SAP Unveils Smart Meter, Profitability Apps for HANA In-Memory Analytics

Paul Ferrill

Updated · Sep 13, 2011

At SAP TechEd 2011 in Las Vegas today, SAP (NYSE: SAP) unveiled two new solutions built on its HANA in-memory analytics platform.

The new solutions — Smart Meter Analytics software and COPA Accelerator software — offer insight into utility smart meter and financial operations, respectively.

Amit Sinha, solution marketing vice president for In-Memory Computing and SAP HANA, said the HANA platform and applications are “all about analyzing big data.”

The Smart Meter Analytics tool is aimed at helping utility companies analyze the massive amounts of data produced by smart meters.

SAP said utility companies can use the software to help customers adopt more sustainable energy-use practices with planned capabilities. Utilities can instantly aggregate and analyze customers’ energy consumption profiles by any dimension or level of granularity, such as neighborhood location, home size, and business or building type. Customers can be segmented based on energy consumption patterns to target energy-saving programs like carbon emissions reduction plans.

Utility companies can also use real-time access to smart meter data to improve fraud detection capabilities and load forecasts and to design new rate structures that correspond with energy use patterns, SAP said.

SAP COPA Accelerator software was built to help companies “improve the speed and depth of working with large volumes of financial data,” SAP said.

Companies can use the software to perform real-time profitability reporting on large-scale data volumes and conduct on-the-fly analysis of profitability data at any level of granularity, aggregation and dimension, SAP said, and it can be used to empower business users with “easy, self-service access” to confidential profitability information.

Sinha said the software will help companies manage both day-to-day profitability and costs and help them close their quarters faster too.

It is also planned for implementation alongside the wider portfolio of SAP BusinessObjects enterprise performance management (EPM) solutions to help companies monitor cost and profitability.

SAP also unveiled a new HANA online community at www.experiencesaphana.com.

Sinha said SAP has a number of other HANA applications under development, including ones focused on connecting volunteers with corporate social responsibility projects, a recall monitoring tool, and a cash management application.

 

Paul Ferrill
Paul Ferrill

Paul Ferrill has been writing for over 15 years about computers and network technology. He holds a BS in Electrical Engineering as well as a MS in Electrical Engineering. He is a regular contributor to the computer trade press. He has a specialization in complex data analysis and storage. He has written hundreds of articles and two books for various outlets over the years. His articles have appeared in Enterprise Apps Today and InfoWorld, Network World, PC Magazine, Forbes, and many other publications.

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