-intensive deployments, globally.

Together, Itron and Microsoft conducted a series of high-volume data tests on IEE MDM using the Microsoft Azure cloud environment with the goal of replicating the genuine demands of a ten-million-meter deployment. Each test executed a day-in-the-life scenario that involved processing a mix of meter types including hourly, 15-minute and five-minute interval and register data, from data import, validation and estimation, to billing determinant calculations with time of use and data exports.

These tests verified IEE MDM on Microsoft Azure within a scalable cloud environment that provides easy expansion over time as data sensors or functionality requirements evolve. The Microsoft Azure cloud environment lowers the total cost of ownership through the ability to scale dynamically and enable Azure resources only when needed, coupled with upgrade-proof technology.

“Navigating the digital revolution, our customers are managing more mission-critical business processes in the cloud with even more use cases and, as a result, customers are collecting and managing more data than ever before,” said Stefan Zschiegner, vice president of product management at Itron. “Expanding our partnership with Microsoft Azure is core to our commitment to continuously delivering a robust, scalable and well-managed data management solution. This testing confirms that IEE MDM’s powerful processing capabilities and ability to scale on Microsoft Azure meets our customers’ future data and budget requirements.”

The global partnership provides an enterprise-class meter data management system using Azure cloud computing, a combination that is optimised to scale flexibly, improve reliability and address the increasing requirements of smart grids. The combined offering’s performance meets the timelines required for daily billing and critical meter-to-cash business processes and analytics, bringing value and cloud stability to utilities.

“Our customers tell us that scalability and agility are front of mind when selecting products for their smart grid while protecting existing technology investments with comprehensive integration features,” said Scott Harden, chief technology officer for energy at Microsoft. “Together, Microsoft and Itron have focused on providing solutions that help utilities execute on the vision of a data-driven and intelligent grid. IEE MDM based on Azure SQL Server is a leading example of a solution that leverages the performance and availability of the Microsoft cloud along with the rigorous security and administrative control that utilities require.”

IEE MDM is a data management system for residential gas, water and electric meters, C&I meters, and IoT sensors. The evolving platform provides utilities and cities with the flexibility, value and functionality needed regardless of deployment size. The installed base comprises over 100 customers across six continents with more than 45 million meters in production.