Natural Gas Operations Expertise … nGenue’s Greatest Value Revealed
In two earlier posts, Natural Gas Operations … How nGenue Makes a Difference and Natural Gas Billing … How nGenue Makes a Difference , I supplied granular feedback received from nGenue users – how nGenue is making a difference to their businesses – in their own words. In response to these posts, some nGenue Users supplied feedback indicating that neither blog captured the greatest value nGenue brought to their business. With conviction, each indicated it was the best practices sharing by nGenue Business Analysts that was most impactful to their nGenue-enabled operations; how they addressed gaps in existing operational processes, leveraging nGenue software functionality for doing so.
For this to have full meaning, I must make reference to nGenue’s 5-phase implementation methodology, specifically the Design phase, early in an implementation, when Customer business processes become visible to nGenue Business Analysts via a thorough As-Is, To-Be assessment. It is here where Customers share their existing business processes, what they wish to maintain and what they wish to enhance. It is also during the Design phase when nGenue Business Analysts query Customers about core operational practices not mentioned and / or not in place; typically, because previous tooling didn’t support the capability, or the degree of operational sophistication was low.
This is where the nGenue Business Analyst assigned to the Customer implementation brings to bear her or his own, first-hand experience as a former Natural Gas operations lead, reinforced with the knowledge of operational best practices across a range of nGenue Users, as large as national, multi-market (>100 markets) entities. Not only are business process questions answered with best practices detail, but also the methods and merits of introducing new operational practices are introduced, discussed, and then enabled via nGenue implementation. Let me share a couple examples.
Scheduling Activity – nGenue BAs have years of experience scheduling and trading natural gas. They have helped craft deal management and scheduling system design to align with exactly what natural gas companies require to schedule across a variety of Interstate Pipelines, Direct Connects and Utilities. nGenue BAs understand the impact of time and how having an integrated scheduling system provides the Scheduler an advantage during an Operational Order, optimizing imbalances, handling cuts, and storage management. Whether they are outlining utility requirements (choice targets, peaking gas, etc.) or developing flat file or EDI pipeline scheduling uploads, nGenue BAs ensure the nGenue environment is implemented with Scheduler efficiency top of mind.
End User Enrollment Management – nGenue BAs understand the rules each utility has for successfully enrolling end users by billing type. Based on the LDC(s) a Customer is active on, nGenue BAs outline details including Meter Read Cycles, Enrollment Deadlines and capture all EDI criteria to automate this process. The BA then directs the configuration of the screens and processes within nGenue to manage all stages of the natural gas end user lifecycle, from pre-enrollment to final bill. Whether it be Tasks, Reporting, Activity Audits, or notifying a 3rd party Agent, nGenue BAs guide nGenue Customers to optimize their end users, sales agents and LDC(s) data integrations.
End Users, LDCs, Marketers, Pipelines, Producers, and Utilities face increasing competitive and compliance pressures, requiring increased operational efficiency, data integrity and process improvement. Their operational systems must support this, but most don’t. Engage us and we’ll show you how to make a breakthrough. It’s what we do for natural gas companies, and we are experts in our field.
nGenue enables Natural Gas Operational Excellence!
~ Ken
