Energy management service are helping businesses of different sizes to save energy and reduce their energy bills. A good way to achieve this is by tracking energy, analyzing energy and controlling it through management software. Energy is one-third of the cost of your company. This means that a lot of companies have already understood the benefits of having a good energy efficiency plan in place. You should think about your needs and budget before choosing your management software and provider.
Things to research
It is time to research when you have that defined. You should ensure you have a guide handy. You can proceed to search on Google and focus on reading reviews and articles from other energy professionals and managers instead of going to software vendors.
There are a lot of software review sites that you can visit. Use demo accounts if you find providers that offer free demo accounts for their software. That is a great sign that you have a good product in front of you. Take your time to research the tools. Your research doesn’t have to stop after finding a provider. You should be sure that their business model and solution are compatible with yours. Ask the following questions to ensure you choose the right solution for your company.
How secure is my data?
Ask this question before it is very important when choosing an energy management service provider. Energy analysis platforms run on the cloud or on-premise. You should be sure of the security of your data in both models. It will be important if you provide energy services. This is because it is not your data but the data belongs to your client.
Your service provider should give you a secure solution for your data and the no-premise solution should have a robust way of protecting local databases. Ask his question before you make your final decision when considering any management software. Cloud solutions are always evolving and it is time to forget your old fears about cloud-based solutions.
How fast is your tool?
Some meters gather quality data every fifteen minutes. Performing regression analysis for a big project with two million data points needs a faster tool. You will be losing more time than needed if the load time is long in your management tool. Ask your service provider how fast their tool is before committing your money.
Can your tool verify my savings?
You will face a crossroads at some point no matter how small or big your energy efficiency project is. You’ll reach your savings limit with the investment or budget that you planned in your efficiency plan. There is a good image that people love to share to understand this situation. This is known as the energy efficiency pyramid.
You should figure out what next when you use your energy management services and reach your limits. You should evaluate what you have been doing to decide if you need to invest more money and time in the same stage of the pyramid.
