Daily managed service support guarantees stability of central platform for 250,000 customers

A user-friendly and trouble-free online portal is the linchpin for customers of energy suppliers and the basis for corporate success. To ensure the quality, availability and performance of the platform at all times, TIMETOACT has been supporting N-ERGIE as a Managed Service Partner for a year. In this way, the platform can cope with high workloads and is always up to date with the latest security standards.

Updating meter readings, adjusting billing amounts or downloading invoices - this is very easy for private customers of energy suppliers to do online. But it's not just B2C customers who benefit from such platforms; companies also use them to collaborate with energy suppliers.

At N-ERGIE Aktiengesellschaft, a regional energy supplier headquartered in Nuremberg, 60,000 corporate customers and a total of 250,000 people currently access this online portal - reason enough for it to function smoothly and withstand high workloads. To operate the platform, N-ERGIE uses a combination of IBM WebSphere Application Server and HCL Portal. Failures and problems of these products would not only lead to a tarnished image, but above all to a significantly higher load on the call center.

• Core requirement: As part of a managed service support, it was necessary to ensure smooth operation of the platform. This requires optimum support for the software used - both in technical and economic terms.

Since N-ERGIE did not have its own resources to support the online portal internally, a Europe-wide tender was issued for the project. In the end, the best offer was convincing and TIMETOACT was commissioned with a managed service support.

Since July 2022, TIMETOACT has been supporting N-ERGIE as a managed service partner and is responsible for the technical maintenance and stability of the platform. The key points of the managed service are:

• Ensuring the stability of the platform in the face of increasing numbers of users and high system loads
• Implementation of security updates and ensuring compliance
• Optimization of the customer monitoring system
• Architecture and conception workshops for further expansion or modernization and optimization of the platform
• Regular system reviews
• Change management for changes and deployments in the infrastructure
• Ensuring up-to-dateness (compliance with legal requirements)
• Support of HCL Connections for optimal internal collaboration

The performance of the portal platform is significantly above the required service level agreement due to the managed service of TIMETOACT Expert:innen - according to the service report of the last months even 100%. Unforeseen load peaks can be covered and security updates can be installed in the required very short time intervals.

TIMETOACT supports the utility as a Managed Service Partner until July 2025 with an optional extension. But not only TIMETOACT is currently working with the energy provider, but also other subsidiaries and departments from the TIMETOACT GROUP, such as Software Asset Management, Atlassian Consulting or Performance Strategy.