[October 04, 2011]

Ecologic Analytics Boosts Meter Data Management with IBM Informix Software

Ecologic Analytics, a leading provider of meter data management (MDM) solutions for electric, natural gas and water utilities, announces plans to extend the Ecologic MDM solution to include IBM (News - Alert)^® Informix^® software as a data management option for customers. This solution will allow utilities to store and retrieve data from smart metering systems and other monitoring devices more efficiently and streamline operational processes, such as time-of-use billing, load forecasting, and outage management.

An ever increasing population of smart meters is creating larger, more complex sets of time sequenced data, also known as interval data, for utilities organizations throughout the world. This increase in data generated by smart meters creates data storage challenges as well as performance challenges for analytics that utilize that data. With the right meter data management technology, utilities can better locate and diagnose pain points, monitor and reallocate electric loads and reduce outages.

IBM Informix software, with its TimeSeries feature enables utilities to cost-effectively and efficiently manage the interval data produced by smart meters using a scalable database architecture. IBM's Informix TimeSeries can dramatically accelerate data load and process times, decrease data storage requirements and improve both operational and analytical performance. dditionally, the software offers high availability and security to ensure data is easily and quickly accessed without being compromised.

"We are very pleased to be working with IBM to introduce Informix TimeSeries technology into the solution," said David Hubbard, chief technology officer and co-founder of Ecologic Analytics. "We feel that the Informix TimeSeries technology lends itself extremely well to the performance characteristics, data types and high-volume processing required for the next generation of smart metering and smart grid applications."

Informix TimeSeries software enables customers to cut storage requirements by as much as 66 percent, with data load and processing times reduced from hours to minutes. Ecologic Analytics and IBM will work in parallel to enable support for the Informix database technology within the Ecologic MDM application.

"As the deployment of smart meters and sensors increase, so too will the amount of data generated. To keep business operations running smoothly while minimizing costs, utilities require technology that will store, retrieve and help them to analyze massive amounts of data efficiently and accurately," said Jerry Keesee, Director of Informix Development, IBM. "The combination of Informix and Ecologic Analytics can help utilities accelerate the time-to-value gained from smart meter data, delivering benefits throughout their value chain from suppliers to consumers."

For more information on the Next Generation Ecologic MDM platform on Informix technology, contact us as info@ecologicanalytics.com

About Ecologic Analytics:

Ecologic Analytics, LLC is a leading provider of meter data management systems (MDMS) for electric, natural gas and water utilities. The Ecologic MDMS continuously validates more than 500-million meter reads every day for Smart Grid leading utilities, transforming the data consumed from advanced metering infrastructure (AMI)/smart meter endpoints into accurate, timely and actionable information for decision making across the utility. The Ecologic MDMS is a flexible, configurable and highly scalable enterprise software solution that receives data from any AMI/AMR system and/or manual source, supporting the dynamic operational and business processes needed for Smart Grid initiatives. Founded in 2000, the company is headquartered in Bloomington, Minnesota. www.ecologicanalytics.com

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