Oracle's Utilities Centre: Prepare for wow

From IBM, Siemens and Accenture to Oracle, Cisco and Microsoft, the giant IT, integration and technology firms are making bids for dominance in the smart grid’s future. That means targeting utilities, and all of these companies do just that … but only one that we can see has succeeded so far into taking it the “wow” level.

That company is Oracle. And if you haven’t yet seen its Oracle Utilities Resource Centre, prepare to be wowed.

It’s slick yet simple, easy to navigate and loaded with resources any smart-grid-eyeing utility company might need, from whitepapers and data sheets to case studies, webcasts and news. And all of it’s conveniently accessible from a single, visually appealing page. No drilling down through endless menu trees to locate just the right report or getting lost after a series of clicks that might or might not open up a confusing assortment of new windows.

Yes, an effective, user-friendly website doesn’t necessarily mean effective, user-friendly solutions (though Oracle is certainly no slouch in that regard). But consider this: the smart grid is supposed to be all about efficiency, streamlining and ease. Doesn’t it make sense that the companies looking for a slice of this market pie should be all about those things too, when it comes to their relationship with potential customers?

Oracle’s onto something here, and the other big boys in the industry should take notice.